2004-06-20 - 2:43 p.m. In the second installment of "Upstate New York travel destinations that are kinda pretty and kinda depressed," I give you: Rochester. For it was here that I attended a lovely weddin' and spent the better part of the weekend. While I'm sure there must be stuff to do and places to go in Rochester, everything in the neighborhood of our hotel was closed. Everything. We couldn't even get a cup of coffee or buy toothpaste, and were pretty much forced to eat at the hotel's Bennigan's...which was fine because I love their menus that make everything look like food porn. We kept calling it Rock!Chester, but that didn't change anything. We passed through a block that had two wig stores (closed), which we determined must be the Wig District. Aside from commerce, the town itself is interesting--the Genesee River gushes along mightily, and the buildings have that old-style industrial revolution look about them, which gives one a sense of experiencing history without prettification. The wedding was the first traditional church wedding I've been to in years...and there is a profound elegance in the old-skool BCP service, with no frills and no improvisation. I was seated at a table with a man who runs an ad agency in a European capital city, and who is working with a famous indie band from that city who hired him to "change their image." I was taken aback. It sounds like the kind of thing maybe, I dunno, Stryper would do, but not this band. Eep. My friend "Sloop" John Beaman sent me a bunch of pictures from our last Blu Lounge show, and also from New Year's Day brunch. This is a picture of Mercy, from 01/01/04, on the Bed of Coats... The fact that she let a non-family member get this close is probably saying something about John's natural kindness. thoughts? (11 comments so far) previous - next blog archive contact