Hi from Seattle...

[plh]

The wet but very green state! Just checking out some of the messages. It's good to know there is a site for Dads. I had no idea there were so many who needed to vent.

I'll check back, but in the mean time thanks for being here!

plh
(the other stayathome parent)

[Don-Dad]

Welcome to our site :)

[2nd time around]

Hi plh and welcome,
I am from the Seattle area. I was born and raised in Tacoma and spent 20 years in Enumclaw. Moved to New York in 2002 and am still adjusting to the "east coast attitude". Flying home on the 18th for family xmas, can't wait to see Mt. Rainier and have some quality beer!

[hockeydad]

howdy plh

love seattle. great coffee and fabulous people. I even enjoyed the rock and roll experience musuem downtown despite the fact it looks a little like something that comes out of my daughters nose. Come on back and write away. I've gotten some pretty great advice out of the people on this site and a little whining out of my system.

[Jackson's Dad]

2nd Time: East coast attitude? Whaddya mean by that? You got a problem with our attitude? :wink:

Plh (can we call you Phil?), welcome to the gang!

[tt3]

eh, all you coastal folks, I tell ya! Theres what? 5? members from landlocked states? :lol:

Welcome Plh!

[Jackson's Dad]

Actually, I'm a born and bred east coaster (Buffalo, NY). San Fran was just a temporary pre-kids jaunt. You can tell my roots because I just went out and bought my first winter coat in 8 years, and man did I have fun. Winter coats these days are more sophisticated than my car. Who knew you could geek out on a coat?

[SmokinZBT]

I grew up in the Bay Area, still can't get used to the weather in the Midwest. I just got a new "casual" winter jacket, as my wife, a lanlubber from Detroit calls it. It replaces the Columbia jacket I bought my freshman year in college... in 1991. Sure, its day-glo green and pink, but it kept me warm, why do I need another one?:wink:
Wink Growing up, I think I had two jackets, maybe only one, I can't remember. One for when its cold, and one for going to Tahoe to ski. I might have just used the cold weather jacket with an extra sweatshirt to ski, I can't remember. I currently have 4 jackets (not counting the one that is being replaced, should be donated this week). This is getting to be worse than shoes. Used to only need two pairs of shoes too, now I have 7. I have more pairs of shoes than jeans. What has my life come to?:roll:

[hockeydad]

I am a certified gear nut (CGN). Can't tell you a darn thing about anything important in the world but I can waste hours talking about everything from ultralight bivy sacks to Gore Tex XCR. I'm dying to ask what kind of coats. But I'm going to resist.

[hockeydad]

Jax-dad wrote:
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Actually, I'm a born and bred east coaster (Buffalo, NY).


I'm out in Portland about two months back visiting my sister and BIL. We go to this bar on Sunday where the Bills backers sometimes meet. The bar has an ex-Buffalonian owner. On the menu is Beef on Weck. I almost wet myself. So I order it extra au jus on the side. It comes out with THICK sliced roast beef on a hard roll that had only SESAME SEEDS on top. There was a pickle slice and horseradish but the cole slaw :cry: . I ask you how many years does a Buffalonian have to be away before he thinks this is acceptable! Blasphemy I tell you. Blasphemy.

[Jackson's Dad]

Hockey -- oh man, I cringe just thinking about that sorry excuse for a Beef on Weck. It's like the "Original Buffalo Wings" restaurants you see that serve... barbeque sauce. Blasphemy! My wife is still bugging me to go to the Anchor Bar for the real deal... maybe we can make it this year when we had back for Christmas (you never can make firm travel plans to Buffalo in the winter).

Mmmmm.... I remember the food at Christmas parties with the huge extended family, where there'd be piles of roast beef, tubs of horseradish, and the saltiest kummelweck rolls, along with a huge pile of kielbasa (both red and white). MMmMMMmmm... Unfortunately, now that all the kids have grown and moved away (and all the older generation tries to eat healthier), we rarely have these meals anymore. Sigh.

The jacket I got was a North Face Boundary Acclimate -- one of these three in one with the waterproof shell and the zip-out 200wt fleece jacket. Nice and warm. Just in time, since today's forecast is for "ice pellets".

[hockeydad]

Good choice on jackets Jax-Dad. I got a North Face second hand from an REI scratch and dent sale. Incredibly cheap. I think it's an older Halo model, but can't be sure. It works fantastic and has become my goto shell for winter weather. The guy who returned it said it leaked at the seams. Any coat after a couple of years will do this. So I bought it and sealed it with TX Direct waterproofing and voila new coat.

Polish sausage from the broadway market. UMMMmmm Yummy. Butter lambs on easter and cannoli from the Italian bakeries.

We lived out in Elma so chicken wings came from East Aurora - the Barbill and Walliweins (never can spell it) and pizza and subs from Pasquales. Wow, I'm getting excited just thinking of it.

[Don-Dad]

Yuck to the polish sausage, mom made me eat once as a kid and I barfed can't stomach it to this day.

But the beef on weck I get from time to time when visiting my parents in Angola. We used to eat that every year on news years eve and my parents would let us have slow gin fizzes, well after about age 16 or so and only one.

But almost every trip to their house means a stop at Blasedell pizza, yummy. Their wings are pretty decent too. I have never actually had wings from the Anchor bar. BTW, if your really desperate and want to burn some cash, http://www.anchorbar.com/products.asp

We do have a really good place for pizza and wings in North Syracuse called Twin trees, never had a bad pizza there and have sampled many :)

[Jackson's Dad]

Butter lambs.. now there's a memory! How about a good ol' friday night fish fry? Yummm... My mom used to do take out with the fish in these little foil packets that smelled so good when she opened them.

Don! You don't like kielbasa? Dems fightin' words! ;)

I grew up in a beat up old farm house in the ourskirts of Orchard Park. Rick James and most of the Buffalo Bills lived a mile away. My cousins live in East Aurora, but never took me to that place!

I never got to the Anchor Bar when I lived in the area, but I've been a few times since. It's a dive, with history. My older brother and I went there once. We were flying in from SF for the holidays, and got in around 4, so we decided to get some wings and pizza. As we sat, drinking our Labatts and waiting, there was this old woman sitting behind us. She was wearing this shabby old coat, chatting with everyone, so we assumed she was a long-time regular. But then she stood up, took off the coat to reveal a sequined dress (!) and went up on stage and started singing the blues. Amazing. We just sat there, ate our wings, enjoyed the music, and wondered how we missed this side of Buffalo when we had lived there.

Other Buffalo trivia. Remember Chippewa Street? When I was a kid, it was notorious for being the red light district. Now, it is filled with trendy bars and restaurants. Love it.

[Don-Dad]

Other Buffalo trivia. Remember Chippewa Street? When I was a kid, it was notorious for being the red light district. Now, it is filled with trendy bars and restaurants. Love it.

Hehehe,

When we were kids and poked fun at each other, the line" Your momma works on Chippewa." was often used :lol:

Wasn't it out in East Aurora were Rick James committed that murder?

And Yes, Fish frys were oh so good, still are. Ahh the memories.

[hockeydad]

Don wrote:When we were kids and poked fun at each other, the line" Your momma works on Chippewa." was often used

Chippewa was a running joke amongst our crowd too. None of us had ever been down there though. Then it goes and gets all trendy and uppity like Jax-dad said.

Crazy thing happened though a couple years ago when I was back for the Xmas - New Years Holiday. A bunch of us went down to Chippewa to the bars then walked towards the ball drop. Well we timed it poorly (drunks make bad time keepers) and all the revelers were heading back as we were heading up. Big mesh of people. All of a sudden this lady gives me a walk-by butt grab. Couldn't believe it. Right there on Chippewa street. It was like a fullfillment of all those childhood stories. I'm sure she must have been absolutely bloto, but still my Buffalo experience was complete.

After silly stories like that I wonder if I really am in my 30's.

I never was crazy about fish fry when I was there, probably cause I had to work eight bazillion beer-battered, fish fry fridays at dive restaurants like the Old Log Cabin and Autumnview. Also got disgusted by potato pancake mondays (somehow I think it included liver but I'm blocking that out).

I haven't checked in a long time but tell me they still make Genny Cream Ale and Genny Pounders. Nothing upon this earth can create a hangover quite like a night of Genny delight.

[Jackson's Dad]

A friend of mine make wings at the local pizza place. We benefitted from free food, but she never touched them again.

I do believe Genny is still made. The crazy thing -- it comes in bottles now! My uncle picked up a case for a family reunion a few years back (reliving his college days) and we were all shocked at the lack of a pop-top. Luckily, they were screw-tops, so not all was lost.

[Don-Dad]

Yes, Genny is still around. And I have not so fond memories of that stuff back in the college days, in bottles, the pounders.