Glen Park in Williamsville, NY

So it happened again.

I vowed to fully update you and then my life when to pieces again.  On the positive side, I’m now employed as the Acting Conservator at the Textile Museum of Canada. I volunteered at the museum for five years, so I’m very pleased I can finally work there and get paid for my efforts. On the negative side, my Grandma died the same day I started at the museum. Having the two events occur at the same time propelled me to a stress level I would not recommend to anyone.

So let’s have another try at those posts I have notes for but have never gotten around to writing.

Every Victoria Day long weekend in May, my parents and I hop in the car and spend the weekend just over the US border in the Buffalo area. Our prime motivation is shopping for things that aren’t easy to find in Canada or are much cheaper to buy in the States, like books and amazing US craft beer. It has become a tradition that one dinner is spent here:

This is the Original Pancake House in Williamsville, NY located roughly near the intersection of Main St. and S. Cayuga Rd. This restaurant is a local chain serving excellent pancakes, waffles, and other breakfast-based delights. It is not the most exciting restaurant you’ve ever been to and typically the dinner crowd is senior citizens, but there’s no way I would skip a chance to eat their blueberry (or banana) pancakes.

This year we arrived a little early for dinner, so we went for a walk down Main St. This gave me a chance to take a photo of the sign that hangs outside the nearby liquor store that I have been admiring for a number of years (but my photo is from a distance because the door was being guarded by a very grumpy looking clerk):

On our meander we found Glen Park, which is located next to Elliot Creek:

As we followed the path we found a number of old mills next to the park in various stages of dilapidation. The first mill in Williamsville was built in 1811 and mills provided the economic backbone for the area throughout the 19^th century. In their current state you can only see a glimmer of their former power:  

We only made it so far into the park because it was overrun with a wedding party and prom-ready teenagers taking photos. The scene looked something like this:

The land also used to house nightclubs from the 1940’s-1970’s which, over the years, had such diverse acts as Sly and the Family Stone to the Three Stooges. After fires in 1968 and 1973 gutted most of the buildings, the land was converted to Glen Park. It is used as parkland and various temporary summer events, such as an amusement park and a music festival.