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Post by dave on Apr 22, 2014 16:19:29 GMT -5
Great website and a nostalgic ride. Before he died, my brother took me into a diner out past Whitesboro on Oriskany Rd. Could be Bev's by the write up on the above site because he mentioned it had been elsewhere. But it looked older, more like Sharyn's. And I thought he called it Sophie's. Oh well, my memory is almost completely gone now.
Perusing the diner website, I realized I've been in many of them in the Albany area, the Catskills and Hudson Valley areas and years ago the Mohawk Valley.
I'm not sure what defines "a diner," but many of these places were built not very ong ago and are really diners in name only.
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Post by clarencebunsen on Apr 22, 2014 17:06:54 GMT -5
Growing up mostly in small town Mid-west "diner" did not mean a pre-fabricated metal building approximately the size & shape of a railroad car. That seems to be mostly a Northeast and large city thing. To me a classic diner would be a small restaurant with a relatively large length to width ratio, a counter running most of the length of the dining area, some tables or booths, a limited menu and staffed by a cook and one or two waitresses. Mel's Diner from the TV show "Alice" would be a prototypical example.
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Post by Clipper on Apr 22, 2014 18:33:31 GMT -5
We have diners here in the SE also that are prefabricated stainless steel such as the Empire Diner in Herkimer. The term "diner" seems to prevail until you reach the midwest, and then the little coffee stops become "cafe's." in Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, and down through the center of the country, stretching west through the Dakotas, Wyoming, and down through Utah and Arizona. I identify a diner as having counter service and a flat top grill behind the counter where one can watch their food being prepared. All across the nation Greeks keep the old fashioned stainless steel diner alive, and in most cases they are also the home to some pretty fancy baked goods and pastries. I used to love to go to the New Hartford Queen for their danish pastries with cream cheese. Some places are a take off on the Mel's diner of TV fame, and are the home to 1950's menus with great burgers and milkshakes made with real ice cream. We have a Mel's Diner in Pigeon Forge Tn, and there is the Big Red Diner in Winston Salem NC that follows that same theme, with waitresses in bobby sox and poodle skirts.
The closest thing we have here in Bristol area is Waffle House and Huddle House. Those places are both great breakfast spots with awesome coffee that is always fresh.
We have wandered from the hotel theme, but while we are here I have to say that some cities are bringing back the in-town hotel, as opposed to the highway interchange chain hotel/motel. Here in Bristol they are breaking ground for a downtown hotel that will occupy some of an old business block which will be remodeled, as well as additional construction next to it. It is said that it will be quite reminiscent of the old hotels of the 40's and 50's, with a great lobby, bell man, a doorman, and valet parking. Our downtown is quite vibrant and busy with lots of busy restaurants, several antique shops, many small boutiques, and music stores as well as the country music museum, the train station, the burger bar where Hank Williams is said to have stopped just hours before his death. Lofts have been built over some of the shops, and it is simply a pleasant destination on a summer evening.
I can't help but think that the Hotel Utica would be much more successful if they could bring some of downtown back to it's former glory, but in Utica's case I don't see politics or the demographic living in the inner city making that a successful option. We don't have to be afraid to walk the streets downtown after dark here.
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Post by Clipper on Apr 22, 2014 19:02:45 GMT -5
Have you contacted Fiona with your inquiry as to the location of the Hotel Yates? Aside from you, I always relate historic fact and photos with Fiona since Jon passed on.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2014 10:05:03 GMT -5
Dave great work on your website: God of the Ground-Around Town.
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Post by Clipper on Apr 28, 2014 10:14:34 GMT -5
Dave in browsing about on Bing and Google this morning, I found one little tidbit of information that might help us pinpoint the location of the old Hotel Yates. www.ebay.com/itm/UTICA-NY-1940s-HOTEL-YATES-42-Genesee-Street-Close-to-Railroad-Bus-/330763711035If we can simply find a reference to an address today along lower Genessee St we will have a much better feel for precisely where the hotel was located. I searched "OK Lunch" and found the address for that business. I am familiar with the old OK Lunch and research shows that as being at 38 Genessee. That would place the Hotel Yates pretty much next door to the OK Lunch on the East side of the street just South of Bagg's Square. |
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Post by dave on Apr 28, 2014 21:48:54 GMT -5
Dave great work on your website: God of the Ground-Around Town. Thanks, Alan. By the way, the blog title is God ON The Ground. From time to time I think of a storyblog idea and get started writing, often reserving the name by opening a blog with the working title. God On The Ground may or may not happen .... at this moment it is not happening ... but it is the story of a young minister who when the story opens has lost his small rural church because he was unable to relate to the people he was supposed to be serving. He had the best of intentions, but was clueless on how to be a pastor. His congregation drifted away leaving him in place in the small parsonage next door to the church, but without an income to support him. As the story opens, he is trying to get the church to heat up in the dead of winter after months of disuse, to get ready for the funeral of a local older man who while he was alive tried to befriend the minister and gently point out his shortcomings. It was a love-hate relationship. The title comes from an exchange between the two men. The pastor tells older Michael Mahlarty he feels his problem is not "being one of the boys." Mahlarty sneers and tells the young pastor, "You're NOT one of the boys. You're the Pastor. You've got a job to do while God is dancing around up there in heaven. You're God on the ground. You're the guy who does the work down here at this end of the universe. It's your job. It's like Theresa of Avila told a disciple, “You’re His hands, His feet, because Christ has no body now, but yours.” |
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Post by dave on Apr 28, 2014 22:39:57 GMT -5
Clip, Fiona doesn't know. But she's checking her notes for me. Did I read your post correctly? It sounds like you're saying the OK was on the east side of Genesee, while I thought it was always on the west side. Last year I had the OK Lunch down on this map, but I wasn't sure I was right. This area is called 'the long block," and you'll see in this post that I had the OK's location correct (unless it moved over the course of the years, which is a possibility.)  Also, I found this older postcard of the Yates. The hotel certainly had distinctive decoration around the windows, but that could have come from a photo retouch and not been noticeable in life. I've come across a number of postcards that depict the same building much differently.  And I have this shot, too, which places it near the Sinclair gas station, which I think was right on Baggs Square. Do you remember the Sinclair station?  In the above photo, blow up the central portion and you'll see the Yates, distinguished by the hotel sign and the brick-decorated windows. It's the third building up from the Sinclair station on the east side of Genesee. And in the blow-up you'll also see the OK sign just this side of the Yates in the second building up from the Sinclair station. As I said, I think that Sinclair was right on the corner of Whitesboro Street and Baggs Square. Now .... where was the Pershing? In this next photo, I think it's farther up Genesee Street, and maybe at the south end of "the long block."  |
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Post by Clipper on Apr 28, 2014 23:15:37 GMT -5
I am confused Dave. I remember a Texaco Station just up from Bagg's Square on the East side of Genny. I was mistaken in a past post when I said the Sinclair Station was the station on the corner of John where the OD later bought the property. I think that may have an Atlantic Station not a Sinclair. I am wracking my brain to remember and visualize that part of Genessee St. back when I walked around that area. It seems the harder I try to remember, the farther from my mind it all gets. I remember that there was a bar called the White Elephant or something like that just above the square, and a cigar store and news stand on the square where we used to stop and buy a nickel cigar to puff on. The Pershing is a very familiar name, but I can't envision it or where it was located.
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Post by dave on Apr 28, 2014 23:30:37 GMT -5
Sorry, I've been having the dickens of a time getting the photos to upload correctly. I don't remember the Texaco. I do remember the Mobil on Genesee and Catherine run by Mike Cuda and Dick Stemmer's (the cop) uncle. Here's the blow up I mentioned earlier.  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2014 10:50:58 GMT -5
Dave great work on your website: God of the Ground-Around Town. Thanks, Alan. By the way, the blog title is God ON The Ground. From time to time I think of a storyblog idea and get started writing, often reserving the name by opening a blog with the working title. God On The Ground may or may not happen .... at this moment it is not happening ... but it is the story of a young minister who when the story opens has lost his small rural church because he was unable to relate to the people he was supposed to be serving. He had the best of intentions, but was clueless on how to be a pastor. His congregation drifted away leaving him in place in the small parsonage next door to the church, but without an income to support him. As the story opens, he is trying to get the church to heat up in the dead of winter after months of disuse, to get ready for the funeral of a local older man who while he was alive tried to befriend the minister and gently point out his shortcomings. It was a love-hate relationship. The title comes from an exchange between the two men. The pastor tells older Michael Mahlarty he feels his problem is not "being one of the boys." Mahlarty sneers and tells the young pastor, "You're NOT one of the boys. You're the Pastor. You've got a job to do while God is dancing around up there in heaven. You're God on the ground. You're the guy who does the work down here at this end of the universe. It's your job. It's like Theresa of Avila told a disciple, “You’re His hands, His feet, because Christ has no body now, but yours.” Dave, I must be reading the wrong webpage of yours. The one I am refering to is called Gon On the Ground but it is a site that shows all your old postcards and photo's and maps of Utica. That story of yours is not on that website called God On the Ground--Around Town |
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Post by dave on Apr 29, 2014 19:18:17 GMT -5
Dave, I must be reading the wrong webpage of yours. The one I am refering to is called Gon On the Ground but it is a site that shows all your old postcards and photo's and maps of Utica. That story of yours is not on that website called God On the Ground--Around Town Alan, sorry that my answer was confusing. I started with one thought and finished with another. I should not try to balance two thoughts that late at night.  What I meant to say was that I have a few blogsites that are not yet up and running and so I use them as test sites and temporary sites. Rather than open a new blogsite, I just put the Around Town old photos and postcards and narration on the God On The Ground site. No sense wasting Google's blog resources by opening a new blog site. |
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Post by Clipper on Apr 30, 2014 13:01:33 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2014 8:02:51 GMT -5
I went to take a look at the Vintage Utica site yesterday afternoon after reading about it here and I like it. In many instances Utica looked much better way back then ,than it does now! Progress gone astray!!
I really enjoyed seeing the old photo's of Riverside Mall in North Utica when it was all connected and looked like a Mall. I always liked that Mall but now I can't stand the place. Nothing is connected and once you have gone through Walmart who wants to walk so far to see another store even if it is to just walk in and browse. They lost that when the Mall was chopped up. I have never been in any of the other stores up there because of that. And I never liked Sangertown Mall it is to big.
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Post by dave on May 1, 2014 10:59:39 GMT -5
Thanks, Clip. And I have a photo supposedly of the Pershing and next to it is a shorter building that looks like the Chocolate Shop, which would be right. But I think the building on the other side for some reason didn't look like the Hotel Utica to me. I'm not home at the moment, but will check out the photo tonight and let you know. But what you're saying makes sense. |
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