Year: 2008

General Nov 18, 2008 The Waffle No Comments We finally made it to the ultimate goal of our journey…  Monday Night Football in Buffalo. Ah, the Ralph Wilson Stadium…  The proud fans…  Tailgating with the whole family…. Burning grocery carts with anything you can find in the parking lot.  Could there be anything better? There are now 6 of us, all checked in at our headquarters, the Buffalo Airport Red Roof Inn.  A magnificent facility if there was ever one, we left as soon as everyone was ready because we didn’t want to indulge too much. First stop:  supplies.  Jerry and I had stopped earlier at a scary cornerstore near Main Street, where I got three XL white T-shirts for 9.99$ and, most importantly, a case of beer.  18 cans of Coors, the Banquet Beer.  A Legend since 1873.  12$.  Fan-tas-tic.  Although this guy doesn’t seem to agree. Now, in…

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General Nov 17, 2008 The Waffle No Comments Game over.  We decided to go celebrate the Steelers’ victory with the locals and went looking for a place to do exactly that. Jerome Bettis’ Grille 36 was even more packed then before, we could  barely believe it.  But we had no interest in lining up again, so we kept going down the street towards PNC Park.  The Ugly was too loud, 3 Deuces uninviting.  So we walked on into Firewaters. We weren’t sure at first.  The place was kind of small, and was kind of packed. It is an odd place – they have two bars – one right at the front entrance, where 20-25 people can sit, and a second bar at the back, the door being on the side street. The two bars are kind of separated by a dining area, where about 40-50 people can eat.  We walked around for…

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Uncategorized Nov 17, 2008 The Waffle 1 Comment It was a cold and snowy day – at some point before the game, we couldn’t see 10 yards in front of us.  The hotel shuttle dropped us off in front of Heinz Field, near Gate C.  The Steelers were receiving the Chargers much later in the afternoon, but we wanted to go early to get a good feel for it all. We were told the good bars were on the other side of the stadium, in front of Gate A so we headed over in that direction. The Steel Nation is known to be rowdy.  Nothing compared to the Bills’ fans, but still.  Today however, their ardour was slowed down by the flurries. There was also some Chargers fans around – not a whole lot, but their baby blue jerseys were clashing with the sea of yellow and black, so they were easy to…

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Restaurant Nov 17, 2008 The Waffle No Comments What’s the best thing to do after a long night of hockey? Why, getting ready for a football game!  The first order of business though:  food! What will we do today? Jerry’s research on the internet had led him to believe that tailgating was really the way to go, but from our home base at the Radisson, we weren’t really equipped for it.  Besides, the plan was to do that in Buffalo.  So we went out looking for breakfast. After driving around for a bit in the area around the hotel, we had to conclude that we would not find anything satisfactory – in fact, we couldn’t find anything at all except for a bagel shop – so we headed for Downtown Pittsburgh for an adventure. Not knowing where I was actually going, I ended up following the indication for the Convention Center.  I knew…

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General Nov 17, 2008 The Waffle No Comments Buffalo is an All America City for more then one reason.  Although it is not known for its fine cuisine, Buffalo is nevertheless the epicentre of the most important sports cuisine revolution ever:  the chicken wings. Because it is here, in 1964, in a small establishment of Main Street, Buffalo, NY, USA, that the chicken wings were born.  The blessed nativity happened at the Anchor Bar. I’ve always wanted to go, but although it is on Main Street, it is still a few blocks away from downtown Buffalo.  On our annual football trip, we usually stay at the Adam’s Mark, as it is walking distance from the classy night life experience one only can get in downtown Buffalo, an All America City. Monday Night Football was changing our plans, as there was no need to enjoy said nightlife.  But it also meant we had…

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