A T-Bird. A Stoplight. A Dive Bar.
From the Mountain - One Crazy Winter Day in 1971, Albany, NY
So there we were, in his 1964 Ford T-Bird driving around Albany, NY in the winter of 1971. It was January or thereabouts, a blustery, cold day, gray skies, and snow on the ground that crunched when you walked on it. Always hated the sound and feel of crunching snow. It usually meant temperatures were near zero. But the streets were thankfully fairly clear.
We were headed from my apartment, located on the top floor of an old Brownstone on Swan Street in downtown Albany, near Washington Park, on our way to a local dive bar called Ralph’s.
I loved my Brownstone apt. even though there was no kitchen in my upstairs apartment. But there was a great restaurant/bar across the street and an excellent below-street-level diner around the corner. Breakfast of 2 eggs, toast, bacon, and coffee was about $2.50… and a Mike’s Sub was nearby.
It was the place to live and be at that time and that year in Albany because Washington Park was the center of the universe for all the local hippies. It had a lake, and in the summer beer stands, food stands, live music every weekend, and lots of girls… every summer.
