Midweek Lunch Date!

Nothing beats a lunch date downtown with the girls. This week, my cousin is visiting the rest of our family in Troy and North Greenbush. She lives in Portland, Oregon so it is a treat when she is here. When she called to see if I would like to meet for a day in Saratoga I was thrilled!

We met at Congress Park at noon on Wednesday with plans to stroll down Broadway, choose a place for lunch and do some shopping. She arrived with her mother and sister-in-law and they had a few requests. Both my cousin and cousin-in-law are pregnant (me too!). One needed to pee and the other was thirsty and starving. My aunt, the silly one as usual, says "And I need a stiff drink if I'm going to spend the afternoon with you three - you're all knocked up and full of hormones!" The first place to come to mind was Circus Cafe: we got fresh buttery popcorn as soon as we sat down, there is a full bar, restroom of course, and my son loves it there. (Did I mention my 15-month old was with us as well?) We had our drinks - a Mint Julep for my aunt in honor of this weekend's upcoming derby and lemonade for the rest of us - and popcorn within minutes. It was tough to decide on what to order; the lunch menu is huge and everything sounded really good. I went with the grilled chicken sandwich which is a favorite of mine. It is so huge I had plenty left to take home, which I am looking forward to having for lunch today! My cousin had the steak salad which looked absolutely delicious... I may have to try that next time! When it was time for the check, I remembered to get my S.M. token out for 10% off. When our waiter returned he reminded me that we also got free cotton candy with the token - I had completely forgotten so that was a nice surprise!

We strolled up Broadway to try and walk off our lunch, did a bit of window shopping and stopped in a few stores. Downtown was bustling as usual which was not surprising given that is was a beautiful day.

Even though we were still stuffed from lunch, my aunt insisted we stop at The Bread Basket. I had never been, but my aunt had been talking about their cupcakes for months so I was looking forward to it. She was so right - their cupcakes are awesome. I indulged, and got a sampling of few small cupcakes (they come in 2 sizes) to take home. I saved them for after dinner and shared them with my husband. My favorite was the chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I am not a crazy choco-holic or anything like that, but both their cake and frosting were perfect! I will certainly be back soon... all of their other baked goods looked divine and they also offer a breakfast and lunch menu. Hopefully we can get The Bread Basket on the S.M. token merchant roster soon!

It was a great afternoon - it's always a treat to see out-of-town family, stroll downtown on a beautiful day and eat delicious food. And, using my S.M. token for great discounts and surprises just makes it that much better!