A walk along a beautiful path.
After our delicious buffet lunch Saturday, my dear wife Karen and I were glad she had purposely parked in a lot far from our destination.
We were at a spot filled with beautiful grounds, and our path to the car took us past carefully groomed gardens.
This island burst with color.
We wondered out loud how many workers are tasked with taking care of the grounds. There were plenty of plants full of blooms.
Wild looking, but exactly where it’s supposed to be.
There were also wild grasses placed in appropriate spots between the walkways and roadways.
And there also loomed over it all the reminder that all of this lushness was made possible by a very big business.
The Tower Hotel overlooks the pretty premises at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, N.Y.
The many floors of the newer Tower Hotel at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, N.Y. hold the overnight guests who help fill the gaming floors, dozen restaurants, four golf courses, four nightclubs, Showroom and Event Center.
It all added up to one great weekend buffet lunch — h ow does Chinese stir fry with shrimp, beef and house brown sauce for me and Mexican taco salad in a tortilla bowl for Karen, plus peel and eat shrimp for me, and carrot cake for Karen and sugar free cheesecake for me for dessert, sound? — followed by the treat of pretty sights.
The original hotel, some two decades old, has a lower profile.
And I still have a big load of credit on my Christmas present gift card from Karen.
What’s the best buffet food you’ve ever had, and where did you get it? Where have you discovered pretty grounds mixed among big business centers? Would you rather go to the Lava dance club, the Tin Rooster country music club, The Gig rock club, or The Turquoise Tiger 1940s style cocktail lounge, and why?
Mark Bialczak 
I’ve watched guys do that kind of work. They’re as artistic as the person who designs it.
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Yes, indeed, the gardeners got it going on, Cat, I truly agree with you there. They have to have a great eye and steady hands.
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Your buffet and say sound fabulous Mark. I have to say, since you asked, I don’t recall a buffet that was fabulous. Wait! Okay, regular buffets, they’ve been okay. But my nephews started a BBQ sauce business, which went hand in hand with their catering and then they built a small place to hold events and once a month they put out a buffet for the public. THAT is the most fabulous buffet ever. I do look forward to that. And that setting has a fabulous view of rolling fields, hills, and great shots of an undisturbed sky. Okay, I was wrong. That buffet is always fabulous.
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And the fact that is only once a month, and held by your nephews, makes it even more fabulous, I think, Colleen. That is two attributes you can’t beat, my friend.
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You would REALLY enjoy it Mark. 🙂
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I would hit all those clubs, but I would end up singing the music of my people at the country hangout.
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I knew that would be your answer, Apple Pie, for yo to be enjoying the music of your people. My dear wife Karen and I will check it out and I will give you a report, my friend.
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That was a pastoral walk, indeed! Lovely! I wouldn’t know which to select from those restaurant choices, but the 40s lounge sounded interesting. 😀
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We have that card and 4 1/2 months to try them all, Rachel!
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WOO HOO! That will be a lot of fun when the leaves start turning, too, when you walk around afterwards. 🙂
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Yes, it’ll be pretty leave-hunting out there, too, Rachel!
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🙂 I bet!
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Wow! What delicious looking eye candy. The island bursting with color is amazing! Here you go again asking me about food! I love any buffet, the more the merrier. 🙂
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Here I go again, Mrs. B. Aren’t I a terrific friend?
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Sounds wonderful and the sights beautiful, Zak. Just say no to the buffet. …
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I say yes, Aud. Just not every week, you know …
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I just cannot make myself partake, Zak. I try…I can’t get past the waiting or the wondering how long its been there. I do think they can look scrumptious and probably are, but it’s a mind over matter thing for me. LOL
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This is an interesting buffett, Aud. All the waiting is done outside the place, as the line at peak dinner periods is quite long. But once inside, there are so many food stations, that the only wait I encounter is at the stir fry station, and that’s because you scoop your ingredients and hand the plate to the chef, who makes it on the grill in front of you. And because of the traffic, all the food always looks fresh to me. Anyway. … You is what you is regarding buffets. 🙂
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beautiful and i love your mix of cuisines from the buffet, that’s what’s so fun about them. i’ll bet you both were in heaven. i think karen gave you the perfect gift, she obviously knows you so well –
one of my favs ever was a massive asian buffet, all sorts of crazy things, and fried things, and soups, and noodle things, and rice things, and cookies, and god knows what, but it was great. )
from the choices your offered, i would prob go to the retro cocktail lounge, it could be really fun )
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I want to eventually go to them all, but yes, probably start with the cocktail lounge, Beth. You would love this buffet. It has Asian, Mexican, Native American, American, breakfast, sushi, soups, salads, desserts. Oh, yeah, the shrimp. Yum.
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great idea, mark. work your way through them like a big buffet. (the one you went to sounds amazingly good)
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A buffet of fun. Yee-hah! There’s the country one. )
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Is that one of the seven new casino’s Cumo gave us? The grounds do look very nice.
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No, Kim, this one has been around 25 years. It is Native American owned.
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Oh now I understand.
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The question is: did you gamble? On our way back from Kansas, we stopped into a couple Oklahoma casinos on the highway. I turned $10 into $81 at the first and lost it all at the second. 😦 I take it you like shrimp. I do, too! Those flowers are lovely. Everything is turning yellow and dry in Texas, but Kansas was much prettier. And those NY flowers are even prettier by far. Can’t decide between the Rooster and the Tiger. Guess I’d have to go to both. In different outfits. Or maybe a 1940s Nudie outfit would work for both.
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We ate, and I sat while my wife lost a bit on the machines. I do like the shrimp, Kerbey! Yes, they planted some very pretty flowers. Bring enough outfits for all the clubs is a good idea, and this Nudie outfit thing sounds pretty intriguing to me, my friend. I’ll have to Google what that was in the 40s.
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Nudie was a designer who did spangly outfits for stars like Roy Rogers and others.
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Well gotta get mind outta the gutter, don’t you think, Kerby? I like spangly outfits!
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There ya go! And everyone thinks that about Nudie, of course.
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On weekends, a local Indian restaurant has a buffet style lunch. I love it! You know, Mark, that 40’s style cocktail lounge sounds good, I would try that!
Glad you and Karen enjoyed yourselves so much!
Diana xo
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I think come fall, Karen and I will try that lounge out, Diana. Wish you lived close enough to join us.
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Thanks for the grounding post of beauty, Mark. I often notice the juxtaposition of nature with industry. Lovely to see this here today.
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It does seem to make leaders good to pretty up the grounds, Ann. Thanks for stopping by as always as you prep for the Fringe!
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Yikes! That’s a heapin’ pile of gardenin’. It is very beautiful Mark. As you say, big money can do that. Sigh. that always leaves me with a conundrum. There is no doubt that the beauty would not be there at all if not for the companies, and yet some how it seems somewhat elitist. A playground for the well-to-do. And yet it can be shared by others as well. I always feel guilty but then why should I feel guilty about beauty? Sigh, all so confusing.
Anyway, thanks for the pics and post Mark. Very beautiful and a great meal too. A wonderful way to spend a Saturday and a delightful gift from your wife..
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It is a great gift that is lasting all year, Paul. I understand your conflict, too. But it’s better that they treat the land well than otherwise, I figure.
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Wonderful pictures!
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Thanks, Mimi. I hope the mountain is treating you and Andy well, my friend.
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Thanks for sharing the beauty in N.Y. Mark 😀
I have never been there, so I can’t answer your questions.
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