Mary Fahl sounds great with Syracuse’s backing

Mary Fahl sounds great playing with musicians from Syracuse. Mark Doyle told me so this spring, when we were talking about his “Guitar Noir” performances coming up at the Auburn Public Theater and the M&T Syracuse Jazz Fest. One of the important musical elements in the veteran Syracuse musician, band leader, arranger and producer’s life…

Kitty Hoynes, you saw it with that Guy

I had lunch this week in downtown Syracuse with my great friend Jim McKeever, author of terrific blog Irish Investigations. As we usually do for our sessions of catch up on life with my dear wife Karen and his great girlfriend MG and our offspring, which leads to memories of our years together at the…

At Festa Italiana, folks eat it up

Even the name sounds delicious. Festa Italiana. Rolls right off the tongue, doesn’t it? Well, sure, downtown Syracuse has its share of festivals that declare their devotion to the culinary. The Crawfish Festival is named after the bright red mud bug dug so much down New Orleans way, and in May, Clinton Square welcomed folks…

Another formidable building in downtown Syracuse

With a paycheck in the account from my two freelance stories for the September issue of the glossy magazine, I took a quick stroll to part with it after lunch the other day. No, there was not fair at a castle in downtown Syracuse to sign up for a quick joust. Look closely. No moat.…

There will be roast beef with cheddar and horseradish for lunch

Once upon a time there was a joint in Syracuse that was known for a roast beef sandwich with meat so tender, rollss so fresh, cheddar so sharp and horseradish so hot. Clark’s Ale House was its name, and it sat on a street flanking the Landmark Theatre. Oh, yeah, it had a an ample…

Does anybody really know what time it is?

On the first day of this fourth week of this new full-time job, I knew it was time to take a lunchtime shot of the clocks that I pass while walking during my 60-minute break. At the corner of Warren and East Washington streets, just a block from Hanover Square, the Key Bank branch has…

Arts, crafts and the people who make them

People from more than 30 states and Canada descended upon downtown Syracuse last weekend for the annual Arts and Crafts Festival. The least my dear wife Karen and I could do was walk the streets around Columbus Circle when we got out of work last Friday night. I wanted to stock up on photos and…

What’s that sound? A little dance, a little jazz

The second Friday night departure from my reentry into the 40-hour weekday working world saw me rushing out of the building to find my dear wife Karen waiting patiently around the corner, watching the traffic go by. Again. We chatted about our day as we walked the short way to the car up at the…

A beautiful building, coming and going

The reaction to my lunchtime walk iPhone 4 photo tour through downtown Syracuse last week convinced me that you folks like a taste of what these blocks hold. This is the University Building, as in, built back in the early 1900s by Syracuse University. Now its 10 floors are used by numerous companies. Including the…

3 fountains and a lunch from home in 60 minutes

So how much can you accomplish in a 60-minute lunch break in downtown Syracuse? You can sit on a bench and eat the lunch you packed, a ham-and-cheese sandwich and a baggie of baby carrots chased with a can of Arnold Palmer Zero, and thrill at how chilled your brand new Igloo lunch bag kept…