Hello Readers,
Just thought I'd give you a little information if you were ever planning on visiting my current home in Troy, NY. If you're looking for things to do, the
Troy Waterfront Farmer's Market that takes place on Saturdays. The summer market is every Saturday from 9am to 1pm and the winter market is Saturdays in November through April in the Uncle Sam Atrium. I don't go to the winter market because I'm usually busy with school work, but it's probably a bit smaller than the summer market. But if you're in Troy during the summer, I'd definitely recommend this.
The summer market can be found on River Street. I usually start at one end, at the corner of River Street, Fulton Street, and 3rd, at the Market Block Building, home of
Market Block Books and the
1st Playable Games development studio.
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| The historic Market Block Building |
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| Market Block Books |
I've been window shopping in Market Block books a few times. I haven't bought anything yet, but they have a wide and interesting selection in a very well designed store. There is a nice reading area if you would like to take a few minutes to curl up with a good book.
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| OMG it's Uncle Sam |
If you're taking the bus, particularly if you're
arriving from albany, you may arrive at the Uncle Sam Bus Station. While you're there, you might as well get your picture taken with Uncle Sam.
Some really interesting vendors to look at include Buddha-Pesto, Gar-La-La (garlic based spreads),
Dreampuff Marshmallows (homemade!), Flour City Pasta, Roger's Rustic BBQ (spices and sauces), Well's Maple Farm (maple syrup and old style maple candy), and many local farms.
Continuing through River street you'll come to Monument Square, between River Street, 2nd Street, and Broadway.
If you're hungry for lunch, most of the lunch vendors are in this area. Some local restaurants will set up tents here to bring their business to the farmer's market. While you're enjoying the farmer's market, you can also take in the civil engineering of some of Troy's many war memorials scattered around the area.
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| Memorial Square |
Try stopping by Our Daily Bread. I got some really nice focaccia there once for a good price. If you're in the mood for something sweet, try out Xs&Os Vegan Bakery. I tried a sample of their tornado brownie and it was quite good. Let me know what you think as well in the comments section!
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| man playing guitar at the Exit 97.7, my favorite radio station in NY |
Continuing past all the food, you may come to the
Troy Flea Market. You never know what you might find at flea markets. Some of the vendors for the troy flea market will most likely also come to the
Troy River Street Festival in June, another great event to go to. Be sure to look out for
Matthew Bartik's Fork Art. He makes all his pieces entirely out of forks, which is pretty amazing. While you're here at the farmer's market, be sure to enjoy live musical performances, and don't forget to tip! Speaking of Music, a short distance down river street is the
River Street Beat Shop (below). It's a pretty swanky little place. I've bought a couple of used CDs from them, and they don't just have music, they also sell old VHS tapes and music-related books. They put out whole tables of stuff during
Troy Night Out.
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| River Street Beat Shop |
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| Street performers |
Also, the farmer's market is really dog friendly apparently. I see people bringing their dogs their all the time, so If you do have a dog, don't have too many reservations about bringing him along.
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| River Rocks Bead Shop |
Between River City Beat Shop and the farmer's market is
River Rocks. I stopped in there this Saturday because they just happened to catch my eye. If you're the arts and craftsy type and enjoy making necklaces and bracelets, you'll probably enjoy shopping here. They had many interesting beads including carved bone owls.
On your way out of the Farmer's Market, you may be feeling a little bit hungry. If you're low on cash, try out
Famous Lunch. You can grab 4 mini-hot-dogs with the works and an RC Cola for just $4! It's a favorite among my brothers and I.
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| mmmmm, mini hot dogs |
If you're looking for other places to shop after the farmer's market, and you're kind of nerdy like me, go check out
Foam Brain Games, which sells all sorts of non-digital entertainment. It's this quaint little basement shop where you can not only purchase games, you can bring your friends and try out a few used games before you buy one. they also have
tournaments and other events on a regular basis. Try and stop by there during
Free RPG Day if you're in the area
If it's around 12 or afterward, stop in at
Aquilonia. They have a crud-ton of comics and sell MTG cards by the box. It's where my brothers get their cards to draft with.
At this point, you probably want to get home and get whatever you've bought at the Farmer's Market into the refrigerator. While there are still plenty of other things to do in Troy, if you aren't local you'll probably want to be heading home about this time. I hope you decide to visit some time, because the Farmer's Market is really a great experience!
P.S. who's used blogger before? The position of these pictures is really hard to format. any help would be appreciated. Maybe I should try formatting this in HTML.
