Albany

Empire State Plaza

Date visited: 8/30/2020

This was one of my favorite trips! I love The Egg! It is my favorite concert venue. I think I miss concerts the most during COVID. Not only is The Egg a great concert venue, Empire State Plaza is a great place. The buildings, the plaza and the sculptures all look so sleek. The dogs were super cooperative with the photos that day too. They seemed generally happy to be there.

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Date visited: 7/4/2023

I was in the area nearly three years later and it was a nice evening, so I stopped here with the dogs on the 4th of July. I didn't realize that there was an event going on. They were having a concert on the plaza, with fireworks scheduled for later in the evening. Jocelyn & Chris were performing when we arrived, and Shiela E was to perform later. Unfortunately, pets weren't allowed at this event. So we walked around the outside of the plaza and some of the other gardens and exhibits that we didn't get to on our visit three years ago. As it turns out, the fireworks were postponed until the next night because of thunderstorms.

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Date visited: 7/19/2023

We were back just two weeks later. We walked up the hill on State Street from Corning Waterfront. Again, there was an event happening on the plaza. According to the Empire State Plaza website, it was a concert from the band Night Ranger, but there wasn't any band playing when we were there. The show was limited to the northwest side of the plaza, so we stayed on the other end. The main reason I returned was that I really wanted to take a picture of the dogs in front of the "I Love New York" sign. The sign wasn't there when we visited in 2020. This was also the first time we visited where the fountains were working. I love the first picture below where the sunlight is hitting the founatain just right, and it created a rainbow effect. Other than the pictures in front of The Egg, I tried to take photos from sections of the plaza that I did not take photos from during our first two visits.

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West Capitol Park

Date visited: 8/30/2020

This is a nice spot outside the New York State Capitol where people feed the pigeons.

East Capitol Park

Dates visited: 7/4/2023 & 7/19/2023

This is the park on the other side of the Capitol. It's smaller than West Capitol Park.

Corning Waterfront

Date visited: 7/19/2023

The purpose of this visit was to escape the humidity and the smoke, as the air quality was better here and the sun was out. It was nice to see a blue sky that wasn't hazy! This park lies between I-787 and the Hudson River. A section of the Mohawk Hudson Bike Hike Trail runs through the park, which itself is a part of the much larger Empire State Trail. The park offers some nice views of the Hudson. There is also a large pedestrian bridge that leads over the highway and into downtown. We used the bridge to walk up to Empire State Plaza.

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Mohawk Hudson Bike Hike Trail

Date visited: 9/30/2023

The northeast had been pummeled with rain the past few days, so I was looking for some place dry to take the dogs. The sun was out here as well, so that was a plus! We started just north of Corning Waterfront Park, and walked about 2 1/2 miles on the trail into the Menands section of Colonie. The perfectly flat, paved path runs between I-787 and the Hudson River. There are side trails that we did not explore because they were flooded. We basically stayed on the paved path, except for some grassy areas, but those were quite wet too. We walked a bit over five miles total out and back. The pictures below are from the Albany section of the trail. Check out the pictures from the Colonie section on the Colonie page.

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Albany County Helderberg-Hudson Rail Trail

Date visited: 4/7/2024

Despite being located within Albany city limits, this is a pretty woodsy section of rail trail. We started at the east end of the trail located near the bus station on South Pearl Street. The trail initially heads east, but curves quickly around over a bridge across the street. It then heads west. I found most of the trail to be pretty boring. Perhaps it is more scenic later in the spring when more trees have bloomed. There is one very interesting section of the trail, however. A little less than a mile in the trail passes under two large bridges (US Route 9W and the New York State Thruway, I-87), and along side the Normans Kill Falls. With all the rain lately, the water was really rushing through the falls. We climbed down a side trail that got a bit closer to the falls, but not too close, as there is a large and dangerous drop here. Shortly after the falls is Noonan Preserve, a small nature preserve. After that, we crossed the bridge over the kill, and headed into the town of Bethlehem. We kept going for another half mile or so before turning back. All told, between the rail trail, the preserve, and some side trails, we walked about 4 1/2 miles here.

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Noonan Preserve

Date visited: 4/7/2024

This is a small 3.6 acre nature preserve accessed from the Albany County Helderberg-Hudson Rail Trail. There's a picnic table and a bench, with views of the Normans Kill creek.

Lincoln Park

Date visited: 4/7/2024

It was such a gorgeous afternoon that we stopped at this city park after our Rail Trail adventure. We walked a loop that mostly goes around the perimeter of the park. The walk was just over one mile. They are in the process of building a new olympic size swimming pool, but it won't be ready until the summer of 2025. A portion of the walk climed a hill and provided nice views of Albany and the surrounding landscape, including nearby Empire State Plaza. The park is the site of the Meneely bell, originally cast in 1882, as well as a monument and statue dedicated to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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Six Mile Waterworks Park

Date visited: 8/1/2025

I was pleasantly surprised at how nice this park was. For a city park, it was remarkably clean. I don't think I saw any litter at all! This is also surprising, because fishing is one of the primary activities here. In my experience, people fishing tend to leave a mess. Not here! Even when the trail passed under highway bridges, there was no trash. Speaking of trails, we walked a loop trail that was part paved, and part a standard trail. Some of the land is part of "Albany Pine Brush Preserve". I'm not sure where one property ends and the other begins, so I'm keeping it all under "Six Mile Waterworks Park", as that is the name at the parking area where we started and finished the trail. It was an absolutely gorgeous afternoon - one of the best we've had all summer. Temps where in the upper 70's with low humidity and a bright blue sky! The only downside is that much of the park is right near busy freeways, so there is a fair amount of car noise, so you never really completely escape to nature. Other than that, this was a wonderful way to spend a great summer afternoon.

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University at Albany

Date visited: 8/1/2025

Mandy and Lexi's collegiate tour continues at the "University at Albany - State University of New York". We covered a good portion of the campus on our 3.5 mile walk, including the section with most of the athletic fields that is actually in the town of Guilderland. The architecture of the buildings reminded me of the nearby Empire State Plaza. It has that "this is what they thought was modern in the 1960's" look to it. The campus loves their fountains! The highlight of the walk was the three different fountains. Pets are not allowed in the large fountain area in the middle of the Campus Center, so we took the a photo from up above it. Our walk also included the short stone dust "Parker Pond Path", a loop trail around the pond. The campus made for a nice walk on a beautiful August evening.