Last night Earl and I went to the first night of a summer tradition, “Saranac Thursday.” Many upstate New York cities have social gatherings on Thursday night; Syracuse has something at Clinton Square, Buffalo has something on Main Street, here in Utica it’s at the local brewery.
Saranac Thursday attracts a thousand people or so for cheap beer, food and live music. It gives us a chance to hang out with good friends and to see people from different parts of our life (old jobs, new jobs, school, servers at restaurants, etc.) all in one place. I was never one for Saranac Thursday a couple of years ago, now I look forward to it. It runs every Thursday night from 4:00 to 8:00 starting the first Thursday after Memorial Day. If you’re still in the mood to party afterwards, there’s a good variety of clubs to choose from on neighboring Varick Street.