Beauty of Buffalo

Bet you didn’t see a Travel Blog on Buffalo coming. I’m almost positive you didn’t put Buffalo on your 2021 Bingo Card, but I went twice this year and had a really great time exploring. My dad has called Buffalo home for over 20 years, and after a quick trip in February, most of my stuff does too. This year, my darling dear dad picked me up from one sister in Chicago, facilitated shenanigans with the other in Michigan, and drove me to Buffalo to regroup before my Boston excursion. While most of my trips involve family time, movie marathons, and the famed wings; I made the most of my week in Queen City and crossed some terrific touristy things off my list.

When I decided to start this #soulsabbatical, I divided up my closet to store half in Austin and half in my dad’s Buffalo basement. I thought it would help me swap out seasons in my suitcase while visiting my family between adventures, and the timing worked out well. I’m no stranger to living out of a suitcase, but a month is usually the longest I go with the same set of clothes. I wasn’t prepared for how excited I was going to be to be reunited with my things or to finally wear different outfits for the first time in 4 months. I was giddy when I walked in the door and immediately started opening bins and bags to mix things up.

My wardrobe wasn’t the only thing I mixed up this trip. I took off on some fabulous solo adventures after work. I’ve probably been to Niagara Falls a half dozen times, and have always been partial to the Canadian view and falls. Since the Canadian Border has been closed or severely restricted through COVID, I didn’t really think I was going to get to see it this year. The Maid of the Mist actually takes you past the American Falls and into the basin of Canada’s Horseshoe Falls. After all those Alaskan adventures on boats, I decided I needed to finally get on board and put this old maid onto the Maid of the Mist. You guys. These new electric boats are whisper quiet, you glide right up to the falls and get b*tchslapped by mist and churn. It is hilarious watching a wall of tourists wobble on deck trying to get their selfies as the water drips off faces and full length ponchos. You quickly learn how Rainbow Bridge got its name and float through rainbows and sea spray. They call it one of the most romantic spots in America. I don’t know if that’s true, but I sure fell in love with the experience and hope you go see it too.

I love fancy food. You can even use the dreaded foodie word to describe me. BUT, I am a sucker for buffalo ANYTHING. I pretty much believe all chicken should come dressed in wing sauce, so I am always so happy to see creative buffalo chicken options on every menu in town. Anchor Bar is said to be home of the original Buffalo Wing, but after many years of taste testing the classics and trendy new arrivals, Duff’s is where I want to go when I’m in town. The wings are crispier, the sauce is tangier, and I think the chicken is better. We like to order hot and spicy bbq, and the Dr Pepper are really good too. Their menu comes with this disclaimer: “WARNING! Medium IS HOT! Medium Hot IS VERY HOT! Hot is VERY VERY HOT!” I can’t say that I agree with that assessment. Hot is not even remotely hot, it’s your standard Frank’s red hot level of spice. I don’t go any hotter because no one else in my family will eat it. It would take several leaps up the Scoville scale to get anywhere near Nashville Hot Chicken. Buffalo is also famous for their Beef on Weck- a roast beef sandwich on a kaiser roll with a horseradish sauce. It’s delicious, so if you do go to Anchor Bar- I can’t recommend the Buffalo’s Best Combo enough. Try both. But whatever you do, do NOT plan to call the airport location of Anchor Bar your Buffalo Wing Experience. Every local will tell you, that location is not even the same genre of food as the others. The only Anchor Bar you should be buying at the Buffalo airport is a souvenir bottle of their wing sauce, which is quite good and available for purchase at the restaurant and all over the Buffalo airport. It’s a great souvenir and you won’t have to check your bag since it’s already cleared security. I usually skip the wing sauce and snag a jar of Buffalo made Weber’s Hot Texas Sandwich Sauce. It’s a spicy mustard with chopped pickles, and it is AMAZING on sandwiches, charcuterie boards, and grilled cook-out food.

Directly across the parking lot from our local Duff’s is the Beyond Van Gogh experience. I don’t know if you could pick a more perfect evening for me than Buffalo wings, local beer, and being completely immersed in larger than life Van Gogh paintings animated and set to music. I literally planned an an entire trip to Paris around the original Atelier de Lumieres exhibition. It was a full out immersion into impressionism with trips to The Lourve, Musee d’Orsay, Musee de l’Orangerie, Musee Marmottan Monet, and Monet’s home and garden in Giverny. Part of me wanted to preserve the magic of that memory and not go to one of the many (many, many) iterations of the immersive van gogh experience that appears to be blitzing America this year. There are almost 50 by 5 different companies. Immersive Van Gogh is by the same team that did the original, and was in several of the cities I visited this year, but at $55 before taxes and fees- I really couldn’t justify going again. Beyond Van Gogh is only $35 and a bit different from the others. It has an entire room dedicated to specific passages and quotes from Letters to Theo on Van Gogh painting backdrops and floating frames. The 30 minute projection loop was even lovelier then I anticipated with inspiring quotes and excerpts woven into the work. Despite a typo, my beloved “I know nothing with any certainty except the sight of stars makes me dream,” made it to the Starry Night over the Rhone segment. My stepmom and I had a marvelous time. Not too shabby for our first outing just the two of us.

I have heard (and read) so many bad reviews and complaints, particularly about the one in LA. I find that hard to believe, because the pictures of the Starry Night neon ceiling installation and sunflower walls made my heart skip a beat. The worst note I read was “I felt like I was in a giant screen saver, what a waste.” I hate that people shelled out that much cash and didn’t enjoy it. I think you have to be a genuine fan of his work, or go in with the right mindset to appreciate it. I was moved to tears watching a video a favorite IG mom had made of her young children experiencing the installation. They were entranced and enchanted by the larger than life paintings, animations, and music. They twirled and spun, and their faces were bright with active wonder. I felt just like them, and I’ve been lucky enough to see a huge percentage of these pieces in real life. I wasn’t discovering them for the first time, but it felt like it. It’s not just a big screen saver, it’s a peak into the passion and angst that made Vincent’s mastery of color and expression so spectacular. While I went into it thinking that nothing could compare to my Parisian experience, this one actually moved me more. After spending 18 hours listening to his letters to his brother, learning about the process, hearing in his own words what he was seeing and experiencing while honing his craft; it felt incredibly intimate standing in a mostly empty room enveloped in his life’s passion. If you are actually the type of person that enjoyed the exhibit, I have to recommend that you watch Loving Vincent on Netflix. It’s the world’s first fully painted film and it tells the story of Vincent’s final days through animations of his own paintings. The all-star cast is spectacular, the frames are vibrant and full of life, and it is surreal to see the subjects of his most famous works recounting their experiences with Vincent as he lost his battle with his mental health.

I’m told I would love Doctor Who, and have been told countless times to watch the Vincent Van Gogh episode. Bill Nighy’s quote about the importance of his work brought tears to my eyes just watching this clip, and I openly wept watching the full episode for the first time last fall. I’ve traveled to see these pieces in museums in Amsterdam, Paris, Munich, London, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Boston. It was so moving to see them all in one place for this show, and call me a sap, but I got the same feeling in the immersion.

While Beyond Van Gogh is temporary, the Albright Knox is forever... or at least it will be when it reopens from its current construction. There is some freaking fabulous art in this beautifully curated collection, including some excellent Van Gogh, Matisse, Kahlo, Seurat, Cezanne, Brancusi, Degas, and Warhol (which Cindy is admiring in her Warhol Hightops below.) I wasn’t really sure what to expect after seeing airport advertising, but I was completely bowled over by their impressive permanent collection when I visited last summer.

As usual, my list included art AND architecture. Murals combine my love of both, and downtown Buffalo is full of them. My dad wanted to take me to Pearl Street Brewery, so we fit in a beautiful walk around the Buffalo Naval Park and caught an epic sunset before sampling some badass beer. Definitely include a walk down this scenic (and historical) corridor of Lake Eerie.

You know I wasn’t going to miss checking out one of the 5 Western New York #WrightSites. Darwin Martin was one of Buffalo’s wealthiest business men, and one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s biggest patrons. Martin had Wright design his sister’s house, his primary residence, and Graycliff, the family lake retreat. Graycliff was one of my very first Frank Lloyd Wright tours and I couldn’t get over the abundance of diamonds, repeating lines, indoor/outdoor integration, and the striking (but understated) beauty of this beach house designed with Darwin’s wife Isabelle in mind.

The Darwin Martin Complex is one of the best #wrightsite field trips, and I’m kicking myself that it took so long to get there. Frank Lloyd Wright was pretty much given cart blanche, and it is IMPRESSIVE. I highly suggest doing the extended Martin House Plus Tour, because there are five beautiful buildings to see in the complex. This home has an incredibly interesting history, the restoration is spectacular, and several of Wright’s most iconic designs were conceived for this showplace of Prairie-style architecture. The Tree of Life window was designed for this house, and of the 394 commissioned pieces of art glass, 75 of them were Trees of Life, each of which contains over 700 individual pieces of glass. The famous FLW Barrel Chairs were designed specifically for this home. The Wisteria fireplace and globe sconces were swoonworthy. We weren’t allowed to take photos of the interior, but they are forever etched in my memory, and worth every bit of brain space.

I was blown away by the educational resources in the visitor pavilion, impressed by the unique events and activities organized by the trust, the information and levity provided by our guide, the history of the house, and I could have moved myself right into the conservatory and been perfectly happy.

Several years ago, my step mom dragged us on the free Buffalo Garden Walk, a trail of private homes that invite you to go explore their impressive yards and gardens. Showing up at random peoples houses and poking around private property isn’t something I usually suggest. I’m more of a drive by and take a picture of that famous movie house from the street and drive away kind of girl. But this event attracts tens of thousands of visitors and has been happening for almost 30 years and I can see why. There are some really gorgeous gardens to explore if that’s something you might want to plan a trip around next July.

Buffalo IS Beautiful, and completely worth planning a visit. Especially when it’s easier to get to Canada and you can visit Toronto too. I’ve been coming for years and there’s still plenty on my list to explore. I’m hoping to start working on this list of amazing hikes, and visiting the MacKenzie Childs Farm in nearby Aurora. I’m not saying you have to drop everything and shuffle off to Buffalo, but I hope you’ll take advantage if the opportunity arises.