Maria and I recently realized that we got sluggish and a bit lazy during the worst pandemic years. We just stopped going out because I was at high risk, and it wasn’t safe.
Our liberation also confirmed there are now a lot of neat places to go around here post-pandemic. That is exciting, we are in the country where most folks stay home anyway.
Lately, we’ve launched our own food and culture revolution, heading out to new restaurants, bars, movies, dinners with friends, and evenings listening to some of the great bands that make music around here.
(Above: The Dave Cuiti Jazz Band, Maria’s friend Mandy is on the drums.)
Last night another place we returned to that we loved instantly, the Unihog, a funky and fun bar/restaurant and music place in the resurging old town of Hoosick Falls.
We went to see Maria’s friend Mandy, the drummer for David Cutie’s Jazz Bands (he leads three different bands, all of whom are great) at Unihog, which calls itself a “Live Music Bar,” that’s a pretty good description. The Unihog is beyond funky and we were both instantly comfortable.
In the country, restaurants can be fun, but they are almost never pretentious.
Dart games were running all night.
Some people even bring their dogs alone, and they are welcome.
(David Cutie)
Tuesday night is Taco night, and the food was excellent. For the first time in a long time, I ordered a scotch on the rocks, my drink of choice for many years. I don’t drink much anymore.
I fell in love with the Unihog right away. People bring their dogs, straight, gay, and all kinds of people come to hear the music, play darts, and sit at the bar.
The Union was a factory at one time or another, and it still has that feeling.
Maria had one small glass of wine (she was driving), and I loved my scotch and savored it.
Once wealthy manufacturing is down, Hoosick Falls has fallen hard but is having a real comeback; Tuesday Taco Nights with music will get us back regularly.
Two young women sat on a bench in front of us. They were fun to be around, their love for one another was heart-lifting, and they were beautiful to see; they seemed to dance to the music without getting up; they were in their happy world.
Young love is always special and pure and unjaded; I always rejoice at seeing it.
They loved each other so much and were so glad to be together; this is what the world should be like. How do people dry up so much and get grumpy when they age?
Maria and I talked all night about how much we enjoy our evenings out and how we must keep it up.
No problem there, I think. We’re back in the groove.
We’ll start by being back at the Unihog next week, and then we’ll meet friends in Saratoga Springs for some Indian Food. That weekend, we’re also meeting friends for dinner and some Karaoke in the nearby town of Greenwich.
As it turned out, we both got Covid anyway, even after all that hiding. It’s not stopping us any longer.
Dave Ciuti’s Jazz Band was on the menu last night, and we sat and listened and very much enjoyed the music for several hours.
As we re-emerge from the Covid cave, we find that all kinds of people, most of them younger, have been busy, they are launching a simple food and cultural revolution.
May it grow and prosper. We’ll be there.