De Tocqueville

It's easy to miss this plaque in Academy Park commemorating the visits of Alexis De Tocqueville to the Albany area in the early 1830s. His itinerary can be found here.

Happy Pavement

I spotted this cheery face as I crossed Pine Street between Chapel and Lodge downtown.

And Yet More Vault Lights

Yet another vault light; this panel is at the old Centennial Hall on Pine Street and still has the maker's name - J. McKinney & Son Iron Works.

More vault lights:

A surprise on Lancaster Street
Still more vault lights

More McKinney:

McKinney Iron Works
150 Washington Avenue
Coal Cover

Blue Bloom

Flower along the Corning Bike Trail

The Madison Theater

Badly painted detail on the facade of the Madison Theater.

This Pine Hills landmark was built in the late 1920s and its design was the work of Thomas Lamb. Lamb also designed the wonderfully preserved Proctors Theatre in Schenectady, several Broadway theatres, many movie palaces, and Manhattan's Academy of Music building.

When last I heard, the Madison was for sale.

More on its history can be found here.

A Blue Receiver

Another Majestic package receiver. This one is hidden behind a large trash receptacle on a rear wall of the Boys & Girls Club building on Delaware Avenue.

Like Old Lace

Beautiful old iron railings on a Westerlo Street house. The adjacent building has an identical balcony in black.

Bleecker Park

A slim wedge of land along Madison Avenue just across from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Bleecker Park is one of Albany's oldest green spaces (Liberty Park, further east, is older). On a hot afternoon, some chubby robins were cooling themselves in its ornamental fountain.

Simply Symbols

A group of small wooden symbols - a crescent moon, a star, a heart, New York State, and a tree - adorn the side of a building on lower Madison Avenue.

Like A Broken Record

A broken record (and a playing card) found near the corner of Westerlo Street and Trinity Place.

Madison Place Sunflower

A bee makes good use of a sunflower blooming on Madison Place, just below Eagle Street.

Cowboys & Indians

Oh, and there's a few cowgirls, too, in this window along lower Madison Avenue.

Looking Back

View of Albany looking south on the Corning Trail on a very hot afternoon.

I walked the full length of this bike path - from Albany's boat launch north to Watervliet yesterday. There are several interesting historical markers along the portion of the trail passing through Menands and Watervliet, but none along the Albany stretch.

A Little Light

A decorative light hangs loosely from a tree in Dana Park at the corner of Delaware and Madison Avenues.

Lafayette Park

Just across Washington Avenue and adjacent to Academy Park, a plaque and park honor the Marquis de Lafayette's services during the American Revolution and later visits to Albany.