You know, when you write a blog you are just constantly surprised at what topics flop and what topics get people talking. Much to my surprise (but warming to my upstate heart), my post on favorite-longshot bias ignited a burst of interest in both the mighty Saratoga Race Course and what it was like to grow up in its shadow.

Luckily, I blogged a 6,000 word essay on all things Saratoga, on my old local upstate blog, Oh, SmAlbany!, back when I was a graduate student who didn’t feel like working on his dissertation. The essay is in three parts — one on the cultural relevance of the track to the local area, one on how to spend a day at the track, and one on how to enjoy downtown post-track. And it’s got a bunch of great pictures!

The entire thing appears below after the jump (click “read more” if you are on the main page)…

[From Oh,SmAlbany!, July 2005]

PART I – The cultural relevance of Saratoga to the local Albany area

Next Wednesday, the Saratoga Race Course opens for the season once again, an annual August tradition that dates back to the mid 19^th century. The track is a big deal in SmAlbany – no one can deny that. It just is. And I think the root of the big deal lies firmly within the cultural significance the track plays in the minds of people from SmAlbany.

Although it doesn’t open till next week, the sights and sounds and majesty of the track are already being heavily advertised on radio and television. Anyone who has lived in SmAlbany for any amount of time can surely recall the various radio and/or TV advertisements of the past 20 years and of today:

“The August place to be!”

“A girl wants a pony. A woman wants a pony to place in the 7th!”

“SAR-A-TOG-A…where magical mornings lead to excitement in the afternoon…”

And, of course, the old spine-tingler [deep voiced, slow-drawl announcer]:

“Man of War started 27 races in his career… Won 26 of them… His only loss… to a horse named Upset… at a track called Saratoga.”

Horseracing is a profitable business for the state, and Saratoga is an exceptionally profitable track. So it’s only natural that the state spends an enormous amount of money cultivating a memorable print and media campaign to go along with their cash cow. Yet to anyone who lives around here, there’s an undeniable love affair between residents of SmAlbany and the Saratoga Race Course, one that transcends the demand-side push of the track ads.

And I don’t mean a base, gambling-rooted love affair. Sure, that’s there. There are people who love the track because they love to gamble. But the immediate reaction of anyone who visits the track and ‘toga for the first time is how much it does not resemble all other tracks and all other gambling locales – it’s beautiful, people are well dressed, kids are everywhere, bands are playing, and people are talking to each other. Many people from SmAlbany subconsciously understand horseracing better than people from other places. And it can get you into trouble: when you’re the guy who knows what an exacta is and how you figure the payout for one, a lot of people look at you funny, because horse racing is trashy almost everywhere else in the whole world.

When it comes right down to it, most people don’t go to the track to gamble. Sure, the average person at the track bets $2-3 on a handful of races, but that’s not why they are there. For the most part, people are there because it’s something to do with one’s friends and family on a beautiful day in a beautiful park. And because it’s something, in SmAlbany, that people feel like they need to be a part of. It’s like you’re not in on something if you don’t know about the Big Red Spring. Or you’ve never walked down Caroline Street on a Friday night. Or you can’t moan about how all your co-workers seem to find ways to ditch work and go to the track several times an August.

And even more so, the track fulfills a recurring fantasy for residents of SmAlbany. People in SmAlbany are neither rich nor ostentatious. But at the track, everything seems rich and ostentatious. You can rub shoulders with the rich and famous. You can walk down Union Avenue past the million-dollar mansions. For $5 you can buy your way into exclusivity in the clubhouse, with its dress code and view of the proletariat picnic area. All the rich people from all over the country come to Saratoga, but for less than $10, any resident of SmAlbany can pretend they are among the rich and famous as well. And this fits right into one of the defining cultural axioms of SmAlbany: the excessive pride taken in a culture obviously looked down upon by those in the big city. People in SmAlbany know this isn’t New York City, and we don’t want it to be. What we have is better, no matter how much the big city folk make fun of it.

So then, why do people love the track around here? Well, first because it’s fun. But a close second is that the rich and famous love the track, but in this case, they have to come to our town to enjoy it. Face it – you’ve driven up the Northway to the track before and laughed at how much out of town’ers have to pay for a hotel room. You’ve smiled at rich ladies waiting in a long line to buy a Post Parade. The track is lovable because anyone who’s anyone wants to be there, they have to come live in our backyard for a month to do it, and once they get there they are treated just like us. For one month a year, SmAlbany is the place to be and everyone from New York City comes up to join in the fun.

I assure you that this Horatio Alger-type tale actually takes place in the minds of people at the track. The track is a fine social leveler – it makes everyone feel like part of the upper crust. Just walk through the picnic area sometime, and notice what the people are eating and drinking. It looks something like a football tailgate: coolers full of alcohol, tables covered with way too much food, etc. But then take a closer look: at more tables than not, it’s working class folks drinking expensive beer, or wine, or top-shelf liquor. It’s not burgers and dogs; it’s wine and cheese. Men who I have never seen on the weekend in anything but a t-shirt will put a collared shirt on for the track. The same goes with the “no taking change” policy. It’s cultural taboo at the track to accept coins as change from the kids selling lemonade and programs. And the most tight-fisted people abide by it. Post Parade cost 1.35? I’m not touching that silver as it comes across the counter, no sir. And neither is anyone else.

The freewheeling party atmosphere in Saratoga in August is driven by the track, but probably owes it direct gratitude to the bars and restaurants downtown. For many SmAlbany residents, the sense of “happening” at the track is more produced by the downtown scene than by the racetrack. Try this: on any Friday and Saturday night in August, just after 11:30pm or so, walk out on the corner of Caroline and Putnam street and stand there. See the people. Hear the music. And then think about it. The reaction almost invariably is, “I can’t believe I’m standing in SmAlbany right now. I just can’t believe it.” And you see the limos, and the women in the hats, and the wealthy businessmen, and all of a sudden it hits you. They’d rather be here than Manhattan. They can only admit it one month a year, but they’d rather be here.

And, of course, in all its grand fashion, the track actively plays right into this, cultivating the aura of wealth for both the rich and the not so rich. The same idea is subtly in play downtown at the bars. But more on that in Part II and III of this series, coming tomorrow and Wednesday.

PART II – A Day At the Track

This column is about going to the actual track – not downtown, just the track. I was going to write a column here about the axioms of the track – the little things that everyone who is “in the know” knows, but I decided not too. Instead, I’m going to recount the top things I recommend you do at the track. At the end of the column, I’ll list the axioms, but I won’t go into detail about them.

So here are my recommendations for your time at the actual track:

1) Get there way, way too early: Even if you’re going up on a weekday and even if you are brining your own table and chairs, I highly recommend getting the track very early – around 9am if possible. The first race is not until 1pm, and many people do not arrive until just before 1 or even a bit afterwards. This is a huge mistake. There’s something really great about the atmosphere at that time. People are walking around, you can access the clubhouse even if you aren’t buying your way in there later, you can read the papers and the tip sheets, play cards, have breakfast. My favorite move is to get the track around 8am, hang out for an hour, and then walk downtown to have breakfast at the little greasy spoon on Broadway. Park in either one of the free NYRA lots, or park downtown if you plan on spending part of the evening down there (you should). If yo u get to the track prior to about 10am, you won’t have to pay admission at first – you can go in and reserve a picnic table by putting your stuff on it (don’t worry, no one will steal it if you leave it unattended). Around 10am, everyone has to go outside the gates and wait to come in for the admission, which is $3.

1b) Either get a picnic table or bring your own: This cannot be understated. I’ve never gotten over how some people don’t get a table in the picnic area. Instead, they wander around the track all day. Amazing. So either get there early (9:30 weekdays, 8:30 weekends) and get a picnic table, or just bring your own folding bridge table and chairs and arrive whenever you want. The best spots are places that are (in order): out of the traffic pattern, in the shade, near a TV, close to a betting booth. No table has all these features, so pick what is important to you. I prefer to be on the “inner loop” past the horse walking path, but that’s just personal preference.

2) Bring way, way too much food and drink into the picnic area: Perhaps the greatest thing about the track is that you can bring your own food and drink in through the gate. Definitely take advantage, as the track food is one of the weaknesses of the saratoga experience. This can be overdone. You will see picnic tables that have a 6-foot sandwich, 8 bags of chips, four homemade entrees, 10 handles of liquor, a box of cigars, two bottles of wine, a case of beer, pounds of cheese, and 3 tubs of potato salad. You will also see people using handtrucks to wheel in cases upon cases of beer. But they have the right idea. Here’s what you need for a group of 6: Two coolers, one wheeled and one carry. In the wheeled one, put 6 full length subs from subway, 2 bags of chips, a thing of cookies, and either potato salad, apples, or a half-watermelon if you’re adventurous. In the carry cooler, put 20 drinks total, half beer and half soda. I’ve found that people vastly overestimate how much beer you want at the track. It’s just not as conducive for drinking as most people think. Don’t bother with the wine or hard liquor. It’s not worth it. Remember, downtown is only ½ mile away and you’ll be walking there right after the 8^th race. There’s plenty of time to drink. Don’t forget a picnic table cloth, napkins, and something to cut the watermelon with.

3) Fool an out-of-towner into drinking from the Big Red Spring: Never fails to be a crowd favorite! Usually, there’s one or two old Italian men chugging the stuff down right next to the spring, so it doesn’t take much to goad your cousin from California into a cupfull. You can sometimes even get the more gullible to go for it a second time a year later, if you “explain” to them that the track has fixed the sulfur taste in the spring and it’s now delicious.

4) Occasionally, buy the clubhouse admission: Even though you got a table in the picnic area or brought your own table and chairs, at least once a summer you should buy the clubhouse upgrade admission and go in there for an hour or so. It’s worth the $3, if only because you get that moment of superiority when you look out at the picnic area and think to yourself they can’t come in here. It’s a cheap thrill, but trust me, it’s fun. Plus you get to watch a race buy the winner’s circle and the finish line. Just don’t be suckered into buying a beer or any food in there. Not worth it.

5) Put some cologne on in the men’s room in the picnic area: If you go in the main men’s room in the picnic area, they have shaving cream, razors, cologne, and every other men’s care product you can imagine. I’ve never seen anyone shave – it would be a little awkward to lather up in front of the kid who hands you the paper towels – but I often make it a point to throw on some cologne. Adds to the upper crust effect. P.S – That kid who works the men’s room has an awful job, but on the other hand, if you’re going to work on outdoor men’s room, the Saratoga Race Course might be your first choice.

6) Go to the paddock to cheer on your horse: You should at least once walk down to the paddock and cheer on your horse before his race. Although you will initially think it’s silly for everyone to be cheering on their horse, you will eventually join in the fun and yell stuff like, “C’mon number 8! Let’s go Mr. Peanuts! Looking good!” Trust me, good times.

7) Play the experienced/inexperienced game: This was a popular game among me and my friends in high school. Then when I got to college I met another guy from the SmAlbany area, and he played it with his high school friends too! Come to learn, it’s a widely popular game that many people “invent” on their own at the track. The goal is to come up with one-liners based on what “experienced” gamblers do vs. what “inexperienced” gamblers do, with a goal of making your friends laugh at your dry wit and poking fun at both experienced and inexperienced gamblers. Since you’ll basically “see it all” at the track, there’s lots of good fodder for this type of thing.

Here are a few to get you started, and then you can play all summer:

Standing around: INEXPERIENCED.

Leaning: EXPERIENCED.

Making calls on a cell phone: INEXPERIENCED.

Receiving calls on the pay phones in the picnic area: EXPERIENCED.

Buys any of the food at the track except for a lemonade: INEXPERIENCED.

Doesn’t eat at all in August because there’s not enough time for eating and pickin’ winners: EXPERIENCED.

Has two or more of the following: New York Post tip sheet, TU tip sheet, Gazette tip sheet: INEXPERIENCED.

Has a tip sheet you can’t buy at the track or within 50 miles of saratoga: EXPERIENCED.

This game is closely related to the “odds” game that many people play as they drive up to the track. There’s just something fun about making up odds for things when you go to the track. For instance:

I lose money next time I go: 3-2 in favor.

I complain about it: 10-1 favorite.

My mom asks me “how to place a bet”: 2-1

She still messes up: 4-1

She ends up winning more than me: even money

And so on…

As a side note on the topic of games: when you’re a teenager, Saratoga in August seems like the place where the rules were forgotten. Few people care if you’re not old enough to drink. Nobody cares if you’re not old enough to gamble. And no matter how late you stay up, there’s always something going on. The track is a safe place to hang out; the town is too.

There’s an old game that circulated among my friends for the better part of 3 or 4 years when we were older teenageers, which went something like this: try to get yourself into the track on the child’s admission price and then try to get into one of the bars downtown on the same day. A similar game was the “24 hours of saratoga,” which entailed arriving in the early morning at the track, spending all day there, going out to dinner, and then staying at the bars until they closed around 5am, hopefully not arriving back home until after you left for the track the previous morning.

Ok, back to the track.

8) Watch a race from the rail/picnic area: It always surprises me the number of people who only watch the races from the picnic area or only watch the races from the rail. Each way is fun, but you’re missing out if you don’t do both when you are at the track. At the rail, you should arrive at least 10 minutes before post time, because it really sucks if you aren’t in the front row. Out in the picnic area, you should try to position yourself near some of the gambling loudmouths if possible. They provide the best excitement. Don’t consider your experience out there complete until you see both of the following things: first, a guy whipping a picnic table with a rolled up Post Parade, as if he’s actually on the horse he’s cheering from, and secondly, a guy telling everyone in sight after the race that he “woulda had the triple if the stupid 4 horse just came in, I had 3-8-4 and it came 3-8-2…” as if that means he was actually close to the triple. Another fun thing to do is pick a race and don’t watch it, just stand in the picnic area with your eyes closed, and listen to the growing roar of the crowd as the horses come around the backstretch, it’s quite amazing.

9) Buy a lemonade: I don’t recommend any food purchases at the track. Bring what you want to eat, and eat what you bring. My father-in-law swears by the clam chowder, but come on, it’s August. The only thing I do recommend is a large lemondae. They make it on the spot with a real lemon, plenty of sugar, and even though it’s pricey (about $4) it’s worth it. Just don’t get one before the 3^rd race, or you’ll definitely be getting another one later. A good move is to sucker one of your friends into getting one about the 3^rd race, and have a few sips of his to tide you over.

10) Walk around the picnic area and people watch: This is easily the best thing to do once you’ve lost your quota of money, are sick of playing cards, and have read all three newspapers. Just take a long slow walk from the main gate down to the Big Red Spring and back. It’s truly amazing what you will see. Truly.

11) Become obsessed with a bad jockey: This is actually just something that happened to me and my friends. We’ve been Jean-Luc Samyn fans for as long as I can remember, and he’s stunk as a jockey for as long as I can remember. I bet on him a lot, and he constantly disappoints. Then I don’t bet on him, and he wins. He’s the ultimate lovable loser. Every time I go to the track I end up losing $20, which I pin directly on Samyn as I down a pitcher of beer in town that night.

12) Walk downtown for dinner/drinks at the end of the day: More on this tomorrow in part 3…

Ok, here are the axioms I promised up top: Use a teller, not the SAM machines. Don’t get “trackside preffered” parking. Don’t be a “spinner” on Sunday. Don’t go to Travers Day, but do go on a different weekend day. Always play the pick-6 on a shared ticket with your friends – if you hit the first two races, it will be more exciting than you can imagine. Bet to win, don’t be picking the favorite to show. Don’t throw your losing stubs on the ground; don’t pick stubs up off the ground. Wear a collared shirt; don’t wear pants. Scream if you hit a big exacta. Shut up if you don’t win. Buy your friends dinner if you make a big score. Don’t complain if you get cleaned out. Talk about how great the weather is. Complain about the lack of grass in the picnic area. Bring a pencil. Buy a tip sheet, and complain about it when you lose.

PART III – Heading Downtown And Hitting the Nightlife

The last race at the track will usually be in the 5-6pm range. If you’re looking to head out of town, you might consider leaving after the second to last race ends, in order to beat the crowds out of the NYRA lots. However, I highly recommend against heading out of town. In fact, don’t even go back to your car after you leave the track. Instead, head downtown by foot and come back to retrieve your car after dinner. That way, you can either leave town when there is no traffic by the track, or you can move your car downtown before parking becomes difficult due to nightlife.

To get downtown from the track, exit one of the Union Ave. entrances to the track and take a left heading down Union. It’s a nice 3/4 mile stroll to downtown, past numerous fancy mansions, bed and breakfasts, and the National Horse Racing Hall of Fame. When you get to the end of Union, take a right and then the first left, and you will come into “downtown.”

“Downtown” Saratoga is not a city – it’s more like what college kids would describe as “downtown” if they went to school in a small town. There’s a main street – Broadway – and a bunch of side streets with businesses on them. It’s quite charming. All together, there are about 50 bars and restaurants in the tiny 3 square blocks bounded by Broadway, Spring, Circular, and Lake that comprise downtown. It’s perfectly safe at night – the crowds are just too big – so you should feel comfortable walking around, even if you are alone. If you eat dinner and then retrieve your car, look for a spot in the neighborhoods just before downtown on the track side. There are usually spots with not too far a walk.

Dining in Saratoga can be somewhat problematic in August. The first thing to realize is that nobody takes reservations unless you have a group of 6 or more. They just don’t need to. So you are going to wait if you don’t head right to eat after the track. Although there are many excellent options for downtown dining, I tend to like the more casual places. If the weather is nice, shoot for a place with outdoor seating (which is the majority of places). If you like pub food, I highly recommend Peabody’s sports bar, on Phila street. They have an outdoor area, the wings are phenomenal, and the beer is reasonably priced for Saratoga in August. Another good option of Phila street is Sushi Thai Garden, which has no outdoor seating, but does have some of the best Asian food around. A good bet for burgers, sandwiches, and other light fare is Professor Moriarity’s on Broadway. Two better bets for slightly more upscale dining are Brendisi’s on Broadway and Sperry’s on Caroline street. Expect a healthy wait at either of these places.

As I said before, your best bet is to head right downtown after going to the track, have an early dinner, and then lounge around at one of the outdoor bars. This gives you the option of leaving saratoga before the nightlife crowds really heat up. You’ll probably want to stay, however. This is also probably the best time to check out the most ridiculously crowded bar in Saratoga, Gaffney’s (on the corner of Putnam and Caroline). By 10:30pm, Gaffney’s will be far too crowded to be enjoyable. Instead, go there right after dinner, and have a cocktail in the outdoor seating area. You can peoplewatch out on Putnam street or just listen to the live music that is undoubtedly playing there and at other places. This also isn’t a bad time to check out the roofdeck at the City Tavern, which is right across Caroline street from Gaffney’s. Although the City Tavern is a mostly forgettable 4 story bar – a lot like the Big House in Albany – the roofdeck has a nice view of downtown and can be great before it gets crowded. You might laugh, but the crowds really do pose a problem at many bars in Saratoga. By 10:30pm, Caroline street will be flooded with people and many of the bars will be absolutely packed. If you finish dinner early, you might also check out the racing memorabilia shop, which is on Broadway between Spring and Phila.

The dress code for Saratoga nightlife is a little different. The bars tend to cater to a wide variety of ages and social classes, so anything is acceptable. Since there are so many bars, you can fit in anywhere or feel out of place anywhere no matter what you are wearing. Some places tend toward the hook-up look: muscle shifts, tight black pants, etc. Others tend toward the subdued Natucket look that predominates so much of Saratoga in August: pastel preppty, flip-flops, pearls. And most of the places are somewhat in between, catering to that standard SmAlbany bar-wear: not dressed up, but not slovenly. On a related note, the underage drinking scene in Saratoga has been cracked down on somewhat over the last ten years. It wasn’t difficult to get a drink up there when i was in high school. Now it’s somewhat tougher, although still laughably mild compared to many local nightspots. There are just too many bars. Many, many teenagers can be spotted in the various establishments.

Here’s a 10-point tip sheet on handling the nightlife in Saratoga once 10pm rolls around:

1) Don’t bother with Gaffney’s, City Tavern, or any place that wants to charge a cover: The cover thing is really silly in Saratoga. You might consider paying a cover at Luna if you want to bump and grind, but don’t even think about it anywhere else – the old Metro and Newberry’s come to mind first in this vein. Stick to the 40 or so bars that don’t take cash up front. As previously discussed, Gaffney’s and City Tavern are not worth the crowds once they get packed. Also, skip Ben and Jerry’s. You can get that anywhere.

2) Make sure you check out one of the two great college bars: Both Desparate Anne’s (Caroline Street) and the Tin and Lint (a few doors up from Desparate’s) are classic college bars: scarred wood tables, excellent jukeboxes, darts, pool, foosball, and surprisingly ok drink prices. The crowds are college-ish, but pretty relaxed. Desparate’s feels exactly like the bar you used to go to back in the day, and the Tin and Lint tries very hard to be Joe College, with its stolen roadsigns and college decals adorning the walls. Desparate Anne’s is my favorite non-outdoor bar in Saratoga.

3) Find your way to one of the bars that is empty with no explanation: A strange phenomenon in Saratoga in August is that there are several bars that just can’t seem to attract a crowd, no matter what they do. One in the Saratoga Brew Pub, which always seems to have exactly no one sitting outside (it’s a bit more crowded inside). Get a table out back and order two pitchers – one of the house stout and one of the house pale ale. Back in college (ok, well even now…) my friends and I used to take a sample of the hottest hot sauce at the hot sauce store next door to the Brew Pub, and then race over to the Pub to down pitchers of water before returning to the local beers. If you want to try this, the hot sauce store closes around 9pm. The other bar that can’t seem to attract business is the Bullpen Tavern on Caroline Street. Despite being in the absolute center of the action, the BT is rarely more than half full.

4) Go to one of the Irish Pubs that is really out of the way: One of these – the Parting Glass on Lake Ave. – is so well known that it draws an enormous crowd despite being quite far away (it’s about 1/4 mile walk from Gaffney’s, so it’s only relatively far away from the scene.) In addition to having two large barrooms, the Parting Glass has live music, about 15 dart boards, and Italian shuffleboard for free. It’s great. And it’s very authentic Irish-y. The other out of the way Irish bar is O’Dwyer’s on Spring Street. Although not far from the action, people tend to forget about OD’s. Stop in for a pint, you’ll like it.

5) Take a break and walk the Caroline-Broadway-Phila-Putnam loop: Try this. Start at Gaffney’s, walk up Caroline street and stop at the cigar shop on the righthand side for a stogie. Light it up and continue your walk. Take a left on Broadway and head down to either Phila or Spring Street, on which you take a left. Then take a left on Putnam and head back to Gaffney’s corner. I guarantee you’ll see some great stuff. If you think you might not, stop on Broadway at one of the benches and just sit there for a while. It’s a real people-watching treat.

6) Go to the Icehouse: A lot of people scoff at the Icehouse, but I love it. It’s a former mechanics garage turned barroom. It’s tiny, trashy, and loveable. And it has bar stools that face open-air on Putnam street, making a great place to see the sights. Order a bucket of rocks, sit down, drink’em, and then leave.

7) Don’t get a “Saratoga Slammer”: For years, the track and the bars have tried to produce a “signature” drink in Saratoga, kinda like the Kentucky Derby has the mint julip, New Orleans has the Hurricane, and James Bond has the very dry, shaken martini. Don’t fall into this trap. Alternatively called a “Saratoga Sunrise,” you’ll see this thing advertised a bit around town. It’s not worth it and you don’t want to promote fake tradition. Saratoga has plenty of real tradition. In the same vein, be wary of any drink that Saratoga in the name, or some local relation to the town. Take Funny Cide Ale, for instance. Sounds cool, but by all accounts it tastes like the horse peed in the bottle.

8) Consider going up there the night of the Travers: Although I highly recommend staying away from the actual track on Travers Day, the downtown scene that night is a sight to behold. It’s going to be crowded on every Friday and Saturady night in August – you might as well check it out on the night that it will be most packed, have the most bands playing, and have the most celebrities walking the streets. On Travers night, downtown really feels like another world – some low-level Mardi Gras sets in, and Caroline street has just an amazing energy.

9) Remember not to stay out too late: One sinister aspect of the Saratoga bar scene is that the bars don’t really have a closing time – some close at 2:30am, some 3:30am, and some seem to never close. While people in Vegas, New Orleans, and NYC might be used to this, people in SmAlbany are not. We tend to set our betimes to coincide with closing time. 11 months out of the year, this gets you out of the bar by 2:00am, a late but reasonable time. If you don’t watch yourself in Saratoga, you’ll accidentally be out till well after 3am. Trust me, it’s happened to me unintentionally on more than one occassion. And if you stay out real late, all sorts of things tend to go wrong. My college friend Ian once mistakenly stayed out till 5am or so in Saratoga, and woke up the next morning somewhere in Ballston Spa sleeping on the couch of some “friends” he made the night before, who also happened to run a homemade dog biscuits operation. Ouch.

10) Get yourself a Doughboy at the end of the night: After Pope’s Pizza closed down around 1997, the late night drunk food scene in Saratoga never really recovered. That is, until Esperanto’s, the little tiny shop on Caroline street, became famous for its “Doughboy.” Don’t even ask what is in it. You don’t want to know. Just rest assured that you’ll want to eat one whenever you’re done carousing. If you really want pizza, there’s D’Andreas, a weird shop on Caroline street down past Putnam that serves gourmet slices, but it’s not that good.

Of course, there are tens of bars, dozens of restaurants, and a million adventures left off of this essay. The only way to discover them is to head up to the track this August. Hope to see you there!