Dayna and I made a trip with our friends Doug and Marisa to Dayna and Marisa's alma mater, SUNY Oneonta for the weekend. They are brothers in the co-ed service fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega (APO). Some of the brothers organized a reunion of sorts with different gatherings and events scheduled for the weekend.
We left the city and passed by the new...
...and the old.
We made it up to Oneonta in about 4 1/2 hours (with traffic). We met some of the brothers at a local Applebee's where I caved and had some buffalo chicken fingers and onion rings. The rings were breaded and okay, but the fingers were uber-salty and I vowed never again! I did get to meet many of the brothers and we had a great time hanging out (as I yelled as the TV while the Sox played).
Upon arriving at our hotel, Marisa and Dayna said there was a local Oneonta specialty that Doug and I must try, "cold cheese" pizza. They've been trying to sell me on this for months, but I was skeptical. I thought maybe this was a "last call" type of food that they had after hitting the bars and were just romanticizing it. But apparantly at least two places, Sal''s on Main Street and Joe Ruffino's Pizza both sell this local variation. It's a regular pizza (we ordered cheese) and a big aluminum foil container comes on the side with shredded cold mozzarella to put on top as you eat it. Of course, this is not complete without the crushed red pepper flakes. So, you start with this...
Add some of this on top...
...and you end up with this. Actually it was really good, and I hadn't even had anything to drink. The bottom part of the cold cheese melts on to the pizza and the top stays loose. I highly recommend folding your slice if you eat this to prevent any spillage. Not the BEST pizza I have ever eaten, but it does possess a certain raffish appeal.
I just took a whole mess of pictures this weekend as the leaves were peaking. Oneonta is known as the "City of the Hills" and it provided for some spectacular views. I'll just let Mama Nature do the talkin on these...
College Camp. An area off campus at SUNY Oneonta that is used for teaching, get togethers, social, events and such.
The brothers were able to book it for a few hours for lunch, reminiscing with some of the founding brothers and to work on a service project.
Some more trees!
I did a little walking around and saw this sign in my travels. It's just a really nice, peaceful, relaxing area.
Lots of land and a basketball court. Doug schooled me on the court, but once I master my fadeaway shot, it's all over, baby!
More trees!
The cabin where we had lunch. I think I'll move in here and set up shop making custom furniture.
The College Observatory. I wish my school had one of those.
Xi Rho is the Oneonta chapter of APO.
Outside of the cabin.
Inside the cabin working on the service project. What the brothers did was have everyone attending bring some items from a list (canned goods, playing cards, toiletries, pre-packaged foods, books, CDs, DVDs, etc..., packed them in APO mailboxes and shipped them to soldiers fighting in the Middle East. I though it was a pretty good thing to incorporate service in with the reunion/hanging out.
The deck on the back of the cabin.
More trees...
The entrance to the campus.
A wall just outside of the campus that local fraternities and sororities took turns painting. The most recent was TKE (Tau Kappa Epsilon).
This pond is behind the student center on the campus. I wasn't able to get up high enough to get a full shot, but the pond is in the shape of New York State.
A closer shot of the fountain and the trees.
One of the many deer we saw on campus.
After leaving campus, we went back to the hotel to rest for a bit, then we headed on down the road to the one Roadfood place I have been dying to check out for at least 5 years: Brooks' House of Bar-B-Q.
Once I read this sign, I thought, "Well, now I HAVE to check out the pit and get some pics!". It was a moral imperative. Really.
They have some great outdoor seating if you just want to get your food to go and hang outside with your family.
The money shot. That is some righteous looking chicken. Don't be fooled into thinking that this is burned, because it isn't. I walked into the pit and asked the pitmaster if I could take some pictures. He stepped out of the way but I asked if minded me taking pics of him too...
So he grabbed hold of the goods and I snapped away.
Hard at work "flippin' the birds"! hehe I always wanted to work that into a sentence.
The brothers reserved the Banquet Room as there were about 40 of us.
A children's play area.
And the Banquet Room.
They have this van and a golf cart on site for transporting the food from one building to another. It's a pretty big property.
Inside the Banquet Room.
All we could eat BBQ chicken...
Ribs...
and Roast beef
A close-up of my chicken. This is some seriously good BBQ chicken!!! I knew we were in for some good eats when we pulled into the parking lot and I could smell the charcoal smoke and the perfume of chicken permeated the air. Marisa and I both let out a primal scream in anticipation of the food to come. This place really reminded me of every firehouse chicken BBQ I ate in CNY as a kid. The local firehouse (the Lake Delta Fire Department) was a few doors down from my grandma's house, so I would walk through a field and pickup a box of BBQ chicken dinners and we would sit in the backyard and chow down. I asked the pitmaster if this was the "Cornell" style chicken that is prevalent in the region. He said not exactly, but somewhat similar. They use a vinegar base and some spices. No tomatoes in this sauce, although I believe they make a tomato based BBQ sauce.
More chicken and the quintissential triumvirate of Central NY salads: potato, macaroni and coleslaw. No BBQ would be complete without them. I must have knocked back 3 breasts and a leg before I gave in. So good! I usually don't eat the skin, but it would be almost criminal to throw it away here. It has so much flavor and texture and the chicken is smoky and very moist.
After dinner, I sat out on the back deck of the banquet room and watched the sun go down and I spent some QT with my friends. Honestly, if someone had given me a sleeping bag and a pillow, I would have been perfectly happy to wake up to the sun rising on that deck. Just wonderful. A perfect night.
The back of the Banquet Room.
Lots of benches and chairs to sit on. The one I had was a rocker and I just took in the quiet night.
A current shot of the Brooks' property. They do everything (I believe) on site. Not sure if they still have the poultry farm that was the beginning of the restaurant.
An older shot of the property.
In the gift shop, there is a glass window where you can watch the bottles getting their labels put on.
Pretty neat.
They have a whole line of sauces including a spiedie sauce.
NOW I wish I had bought this!
Hats
Some menus from days gone by...They also served Texas Hots and something called Mexican Hots here at one point.
Lots of sauces to choose from.
I just love this sign!! The next picture shows the second stage of the sign.
How can you not love this? Actually, I do know someone who wouldn't eat here for years as they were freaked out by the sign and thought it was rather morbid.
After leaving Brooks', we made our way to Schenevus, NY. One of the brothers is a Mason and was able to secure use of his lodge for the evening. We drove by the Chief Schenevus Restaurant & Bakery, a place that fellow Roadfooder Cosmos had told me about. Once we parked, I ran out of the car, camera in hand and a good natured shouting match transpired between myself and the girlfriend. It went something like this:
Dayna: Where are you going?
Bill: To see if Chief Schenevus is still open and maybe get a couple of pictures!
Dayna: You're crazy!
Bill: On honey, you know I don't like it when you talk about yourself that way!
Dayna: Freakboy!
The next morning, we checked out of our hotel and met most of the group at the Neptune Diner for breakfast. I whipped out the camera and got many strange looks and questions from my fellow diners. Most of them thought it was pretty cool. Finally!!
Outside the Neptune Diner.
The double door into the diner.
Some pride in the local Oneonta Tigers, the NY-Penn League affiliate of the Detroit Tigers.
The menu.
Marisa's cheese omelet with home fries and jalapenos on the side (per request)
Doug's French Toast I am so craving this right now!
Dayna's Western Omelet with home fries.
My Mediterranean (aka Greek) omelet with home fries. Excellent omelet with a substantial filling. And I don't see this style of potatoes very often. They were perfectly executed, soft in the middle, crispy/crunchy around the edges and fried up with onions and green peppers. Lots of flavor!
My corned beef hash. Just the way I like it: creamy and crispy.
Some more beautiful leaves on the way to New Berlin. We said our goodbyes and made our way to New Berlin, NY, to visit Doug;s family (about an hour south of Utica, NY).
We had a late lunch from a local favorite, New York Pizzeria & Restaurant. Doug and his family have been eating here for years.
We picked up a pepperoni pie...
and a plain cheese pie. Both were good, but not exceptional, although the crust was quite good. Just too much cheese for me. I think the less is more philosophy would have benefitted these pies.
The star of this show was the Pepperoni Roll (aka the "roni" roll). It's fairly popular in this region and a number of pizzerias specialize in it.
Doug and his family were eager to share this treat with us and after one bite, I could understand why. The perfect balance of this roll is what makes is so wickely good: the crispy roll with the soft interior, the melted mozzarella inside with a slight butteriness in the roll, the spicy pepperoni that has the perfect bite. I'm not sure how many orders are in the picture above, but I would definitely drive out of my way for this. Addicting to say the least!
Sorry about the lack of clarity on this shot, the interior of the roll.
My new friend, Patchouli the cat. He was very sweet and affectionate.
I took this shot as we rode down Rte. 17 and the sun was still out. The moon came out to play as did a couple of hot air balloons.
And I just couldn't resist one last shot of the leaves. Possibly my favorite. The colors are so vibrant, it's almost like they are on fire!
A really wonderful weekend with old friends, making new friends and spending time in a region I've not been to before. The backdrop that nature provided and the fantastic food only served to make it more special.
