Part 1 - Sunday Brunch at Cafe Allegro:

The day started out really perfect. I met with fellow photonuts, Caroline and Ed, at Cafe Allegro about 11:30 a.m. (okay, I was on-time, they were running late and arrived about 11:50). I enjoyed a large coffee while waiting and was pleasantly surprised and entertained by a duo performing some nice, light jazz on keyboards and a bass. It definitely set the right atmosphere for a Sunday morning. We were delighted discovering that Cafe Allegro serves Sunday Brunch. I must confess that I should have been more familiar with the offerings since I live in the neighborhood. Ed and I started out with a chilled Cucumber Mint soup. It was delicious! One warning (for me it is another reason to order it) is that the flavor of wonderful, aromatic, fresh garlic is prevalent. It turned out that we were both garlic fiends, that made the soup that even better. All three of us opted for the egg frittata. It is served incorporated with potatoes, 3 veggies (you choose, I went with tomatoes, spinach and mushrooms), 1 meat (choices are ham, turkey or bacon, I went with the bacon) and 1 cheese (several choices, I chose asiago). The frittata was delicous and served with toast (choice of several nice varieties) and a slice of water melon. Here’s a few pics from Cafe Allegro, clicking on any will take you to a larger version.

Part 2 - The Parkside Garden Tour:

After brunch, we headed over to the Parkside Garden Tour. As I was parking my car I debated whether or not to take my camera bag, I didn’t, I gambled that it would not rain, at least not significantly . . .more on that later. There were many lovely homes in this area and some really breath-taking gardens. People thought we were with some newspaper or something since the three of us were running around snapping photos of just about anything that looked interesting. We met some very nice people while touring the area. Unfortunately (or fortunately, stay tuned), our Sunday adventure was soon to take a major departure from what we had planned. Below is a slide-show from the garden tour, click any pic to see a larger version.

Part 3 - The Rain:

We were about an hour into the tour and a couple of distant rumbles of thunder were heard. Soon the thunder was not so distant and fairly light rain started. My biggest concern, since we were several blocks from our vehicles, was my camera. It is a fairly expensive digital SLR that is not waterproof. Caroline and Ed, showing better judgment than I had, both had camera bags. Initially I put my camera under my shirt and held my arms over it. That worked until the rain started to pick up. Ed gave me his baseball cap to use as a rain shield as we tried to maneuver our way closer to the cars while staying under big trees. Yeah, I know, lightning bolts were flying and we were looking to trees for shelter. After it became apparent that there was no way to make it to the cars without becoming completely drenched we sought out the largest tree we could find and planted ourselves right underneath it. About 5 minutes later we heard an angel calling us - no we were not struck by lightning, it was a wonderful woman with a nice porch beckoning us to a nice, safe, dry location. Forgive me for not remembering the name of gracious host and her friends, I am terrible with names. Soon we found ourselves on her porch, joined by a two other women. Then the miracle happened, out of the house appeared some cans of ice cold molson canadian. Buffalo is truly the City of Good Neighbors! A couple of guys from next door soon joined us on the porch. All total, we spent somewhere around 2 hours waiting for the rain to let up. The hospitality we encountered turned a bleak situation into a memorable one. Thank you ladies!!!! Below are a few pics of the torrential downpour.

Part 4 - The Aftermath:

When the rain finally let up we made a break for the cars. We got within about a block when another fairly substantial downpour started. At least we were close enough. At this point Caroline and Ed headed home. I had to pick up my 16 year old from a friend’s house. Earlier in the afternoon he had called me to tell me that some lady ran him off the road on Hertel while he was riding his bike. He had to ride over the curb to avoid being flattened. Both of his bike tires blew out from the impact with the curb. I picked him up, we loaded his bike into my trunk and I stopped at my apartment before driving him back to his mother’s place. The surprises for the day were not over. We went inside my place only to discover that the electric was knocked out by the storm. So much for stopping home. I drove him home and returned to my place hoping the power was back on. It wasn’t. No sooner did I get inside and my oldest son was calling from work to see if I could drop off a Nintendo DS game. I did, in exchange for a root-beer milkshake. He was working at the Chocolate Shop on Hertel Ave. This gave me an opportunity to shoot some nice photos of the Chocolate Shop. The place is utopia for anyone with a sweet tooth. Below is a slide-show that will show you all of the delicious possibilities.