Our 10 Favorite SLAH Stories From the Past Year
In honor of our Substack's first birthday, we're looking back at some of the best moments in After Hours history.
On Wednesday, Saratoga Living After Hours celebrated a milestone—one year of covering the people, places, organizations and events that make Saratoga tick. To honor this momentous occasion we’re highlighting some of our personal favorite stories, some of which you may have missed if you only joined us within the last few months. Some of them will be paywalled, as all of our Tuesday posts are, but there’s an easy solution—upgrade your subscription! It’s just $5 a month, and you’ll get full access to all past, present and future SLAH stories, and help support local journalism in the process. Consider it our first birthday present. Better yet, we’ll give you a present for our birthday: 30 days of free, unlimited SLAH!
The Unwritten Rules of the Victoria Pool
We’ll start off with an easy one. This post was by far our most read/shared/talked about story from the last year, bar none. (For a less popular but still worth-the-read pool story, click here.) It even prompted the Buttonista to go to the Victoria Pool, get kicked out of the Victoria Pool, and then talk about it on her podcast. Maybe people just love the Vic, or maybe they were as confused as we were about the social intricacies required to land a coveted reclining pool chair and umbrella on a sultry mid-summer Saratoga day. Serendipitous side note: On Thursday morning, I pulled up next to Louise “Queen of the Victoria Pool” Goldstein at a red light on South Broadway. Her license plate? VICPOOL.
It’s True (We Think)
This story, on the other hand, did not get anywhere near the amount of attention it should have. In it, the SLAH team channeled our inner Mythbusters to debunk the claim that Saratoga is the city with the most bars per capita in the US only to go down a deep, dark rabbit hole and discover that, yup, that’s actually true. Seriously.
Celeb Shot: Daniel Chessare
Another story that didn’t get the love it deserved, since it ran right after we launched SLAH last year, was our first-ever Celeb Shot interview. We caught up with Saratoga’s Broadway Deli owner Daniel Chessare, whose regular Instagram diatribes have earned him the nickname The Deli Lama. In the two-part interview, Daniel talks about the state of Saratoga’s restaurant scene, his deli’s free holiday meal program and the impact of his outspoken social media presence.
Celeb Shot: Ally Meyers
Celeb Shot is one of our favorite SLAH segments to write, because we get to go in depth with Saratogians we know, but have never had the chance to sit down with one on one (see: Arthur Gonick, Dan De Federicis, Alessandra Bange-Hall, Dan Graham and Ashlee Rose Hartley). One such Spa City force is Ally Meyers, a mother-of-four who launched The Scoop, a blog celebrating Saratoga and its small businesses, just as Covid set in.
What Saratoga Moms Really Want for Mother’s Day
Speaking of mothers, we did them a favor this past May. Enough with the chocolates, flowers and brunches with family—we asked Saratoga moms what they really wanted for Mother’s Day. Their answers may surprise you. (Husbands, take notes for next year.)
What Your Track Cooler Says About You
Track season yielded a whole new world of potential SLAH stories, and we did our best to cover everything happening during the whirlwind that is racing season in Saratoga. One half of our two-person team spent a good chunk of the seven-week season in the picnic area, and came to develop a keen eye for discerning a person’s character based on what cooler said track-goer carried into the track’s backyard. It’s not an exact science, by any means, but there’s definitely a pattern. So of course we wrote about it.
The Eight Types of People at Coffee Traders
While we’re at it (and by at it I mean judging people and calling it journalism) we’d like to bring your attention to another SLAH favorite—one that Mark Behan from Behan Communications called “a work of genius” and “hilariously spot on.” After months spent people-watching at Saratoga Coffee Traders, we developed a list of the types of people who go to the Broadway coffee shop. Which are you?
From Chowderfest to the Make-A-Wish Gala…and Back Again
When Chowderfest was rescheduled from its normal early February date to the same day as the Make-A-Wish Gala in late March, we made it work. On that fateful day, SLAH journeyed from the revelry of the first Chowderfest in two years to the Hall of Springs for the elegant and heartwarming gala and then, after a quick wardrobe change in the parking lot of the Auto Museum, back downtown for the tale end of the Saratoga holiday festivities.
Game of Chicken
Would we even be covering Saratoga subculture if we didn’t at least dabble in the goings on of the city’s very active Facebook groups? Between summer 2021 and spring 2022, all anyone could talk about was whether a Chick-fil-A was coming to the Capital Region. In the What’s Going On Saratoga? group specifically, the debate was whether an innocuous location in Wilton would be the future home of the chicken shop with a cult following or a Spectrum store and if, by chance, Owen Wilson would show up there.
The Five Floors of Saratoga City Tavern, Explained
And for our final foray into the annals of SLAH, my personal favorite: a heavily researched exploration of what goes on on each floor of Saratoga’s tallest bar. (Hint: it’s mostly shenanigans.)
—Natalie
Hot Diggity Dog
Next week, the Albany area will be graced by a visit from the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, a 27-foot-long, hot dog–shaped vehicle operated by Hotdogger/driver Chili Cheez Keagz. For a chance to see the iconic rig (and even sit “shotbun”), stop by one of these scheduled stops:
Thursday, November 11
Southend Night Market, Albany
5-8pm
Friday, November 12
Shenendehowa High School Veterans Day Dash
8:30-10:30am
Saturday, November 13
Craft Fair for Canines, North Greenbush Town Hall
1-3pm
Sunday, November 14
Schenectady Green Market
10am-noon
So Long, Longfellows
After more than 25 years in business, Longfellows Hotel & Restaurant will officially close its doors in January. For more, check out our story on saratogaliving.com.
O, Christmas Tree
This year’s Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree will be a Capital Region native. Next week, a tree-cutting crew will take down a 14-ton, 82-foot Norway Spruce in Queensbury and transport it to New York City, where it’ll be decorated with more than 50,000 LED lights on some five miles of wire and topped with a nine-foot, 900-pound crystal star.
This Week in Saratoga Living After Hours
On Monday, we celebrated Halloween with a spooky mini crossword.
And on Tuesday, we shared our favorite Saratoga costumes from Halloweekend.
I really thought DD was going to be #1. Next year.