So How Was YOUR Weekend?

It was quite difficult to get a decent picture of the tiny "secret demon" carved in the stone near the Albany State Capitol building's "million dollar staircase." What you see here is what you get! I snapped it with my Kyocera Wild Card while on the "Haunted Tour," which I'll be filing a radio story on this week. I had to use photoediting software to bring the demon face out. Can you see it?

The most fascinating bit of information I picked up on the tour: US President Abraham Lincoln first crossed paths with the man who later be his assassin, John Wilkes Booth, right in Albany! (Booth was a popular actor, perhaps the "Brad Pitt" of his day)...

When the Civil War began on April 12, 1861, Booth was starring in Albany, New York. His outspoken admiration for the South's secession, publicly calling it "heroic", so enraged local citizens that they demanded his banning from the stage for making "treasonable statements". Albany's drama critics were kinder, however, giving him rave reviews. One called him a genius, praising his acting for "never fail[ing] to delight with his masterly impressions"

Following the tour, it was off to the hilltowns...

Don't tell the trans-fat police, but Indian Ladder Farms' Apple Cider Donuts are even better than I remember from childhood! They are so awesome! The next morning after a drive out to the orchard, I had a bagful leftover. Here's the secret: 22 seconds in the microwave. But just place 1 single donut in the microwave on a saucer. Like they just came out of the ILF oven!

By the time we got to Chinatown it was 9pm, but still plenty to do and see in NYC. Invited out to a jazz club then off to Queens for a few hours sleep before getting back to Canal Street to catch an early-Sunday ride back upstate.