This past weekend, I flew up to Buffalo, New York, to visit my cute friend Markie. Okay, I haven't seen her since my wedding . . . almost 10 years ago. But that's okay. It was like we hadn't been apart a day.
Now, for any of you who have traveled with me in my amazing northeast, you will know that I can get a little carried away with my "oooohs" and "aaaaahs" and "oh, I forgot all about that" and . . . well, you get the picture. So, my patient friend listened to all of that, and even had the courtesy to tell me she loved me for it. And she should. It's not often that you get to have me right along side you interrupting your thoughts every other second with some exclamation of joy and excitement and homesickness. So, thanks, Markie, for listening to all of that.
On any trip back to the home-ish-land (technically Berks County, PA, is the homeland), I have to have good food. Okay, well, on any trip, I have to have good food. I love eating the "local" things. And in parts of the country I've lived, I have to get things that remind me of growing up. This trip did not disappoint.
The first evening, we went to Anchor Bar and Grill--home of the original Buffalo wings. I don't think I can really describe such an experience. It was almost religious. (I'm bowing my head for a moment of silence.) Think crispy wings (but that's the wrong word) with juicy, tender insides, covered with amazing sauce that required a shower afterwards to remove. We got the suicidal wings, the spicy barbecue wings, and the medium wings.
The suicidal wings were not at all what I expected. I expected flames and fire extinguishers and searing pain. Instead, I got truly spicy wings but because of an amazing amount of peppercorn and some other ingredient I can't really place. Very, very tasty. And yes, I would get them again.
The medium wings were the last ones that I tried, so I'm not really sure how they tasted. My taste buds were a little overwhelmed by that point. But that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy them. I still enjoyed all the great wingy-things that come as part of the Original Buffalo Wing goodness (see previous paragraph for description).
My favorite, however, were the spicy barbecue. Now, I'm telling you right now, normally, I'm not a bbq sauce kind of girl. But this sauce was truly amazing and beyond description and you will just have to go to Buffalo to try these ones out for yourself.
But, my friends, the wings were only the appetizer. I ordered my favorite seafood pasta and canoli for dessert. The dessert and most of the pasta were taken home. Now, why would I get pasta?? Because I was in the northeast, and everyone knows that there are a lot of Italians there. And that means great pasta that places like Olive Garden could never even come close to duplicating. Oh, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.
We ended the night with a drive around Buffalo out to where my friend's new home is. Seeing the buildings and the way the streets were laid out and the trees and the everything was like heaven. (See second paragraph for description of my comments.)
Anyway, stay tuned for more crazy Buffalo adventures. I need to go eat.
