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Live free or die bear!

After an amazingly restorative long weekend in the Greater Buffalo Area, I'm back to my cozy little metropolis. Even though the weekend started off with a dead car, tons of traffic, and a little side trip to the Susquehanna Valley Mall (one of the best examples I've ever seen of the death of mall culture)--and I'll talk about that more later, probably--and even though it ended with hacked email accounts for both me and Jake, we rolled into Wales Center.

Here is what you have to do when you go to Buffalo: eat wings. With waffle cut fries. And ranch dressing. That was all I was talking about with my friends at home before I went. And for good reason. I don't eat wings here any more. But I will eat everything I can at Bar Bill. Which is usually between five and eight wings and lots of fries. And I no longer call them Buffalo wings. (It's like that joke that in China, they just call Chinese food "food.")

Also, when you go to Western New York, you have to drink beer. And drink beer I did! Maryland beer! Jake brought a case of Flying Dog to the Fourth of July (on the third) party, and it went over like gangbusters. The fireworks in East Aurora were awesome, and we got to watch them from a great location. I've been watching fireworks for thirty years, and they still amaze me. I think they're spectacular. And I'm not ashamed to gasp like a five-year-old when I watch them.

Also, when you're in that area, you simply must spend time at Vidler's. I can't express enough how awesome this place is. It's a five-and-dime, I guess, but what it really is is two floors of sheer awesome. You can get everything in the world at Vidler's, from a Girl Scout uniform to a citrus squeezer to fake vomit. A trip to WNY isn't a trip to WNY if I don't eat wings, drink beer with friends, and go to Vidler's.

The rest of our time was spent with the family, reading, swimming, playing Wii golf and actual golf in the field in front of the house. And eating lots and lots of food. It was completely restorative. I had been so stressed, I didn't know how stressed I was. This weekend (book-ended with visits to my parents' house--thanks for the car!!) was exactly what I needed.