A Conversation
Wonderful friend Ally: Hey, I have an idea!
Me: Ooh an idea! What is it?
Wonderful friend Ally: Let’s go to Buffalo to learn about architecture! You can make some photographs and I can make some sketches.
Me: You’re brilliant! And wonderful. Let’s go!

So we did.

Today, Ally and I spent the morning on a walking tour of historic, beautiful, and interesting buildings in Buffalo, NY. Even though Buffalo is only an hour from Rochester, I’ve been there for exactly two reasons:

1. NSYNC concert in 2002
2. Hockey tournaments for my brother

I can’t tell you nearly as much about the buildings as I’d like to, mostly because I was too busy playing with my camera to pay attention. However, I did manage to caption all the photos in the gallery below with the name of each building. For more information, either contact Ally (a very smart, delightful person who asked the tour guide a whole bunch of intelligent questions) or take a tour!

Dun Building

I just like old signage

Old Post Office

Old signs are fun

Guaranty Building

Buffalo Savings Bank

Guaranty Building

Pearl Street Grill and Brewery

Old Post Office (with a bison for Buffalo!)

St. Paul’s Cathedral

A really neat bonus was that someone was actually playing the organ at St. Joseph’s Cathedral. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard live organ music before and really enjoyed it.

After a delicious lunch of toast, cheese, and spicy red peppers at Five Points Bakery, we made our way to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Darwin Martin House, which is currently undergoing a massive restoration project. The tour guide was very knowledgeable about all things Frank Lloyd Wright, Martin family, and architecture of the time period. She encouraged us to return for a visit this fall when the restoration will be completed and photos of the interior allowed. The outside of the house is still pretty cool:

I still don’t know much about Buffalo, but it has neat buildings, informative tour guides, tasty toast, and cool street art:

Cheers to a great friend for a good day!