So, with all the bad things that have happened over the last year, I have decided to check some things off my bucket list. My biggest sports hero as a little kid was Don Mattingly, but I never got to see him play or in any form in person. He announced that he was doing some signings during this offseason. I didn't go to the signing at Dulles Expo Center and I have kicked myself for it. Well, a new signing was announced in Syracuse, NY on December 17th. I have purchased tickets to attend, but I am going to have to be there for an extra day or two to accomodate work teleconferences. So,
1) Have you attended any autograph signings? If so, what should I expect?
2) What eles should I do in Syracuse? Is a Syracuse Crunch game worth hitting up?
3) Where is the best Beef on Weck in town?
Comments
Leave Syracuse
Yep. Visit the North Country area of NY during the summers. The Thousand Islands, Alexandria Bay, Lake Ontario, cross the Border...
-From a Hokie who has relatives in Watertown. Some went to Cuse. My Pop and two of his Siblings left for the Southeast as soon as they were done with Junior High. For good reason.
Dad also got The Jim Brown's autograph, back in the day
Be cold.
Actually, my wife and I went snow shoeing outside of Syracuse and it was quite nice. She wanted a "snowcation" that year and we went to do cross country skiing. She had never done snow shoeing, so when the place had those, she decided on that instead. I had the backpacking camp stove and we made hot food off the trail. People would ski by looking at us and wearing that 'why didn't I think of that' look :-).
Are you into outdoor cold weather things? I can try and look up the place.
Freeze
Burn down the Carrier Dome for warmth?
MiniLancerHokie and I took a friend to Syracuse a few summers ago. The Zoo is pretty good- weather permitting.
Harrison's Bakery is good. MiniLancerHokie got a chocolate cookie that was bigger than her head, and they gave her a slightly smaller one for free!
HokieEnginerd reminded us to flip off the Carrier Dome.
If you're driving from VA, be aware that Pennsylvania is never ending. When we went, the majority of the drive was through PA. We kept asking each other "Shouldn't we be in NY by now?" We thought we had gotten lost. Then we got into NY and I saw the mile marker and thought that our exit was close, but I was wrong- it was still like 45 minutes to an hour away. The exits and mile markers don't align like they do here
3. I don't think beef on weck is on the menu, but the wife and I were pretty happy with both the food and tap list when we stopped by Dinosaur Bar-B-Que during our stop through.
Of all the food in western NY to eat, BBQ would be way down my list.
I don't want to disagree, but my experiences with food in western NY aren't great.
2000- I spent about a year stationed near Saratoga Springs. We knew quite a bit of local folks when we were there, yet I genuinely don't have any fond culinary memories outside of chain restaurants (I mean, we were all college age and broke so we always went to either Friendly's or Bennigan's).
2008- On a road trip to Niagara Falls, I stopped at the casino in Buffalo. I called up an old buddy from the Navy who grew up there for a food recommendation (he lived in VA at the time). He no shit insisted on driving across the city to the good Applebees. I just waited to eat until I got to Canada.
2015- I spent a week on vacation with my wife at Lake Chautauqua. The two decent meals we had were at an Asian restaurant and the pub at Southern Tier brewery.
2018- We drove through Syracuse. My wife's friend took us to Dinosaur's and it was pretty good. This was like the most memorable food I've had in upstate NY.
Maybe I'm doing upstate New York cuisine all wrong. I'm probably going to end up there a few more times in my life. If you can point me to where I'm going wrong, I would appreciate it!
I went to Dinosaur in Rochester and thought it was good enough to seek it out when working in Buffalo. Was going to recommend that as well. I am not sure where to get it in Syracuse, but get a garbage plate somewhere if you have never had one.
I can't speak for the crunch specifically, but AHL games are always a blast if you're a hockey fan. Used to work for the Phantoms and if the Crunch have a similar-ish size arena it'll be a fun time.
Syracuse is terrible, that's why Jim Boeheim is always so cranky
Probably the best thing you can do in Syracuse is wear layers.
I wish I had more for you French!
I don't have any suggestions but Beef on Weck is fantastic and I miss it after living in the region.
Go to buffalo
Depending on available time and appetite for driving
Dinosaur BBQ- featured on Dining and drive-ins if I remember correctly
Armory Square--lots of restaurants/bars, clubs, stores
Boldt Castle in the Thousand Islands-1.5 hours north
Gorge hike at Watkins Glen State Park-1..5 hours west/southwest
Corning glass factory/museum in Corning <2 hrs SW
Old Forge in the Adirondacks- 1.75 hours east/northeast
Niagara Falls-2.5 miles west om Thruway
pro tip: skip Stella's Diner and go to Funk n' Waffles instead
Boxing Hall of Fame is just down the NY State Thruway from Syracuse (east I think.) It probably won't take you long to go through it, but it might be worth it if you are into the sweet science.
Did they note if you could get your own memorabilia signed? Since Covid started, the Braves wouldn't allow certain things signed. Javy Lopez said he wasn't supposed to sign a bobble head my wife had. They had generic players cards for players to sign and hand over. Glavine still signed my jersey. Should be great to see Mattingly!
There were two ticket options and I picked the one to get my own card signed. I am getting the very first Don Mattingly card I pulled from a wax pack signed- 1986 Topps All Star card. I still have it 38 years later.
Man, that's awesome.
Dinosaur BBQ- weather permitting it is.
Dino bbq is quite good. Enjoy.
Theres an Irish tavern in downtown Cuse that i went to a few years back. It was on DDD as well. Nice atmosphere, good food n drink. That could be an option.
Great choice, original chef is Southern, from Mississippi I think. so Que creds.
But....Riley's up by Schiller Park is probably the local gastro pub I've ever been too. Wife and I were regulars in our 4 years in the Cuse. That's right 4 long ridiculously cold winters...still recovering 15 years on...
Remind them about 62-0