Buffalo Getaway – Day 3

I woke up late, for me, at 815, opened the curtains and was greeted with the type of weather I expect in Buffalo in December.

We decided to eat at the hotel coffee shop. it cost three times the amount of our breakfast at Wegman’s yesterday. After placing our order I wandered through the bar in search of a cozy place to have breakfast.

I had avocado toast for the first time (I eat avocados every day in salad, but have never had it on toast!) and felt like an honorary millennial rather than the Gen X (just barely) than I am. We found a cozy nook and took our time.

On the way back to our room I noticed this view from the old psychiatric hospital, renovated into Hotel Henry, toward the current hospital.

It was only -5 Celsius, but felt much colder, as the wind was very strong. Good thing I put the snowbrush in the car before we came.

Our first stop was Saint Joseph Cathedral. Because of it’s proximity to other buildings I wasn’t able to get a picture of the whole thing even with my wide angle lens.

We then walked to Lafayette Hotel. It was built in the French Renaissance style and was once considered one of the best hotels in the country. In the lobby they had a mailbox that allowed people to post mail on any floor and be collected on the main floor. Apparently , these elevators don’t work.

We then looked at the old post office building, but only from the outside, as it is now a community college, and requires one to go through airport style security to get in.

Then we went to the Ellicott Square building. It was built in one year and opened in 1896. The details in this building are incredible. It was once considered the best office building in the city. It’s 10 stories high, built around a central enclosed courtyard. It was also built in the French Renaissance style. The open air courtyard above the glass enclosed one allowed there to be windows in the inside offices as well as the outside ones. There was a food fair in the courtyard and we decided it was the perfect place and time to have lunch. One of the things I liked about this building is that the stairs were beautiful and as prominently placed as the elevators.

After lunch we looked at the Erie County library. It was massive and well used with many departments, and provided many modern services such as computer rooms, Makerspace, media rooms, etc. The plaza outside had melters in the ground which melt the snow as it falls so does not require shoveling. It worked very well.

We then walked along Main Street again, but it was far too windy so we decided to head back to the hotel for coffee.

On our way back we saw this delightful billboard promoting Buffalo’s Favorite Gift. Dinner and car washes. What a combination!

With latté and giant salted chocolate chip cookie in hand, we returned to the nook where we had breakfast.

My favourite time of day to do landscape and architectural photography is twilight so we headed out for a walk despite the cold and wind. And it was cold and windy. My fingers were painfully cold on the hand I use to operate the camera and set up the tripod by the time we returned.

This next pictures show sections of the original hospital that is the same shape as the original, but constructed from brick rather than stone. They have not been renovated. I don’t know if there are plans to do so.

The next two pictures show the new psychiatric hospital and old. I know which one I would rather stay in.

On this Google map I have circled the renovated part of the old hospital in red and the new hospital in blue.

We decided to stay in and eat at the hotel restaurant again. The food has been delicious and it means we didn’t have to bundle up to walk or drive anywhere.