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| Downtown Saratoga Springs |
Every August folks from all over the country (mostly the
Northeast and Florida though) flock to a small town in Upstate New York for the
ultimate summer leisure experience. Set in the Foothills of the Adirondacks,
Saratoga Springs, New York during the summer embodies the leisure life with its
golf courses, bars, restaurants, live music, and most importantly, gambling. Home
to the world famous Saratoga Race Course, afternoons betting the ponies at the Track
set the stage for epic late nights in downtown Saratoga Springs. Considering
Saratoga is in driving distance for most of the Northeast, and just roughly 3
hours from both New York City and Boston, Boat Shoes and Burritos is fully
endorsing a weekend bro-trip to this town. Also, considering I grew up in
Saratoga, I will be providing the itinerary for the ultimate three day
experience for any group of dudes trying to get their rocks off on the weekend.
Housing: Renting a house for the weekend on the East Side of
Saratoga would be the ideal situation. The East Side is definitely one of the
swankier parts of Saratoga, plus it puts you in walking distance to the Track
and bars. Of course, these weekend rentals can get pretty pricey and I don’t
know how eager most families are to rent their home to five single dudes. That
said, the hotels in town can get pretty expensive as well. Whatever you do,
make sure the hotel or house you’re renting is actually in Saratoga Springs.
The motels on Route 9 in Malta are absolute shitholes and what’s the fun of a
Bro-Trip that requires frequent $20.00 cab rides or a designated driver?
Honestly, I’d recommend the Saratoga Downtowner Motel. It’s not nice, but rooms
are only about $180 a night and it puts you in throwing distance (literally) of
all the best restaurants and bars in town.
First Night Dinner: This weekend Bro-Trip is assuming
everyone took a half day at work and checked into the hotel by atleast 6 p.m.
Well considering you and all your boys just spent the day in the car you might
as well keep it casual for dinner on your first night. With that, I’m
recommending either The Stadium or Cantina. The Stadium is your pretty basic
sports bar, but sometimes after a long day on the road that’s what you need. It
has two locations, one downtown and one on the Westside of Saratoga. The
Buffalo Chicken Sandwich and Burgers are pretty solid there, and they’ll likely
have your favorite baseball team on one of TVs. Cantina, on the other hand, is
a laid-back Mexican restaurant also located downtown. The Chips and Salsa are
pretty great there, and they make the best margarita I’ve ever had. Plus,
assuming your group of bros has a “Shot’s Guy”, it’s pretty likely he’ll want
to buy everyone a round of tequila shots (never a bad way to start off the
night).
First Bar Friday Night: After Dinner, I’m recommending you stay on
Broadway for your first set of drinks and head over to Max Londons. The bar is
pretty upscale, but definitely in a hip-sexy way. The bar is usually filled
with beautiful girls, who will likely assume you’re both successful and classy
considering you chose to come there. Also, the bar keeps the music at a
reasonable level, allowing for prime conversations with girls or just
shit-talking with your boys. The bar has
a nice collection of beers, but it’s definitely more of a cocktail place. Stay
for about three drinks and try to leave at about midnight.
Second Bar Friday Night: After Max Londons, head down to
Caroline Street for The City Tavern. Full disclosure, I actually don’t like
this bar, but it’s really is a staple of any classic weekend in Saratoga
Springs. The Tavern has literally five levels, including four bar floors and an
outdoor rooftop bar. The first and third floors have your pretty basic pub
atmospheres; however they get a little wilder if a DJ or live band is
performing. The Second Floor is strictly just for chilling and drinking, while
the Fourth Floor is a full-on dance club.
The roof-top tavern is cool and provides good views of the City, but is
usually too crowded to every really be that much fun. Considering this is a
trip with your boys and some of you are single, I’d stay on the first or third
floor. There’s generally a sizeable amount of attractive girls on these floors
and hookups can happen without having to dance with anyone first. Stay there
until about 2:30 A.M.
Late Night Eats: Although Bars are open until 4:00 a.m. in
Saratoga Springs, my suggestion is to stop drinking at around 2:30 the first
night. After all, the main attraction is coming tomorrow and you don’t want to
burn out early. Instead, head over to D’Andreas for a late-night slice of
pizza. Although D’Andreas has their detractors, it’s still probably the most
popular pizza place in Saratoga. Also, the line moves pretty quickly and their
selection remains numerous even into wee hours of the night. Of course, many locals will recommend a “dough
boy” from Esperanto’s instead. However, a “dough boy” is really just a little
piece of bread with chicken stuffed inside of it. It’s not worth $4. After the
late night snack, head back to your hotel/house for a good night’s rest. Nothing like a drunken walk with your boys,
where everyone shit-talks eachother about who has the worst “game” with the
ladies.
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