Shop Around

Hello World, Alert readers may be wondering - and well may they wonder indeed - if our annual Christmas caravan has finally pulled into the terminal, or whether we continue to chase after far-flung friends and relatives with presents for one and all. Usually by the time the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend rolls around, we can pack away the caravan for another season, but not this time, as we still have some of the more elusive individuals to track down yet. But we have been up to the Great White North and returned to tell the tale, so that's one more stop off the caravan's itinerary so far, and that's not just a lot of sugar plum fairies, by holly. We started out bright and early on Saturday morning, with plans to meet our friends at the 76 Diner in Latham for lunch. This worked out better than expected, as the weather was fine and the traffic was negligible, and we ended up getting there before anyone else, in spite of the fact that we were coming from 150 miles away and they only needed to come from the other side of town. But finally everybody showed up and we had a very nice lunch, one might even say, sedate by our usual standards - by which I mean that the diner staff did not have to hold us at bay with whips and chairs, while the local police escorted us out. After lunch, we decided to take advantage of proximity, and check in to the nearby La Quinta hotel, where we have stayed on several occasions, and expected more of their usual hospitality, that we have come to know and appreciate over the years. Not so fast! Apparently there is such a thing as the Executive Suite, which I had reserved this time around, and I have to tell you that mere words would be woefully inadequate to describe it properly. It was not only huge, and tastefully decorated, but fully handicap accessible, and - la piece de la resistance - comes complete with its very own hot tub, right in the room. We walked into the room, and our jaws dropped, not just from the size of the place (it was enormous) but all of the amenities, like the kitchen, large closet, gigantic bathroom, and of course, that decadent hot tub. As I said, we've stayed there before, and in fact, friends of ours once stayed there in a different room with a hot tub, but we never in our lives dreamed of a room like this one, so we couldn't have even asked for it if we wanted to, since we had no idea that it existed in the first place. Even more astounding, it cost the same as their regular rooms (which are in the $100 range, very reasonable nowadays) and if I had only known then, what I know now, we certainly would have requested this very same room each time we stayed there. It's true that it has only one room, so it's not technically a "suite," executive or otherwise, but it more than makes up in features what it lacks in doors, and as far as I'm concerned, we can just call it "Paradise" and leave it at that. Two of our friends bought a new house, and moved from one side of town to the other, so we jumped in the car and raced over there to get the tour and see what all the excitement was about. It turned out to be a lovely place, in remarkably "move-in" condition, in a quiet neighborhood of modest homes, just right for empty-nesters looking for a simpler lifestyle. There's plenty of room for them and their cats, and even a couple of spare bedrooms for guests, plus more storage than you would expect from its size, and all the conveniences that anyone could hope for, including a fireplace in the living room. It will come as a surprise to no one that for us, the best part of the tour was their wonderfully elaborate train layout in the basement, which was every bit as exciting to see in person, as the Winter Wonderland Train Ride video made it appear. And that's not just the sleigh bells and snowmen talking, believe me. Speaking of the holly jolly train video, I couldn't help but notice on my recent swing by the site, that the page views had only improved to a paltry 33 from the previous pathetic 28, so come on, people - let's show that we can do better than that. All aboard! Since it was still daylight, we figured the time was right for one of our favorite shopping destinations in the local area, Hewitt's, where we snapped up some after-Christmas bargains on holiday decorations and novelty lights. Of course, every day is a bargain day at the nearby Dollar General, where the variety is just as appealing as the prices, and always lots of interesting things to look at. While we were out, we picked up some pizza for dinner, and brought it to the hotel, where it was no trouble to fit 6 people comfortably in our spacious room with plenty of seating to go around. Our original plan was to go in the pool, but instead, we dove into the free WiFi in the room, and amused ourselves pursuing trivia and entertainment online. We sensed that our room was in the hotel's party hallway, with lots of running up and down, giggling and yelling the way youngsters do - so we were surprised later that it turned out to be very quiet overnight, compared to what we were expecting. After our friends left, Bill and I took advantage of the hot tub with just the 2 of us, and it ended up being just as well, because that's basically all that would fit in there, and even that was a snug fit. But it was very warm and soothing after a busy day, and its restorative powers cannot be overstated, believe me. In the morning, our friends came back to join us for the hotel's breakfast, and we were able to relax and enjoy ourselves before checking out at noon. From there, we were determined to hit the shopping circuit in earnest, and devil take the hindmost. We started at the sprawling Goodwill, which certainly has something for everyone, as well as some items that you couldn't think of anybody at all that could possibly make use of them. After that, we went to yet another Hewitt's for more post-season bargains, and once again, did not leave empty-handed, I can assure you. Across the street is Cracker Barrel, where their selection of shakers did not disappoint, and their old-fashioned confections always manage to sweeten the pot. (Our favorite story was the cashier, when we said that we were tourists from downstate, explained to us that his uncle was also a downstater - he lives in Poughkeepsie. That made us laugh, because Poughkeepsie is what we consider upstate, and here he's thinking that his uncle is all the way down in the apple pit with those of us living on the fringes of the city that never sleeps. Poughkeepsie may fancy itself "The Queen City of the Hudson," but it's got a long way to go to reach "The Queen City on the Sound," by golly.) All in all, it must be said that we hopped aboard the commerce bandwagon, and rode that thing right into the ground - leaving every store with bulging bags full of goodies, and happy merchants on every side in our wake. In fact, I'm expecting my commendation from Governor Cuomo's economic advisers any day now, for spending so much money in the Albany area over the weekend - although truth to tell, for as much damage as we did to our poor beleaguered wallets, I'm surprised that he didn't show up in person to hand us the keys to the city. Anyone can tell you that marathon shopping works up quite an appetite, and luckily for us, Cracker Barrel is located in the same parking lot as Denny's, so anybody could see what was about to happen next, and plenty of it. I can tell you that many things change in this cockamamie world, but Denny's is a treat that never grows old. Speaking of treats, we went from there to visit our friends on the other side of Albany, who promised to shower us with gifts, that is, as long as we could navigate the hundreds of tiny slanted wooden steps up to their house in the wilderness, that were smothered in varying stages of snow, ice, slush, and other super-slippery surfaces that the semi-conductor industry could only hope to achieve. Our friends are not known for their misanthropic ways, but my personal feeling is that common hospitality demands a ski lift in a case like that, or at the very least, a rope line that guests could use to pull themselves hand-over-hand safely to their destination, as well as hang on for dear life on the way back down. When we successfully overcame the obstacles, they had no choice but to give us our presents as a reward, which we were not in the least embarrassed to accept, with the feeling that we had certainly earned them fair and square. All too soon, it was time to pack up and hit the road for home, after taking our life in our hands, sliding back down the hillside to our car, and glad to make it in one piece under the circumstances. The trip home was uneventful, which is always my favorite way to travel, and we arrived at our doorstep around 9:30 PM to find everything quiet and under control. The cats greeted our return with their trademark indifference, and we in no way improved our popularity when they discovered that all of our vast cornucopia of conspicuous consumption included not a single cat toy or kitty treat of any kind. I'll admit that I wasn't surprised when they fired off angry letters to Governor Cuomo (so much for our commendation, alas!) but frankly, I thought the protest songs were just way too much. Probably our best bet would be to lay low and wait until this whole thing just blows over, and give it some time to cool off. I hear that Poughkeepsie is very nice this time of year. Elle