Batavia Archives - Chris Carosa

Adventures In White Knuckle Driving

By Chris Carosa on February 22, 2022

This past weekend reminded me there’s a good reason why I stopped scheduling travel meetings during the winter.

It didn’t always used to be this way.

In the time before Covid, unusual was the week when I did not put on several hundred miles of business meetings. I find riding for an hour (or more) relaxing. I’ve got a huge library of college-level lectures on a variety of subjects. (As the price for an intensive virtually triple major in the hard sciences, my college major left little room for electives.)

The destination also (usually) excited me, too. Either a conference to learn more and meet Continue Reading “Adventures In White Knuckle Driving”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Angola, Batavia, Betsy, Blasdell, blizzard, Blizzard of 1999, Buffalo, Cesidia, Chili, Christmas Eve, Dad, Dodge Charger, hamburg, Jamestown, Kenny, lake effect, learning to drive, Monroe County, Nor'easter, Rochester, Sabres, Seven Fishes, snow, Thruway, Uncle Larry

A Bridge Too Quiet

By Chris Carosa on November 1, 2012

I never understood the lure of trains. Don’t get me wrong. I love trains. I just can’t figure out why. I mean, I was born at the dawn of the Space Age, watched Star Trek when it was still on the air and followed NASA’s lunar program with diligent pride. Heck, I even majored in physics and astronomy, served on the Strasenburgh Planetarium’s 40^th Anniversary Task Force and created an official astronomy outreach project (AstronomyTop100.com) that received the official endorsement of the United Nations during the International Year of Astronomy in 2009.

Many were the times when I thought I was finally done with trains. But, like the mob to Continue Reading “A Bridge Too Quiet”

Posted in Western New York State of Mind Tagged 20th Century Limited, 50 Hidden Gems, Alden, Allegany County, Batavia, Belfast, Bethlehem Steel, Blasdell, Blasdell Junction, Buffalo, Caneadea, Charlie Hogan, Conrail, Crittenden, Cuba, Dansville, Dansville Hill, Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad, DL&W, Dunkirk, East Hill, Empire State Express, Engine 999, Erie County, Erie Railroad, Erie-Lackawanna Railroad, Filmore, GB Tower, Genesee County, Genesee River, Genesee River Railroad, Genesee Viaduct, Growing Up, Harry Benjamin, Lackawanna, Lackawanna Railroad, Lake Avenue, Letchworth State Park, Livingston County, New York Central, Niagara Falls, Nickel Plate, Phoebe Snow, Portage, Railroad, River Line, Rochester, South Buffalo, trains, Victory Avenue

Greater Western New York’s Split Personality Explained

By Chris Carosa on September 13, 2012

To the uninitiated, Batavia might seem like a mere crossroads on the map, but the hustle and bustle of Route 5 (a.k.a. Main Street) tells a much different story. Any visitor will immediately see a testament to a thriving community. Without the telltale skyscrapers of a modern city, the heart of Genesee County clearly doesn’t come across as a quaint nineteenth century town. No, there’s a hint of modernity in its traffic, its business and even in the complexity of its inner city layout.

Yet within this bastion of modest progress lies a jewel with a much deeper backstory than meets the eye of the casual passerby. But before we get there, perhaps it makes Continue Reading “Greater Western New York’s Split Personality Explained”

Posted in Western New York State of Mind Tagged 50 Hidden Gems, Allens Hill, Asa Ransom, Batavia, Buffalo, Clarence, Club of Six, Genesee, Genesee River, Genesee Tract, Geneseo, Genevam Canandaigua, Greater Western New York, Holland Land Company, Holland Land Office Museum, Jeff Donahue, Joseph Ellicott, Mill Yard Tract, Morris Reserve, Mount Morris, Nathaniel Gorham, Oliver Phelps, Ontario, Pantheon, Paul Busti, Pre-Emption Line, Richmond Hill, Robert Morris, Rome, Seneca Indian, Sir William Pulteney

The Night They Burned Old Buffalo Down

By Chris Carosa on July 12, 2012

John Candy died of a heart attack in his sleep on March 4, 1994 while on location shooting scenes for what was to be his final film Wagons East!. Carolco Pictures released the 107 minute movie later that year. It flopped. Oddly enough, it wasn’t the last John Candy picture released. More than a year later, Canadian Bacon, featuring a cavalcade of Canadian-born actors, hit the screens. It quickly left those same screens, the farce of a Canadian invasion of Western New York too outlandish for cinema goers to believe.

Of course, in real life, America did fall victim to a Canadian invasion from across the Continue Reading “The Night They Burned Old Buffalo Down”

Posted in Western New York State of Mind Tagged 50 Hidden Gems, Batavia, Battle of Lake Erie, Blackrock, Buffalo, Canadian Bacon, Fort Erie, Holland Land Company, John Candy, Joseph Ellicott, Mrs. Lovejoy, Mrs. St. John, New Amsterdam, Niagara Falls, Paul Busti, Peter B. Porter, Reece's Blacksmith Shop, resiliency, resilient, Squaw Island, Timothy Dwight, Wagons East, War of 1812

The Snow Monster Returns: Buffalo Bills, Undefeated for the Decade!

By Chris Carosa on January 4, 2010

Should I stay home or should I go?

With red letter snow warnings, ominous travel advisories and a plethora of church service cancellations, the question wavered annoyingly in my own mind and unspoken on my worried wife’s barely wakened lips.

Should I stay or should I go?

The last game of the season. A meaningless game. Against a team that expects to bench most of its starting players. The beleaguered Buffalo Bills, banished for the past decade to the Siberia of no-playoffs, have done little to earn back the loyalty of staunch fans since the heresy of hiring Tom Donahoe. Why should any humble fan place their body in harm’s way, especially when the kind Gods of Time-Warner decided to sell-out the game (the only way they could then broadcast it to local viewers).

Should I stay or should I go?

Continue Reading “The Snow Monster Returns: Buffalo Bills, Undefeated for the Decade!”

Posted in Western New York State of Mind Tagged Batavia, Bills, blizzard, bomb, Bruce Smith, Buffalo, Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, Charlie Brown, Days Inn, DiPaolo, Dipaolo's, HSBC Arena, Ilio, Ilio DiPaolo, Ilio DiPaolo's, Ilio's, Jim Kelly, Kodiak, Lake Erie, Lake-effect Snow, Marine Midland Arena, New York State Thruway, Ralph Wilson Stadium, ravioli, Rochester, Sabres, snow, Snow storm, Terrel Owens, Thruway, TO, Tom Donahoe, touchdown, Twitter, Victor, Western New York, Western New Yorker, Western NY

Adventures In White Knuckle Driving

A Bridge Too Quiet

Greater Western New York’s Split Personality Explained

The Night They Burned Old Buffalo Down

The Snow Monster Returns: Buffalo Bills, Undefeated for the Decade!

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Adventures In White Knuckle Driving

A Bridge Too Quiet

Greater Western New York’s Split Personality Explained

The Night They Burned Old Buffalo Down

The Snow Monster Returns: Buffalo Bills, Undefeated for the Decade!

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