When I heard the Bubble Man passed, I was crushed…read more Even though I don't live in Buffalo anymore, everytime I drove or walked past that Allentown/Elmwood intersection and I saw those bubbles coming from his window, it brought me joy and excitement. He became a part of the Buffalo identity...the Bubble Man and Buffalo became synonymous and intertwined. Apparently his name was Chuck. In my heart, Chuck will always remain the bubble man. I never met him, but I know him, his bubbles, and they will always be a part of Buffalo culture to me. Thank you for what you did for our city and all the joy that those bubbles have given us!

When you're walking on the street on a sunny or dreary day and you realize there's bubbles floating…read moreup towards the heavens, you stop for a second and take a look and try to find where they're coming from, truly being present in that moment, no matter what's going on in your life. When you find the source you watch as the bubbles live their short, but sweet life dancing around the air and you smile. A true Buffalo icon- the bubble man sparking genuine joy in the hearts of passerby's, making a bad day bright and a good day even brighter. You will be so missed Chuck, the best of the city of good neighbors. Cartoon in the Buffalo News by artist Adam Zyglis

Driving down Tonawanda you see a wide variety of things. Open lots. Empty storefronts. Thriving…read moresmall business storefronts. And then you come across this mural. With crayons no less. This is on the side of a building with a childcare business. It's pretty perfect for its location. So cheerful.

Road trip side step…read more On my way to my final destination I made a stop in the Buffalo area to see some things before I could check into my hotel. I have been in search of some Presidential sites recently and came across this while browsing for things to do before I left for my vacation. If you happen to stop by the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site they kind of point you in this direction. If not done on purpose, it's in a passing manner. There you will understand my Teddy had his swearing in ceremony because of what happened near this site. In this beautiful, planned out community you will stumble upon a median in the road that holds mostly trees and a variety of plants. Every so often it is dotted with rocks. This rock was purposefully put here. This community once held the Pan-American Expo, an expansive exposition of the countries from the Americas. With the expo there were many makeshift buildings built that could easily be torn down once the expo reached completion. The building that this stones represents, in a manner, was the Temple of Music. Just outside the temple, President McKinley would be shot by a man and ultimately pass away due to the gunshot. This stone is meant to be a monument or maybe a placard to remind you of what once happened in this area. It is well maintained and as other reviews have stated, usually flanked by small American flags. Some housekeeping here. Be mindful of the area, this is a neighborhood and you are visiting. Do not block a driveway. It is a road, be aware of your surroundings and traffic. Do not trample the area. Lastly, make it quick, there isn't much else to see here.

It may seem morbid, but it is history. The Pan American Exposition was build to be leveled…read moreafterwards, so nothing (save one building, I believe) remains. So, this rock is the only thing to remind the USA of McKinley's assassination and the only president to be inaugurated outside of DC. If you're looking for the full tour, add a stop to Delaware and W. Ferry, which is where McKinley died (there's just a sign there). And then go to the Roosevelt Museum/National Park. It's work the small price of admission and is a small, yet well done museum (perhaps a bit too patriotic, but that's to be expected I suppose).

Beautiful mural. Despite enjoying Mark Twain's books, I did not know about his friendship with John…read moreT. Lewis, whom rescued his sister in law, nice, and a nurse in a runaway buggy incident, until recently. I'm embarrassed to admit my sons thought Mark Twain was Albert Einstein at first. They have a couple books but haven't read them yet. I should read with them anyway to provide context.

These days Mark Twain and John Lewis will greet you as you enter Lombardos. Pretty awesome. They…read morehad a long friendship and ties to the Buffalo area. And a world reknown artist came to Buffalo to paint them for us. Part of the growing Albright outside art project, this is going up now. Kobra has murals worldwide. His collection of work is amazing. And he often focuses on people known for their humbleness. The Albright brought him to town, but he researched the ideas himself and arrived at this one. So come have a meal at Lombardos, get some free art while you are at it. Pretty awesome addition to Hertel.

I'm Ferry Ferry surprised that this isn't on Yelp yet. It's right next to my girlfriend's house -…read moreoh the memories. One of the less-heralded traffic Circles of Buffalo which is a very unique and special City in the sense of having all of these wonderful gorgeous spacious big wide green Traffic circles all over the center of town. Yes they can be tricky to drive around if you're not used to it but if you grew up in Europe, then it makes perfect sense. The circles of Buffalo are nothing short of beautiful and extremely unique to the city because let's face it - most cities don't have anything like this and it makes the town unique end they should really put these at every intersection everywhere in the country because then the whole country would be more smooth - as long as I and I don't have to educate all these awful drivers on how to actually drive around roundabouts. Even the Buffalo drivers don't really know and they actually live among some of the greatest ones in the country.

Drinks: Pinot grigio…read moreRosé Apps: Bread and oil Seafood bisque Risotto bites with spicy blush sauce Nani's meatball w ricotts Entrees: Chicken parm Crab stuffed salmon Dessert: Red velvet Espresso Martini Limited menu for the holiday, sat us upstairs in what appeared to be a banquet hall. Essentially Set up patio furniture and folding chairs to add additional tables to squeeze people in. To their credit, they curtained off each table to make it seem fancy, added a red table cloth and gifted us a tulip. The set up ended up being very nice. Everything tasted pretty good. The only glaring issue was that most items that came out did not seem to be particularly hot. It was busy for the holiday so can't be too mad about. Bread and oil was standard. Meatball was great. i loved the risotta bites sauce - very peppery. Bisque was fine - the croutons were excellent, just needed it warmer. Chicken parm was large portion (this came out hot). Salmon and mashed were good, white wine sauce was very tasty. Again Just needed the fish to be a touch warmer. Pretty well done for a nice Valentine's day dinner.

If I could give this place seven stars I would. I had the…read moreclam and scallop linguine and it was fantastic - served in a light broth pan sauce. The scallops and clams were cooked perfectly. The food was delivered piping hot yet nothing was overcooked. It was all perfectly cooked to what it should've been -the pasta was al dente and the clams and scallops were perfect and soft- just wonderful. I loved my experience there. We spoke to one of the longtime employees at length and it's just a wonderful cozy atmosphere filled with a lot of good food and good smells.

Recently updated and new paint. A classic. It is based on a lion from…read more McKinley mall.

This lion has been resting on Dlaware for decasdes. Literally. Must be a very comforatble spot…read more Hes on the siode of the building at 475 Delware, and best seen heading North on Delaware. Hes very large, as lions tend to be. He watcheds over the cars on the lot next to him.

One of the first murals I noticed on Hertle was this one. It showed up around 2 years ago I think…read more Its on both sides of the Joes Deli building on the corner of Hertle and Colvin. It has terrific unobstructed viewing, which is good because there is a lot going on here. The artist is Bonnie Reiss. I don't know where she came up with the design, but it's full of geometric shapes and designs. With a large buffalo on the West side of the building. It's all sorts of bright colors. This mural is one of the AK Public Art project series.

This is a colorful butterfly on Elmwood. It's also a great size to take pictures of and it's low…read moreenough that it's easily seen by everyone. This is a Nicole Cherry mural. It's an eye catching piece on Elmwood near Hodge. Easily seen from the Sunoco across the street.

This is a very interesting public art display at Canalside. It's a touring exhibit and has been in…read moreChicago, NYC, San Fran, Amsterdam and many other leading cities. Siting on the edge of Lake Erie is the perfect venue for this global environmental exhibit. There are 12 globes that show different ways both people and businesses can impact climate change in a good way. They show how to build a sustainable earth for us all and generations to come. Each represents a solution to a current problem. It's outside and walkable for all.