NYC Getaway For David Gilmour Master Class At Soldout MSG
11/9/2024 - New York, New York - Today, we hopped in the car for a road trip to the Big Apple to see the master guitarist, David Gilmour, perform at Madison Square Garden. I picked up Dom just after 7 in the morning and we grabbed some Timmy Hoes and hit the road for a nice 6 hour drive into Manhattan. Perfect driving weather sunny in the 50's and we encountered zero traffic all the way to our hotel on 36th Street the Hyatt Place New York/Midtown South. We arrived early and our room was not ready so we parked the car, mad expensive, and walked the city a bit until our room was ready. The room at the hotel was nice and roomy by NYC standards. The hotel had a fantastic view from the 26th floor observation deck of the Empire State Building and the surrounding skyline. We headed down to Times Square and had a great preconcert dinner at Red Lobster that included plenty of crab legs and lobster tails. We took in some pretty Christmas displays including Macy's store that was all decked out for Christmas. We headed to Madison Square Garden for the show which is show 4 of 5 soldout Gilmour MSG shows. I bought these tickets in presale and we had decent seats around center ice in the 200 level. David Gilmour would come out just a few minutes after the 7:30 start time and played two sets of all you could call it is a guitar master class of material. The 78 year old opened with 5AM and played the title track of his new album Luck and Strange. He played plenty of Pink Floyd also including great covers of Breathe, Time and Wish You Were Here. He closed the amazing first set with High Hopes. The sound was fantastic and Gilmour's vocals, fret board work and guitar tones were just brilliant. He was joined by his daughter Romany Gilmour for several numbers and Ben Worsley played a great backup guitar. After a brief intermission they came out for the second set that was just as good as the first opening with Sorrow. They played more classics like Great Day For Freedom, The Great Gig In The Sky and Coming Back To Life. He finished the set with Scattered. He came out for one single encore a laser light filled version of Comforably Numb. This was a great show and almost rivaled the show when we saw him 8 years ago at Radio City. We grabbed some cheap shirts on the street post show and next day grabbed our comp hotel breakfast and headed back home. We drove straight thru getting back in time to watch the end of the Bills victory. Another excellent NYC getaway, we will be back!Slideshow[]
Piano Man Entertains Sellout Highmark Stadium Crowd
Drone Shot Log - Buffalo, New York
8/14/2021 - Orchard Park, New York - Today, we headed West down the NYS Thruway to Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York to see the Piano Man himself Mr. Billy Joel perform. This was another show that was supposed to take place last year but was postponed due to Covid concerns. It was a perfect August evening and we arrived early for this show to tailgate in the parking lot cooking up some delicious steaks and crab legs that were enjoyed by all. We were joined by the Gombottos and many of Dom's friends for drinks , desserts and some corn hole. We entered the stadium and made it to our seats which were good located about fifteen rows up on the fifty yard line. Joel and his band had no opening act and came out played a great set. He opened with Movin' Out and played classic tunes like My Life, Scenes From An Italian Restaurant and New York State Of Mind. Midway through the set Joel had a surprise guest Buffalo's own Goo Goo Doll's lead man John Rzeznik join him to cover the classic Goo Goo Doll's hit Iris with Joel and his band. The near sellout crowd absolutely loved it. My Youtube video of the song was featured on numerous websites including Rolling Stone. Joel and his band sounded pretty good and they finished the set with Piano Man. They came out and played a five song encore that included hits like Big Shot, It's Still Rock and Roll To Me and they closed out the evening with You May Be Right. An excellent show that everyone seemed to enjoy just being there after the long wait due to Covid issues.Slideshow[]
11/5/2020 - Buffalo, New York - A couple drone shots of downtown Buffalo, New York on cool but nice early November day.Slideshow[]
Weekend Getaway To Cape Vincent and Alexandria Bay
10/17/2020 - Cape Vincent, New York - Today, we headed northeast down NYS Thruway up to the 1000 Islands for a little weekend getaway to Cape Vincent, New York. We rented a nice little cottage at Angel Rock Waterfront cottages with a nice water front view nestled right along the St Lawrence River. We spent time the first day exploring the villages of Cape Vincent and Clayton having a nice dinner at O'Briens in Clayton that included some delicious bacon wrapped scallops. We enjoyed some time relaxing in our cozy cottage with the next day heading down to Alexandria Bay area. We explored the Alex Bay area taking in views of Boldt Castle and the fall foliage from Scenic View Park and hit a few shops. We went back to the cottage and relaxed watching some football then headed to Wise Guys Restaurant in Chaumont for an excellent dinner at the newly opened Italian restaurant, highly recommend. A nice fall get away.Slideshow[]
Annual Trip To Letchworth State Park For Some Peak Foliage
Exploring The Fantastic Sites Way Down South London Town
10/26/2019 - Castile, New York - Today, we headed south down 390 for our annual trip to see the near peak fall foliage at beautiful Letchworth State Park. We left early making stops in downtown Rochester to pickup Deb's pal Gigi for her first visit to the park and then downtown Geneseo to pickup Dom and Liv. We arrived at around nine in the morning to a shockingly almost empty park. The weather was a little cool but dry and the foliage was near peak. We spent time exploring all over the park hitting Inspiration Point, the Upper Falls all the way to the train bridge ending at the Lower Falls. An excellent day of relaxing in the park that ended in Geneseo having a nice pizza lunch at Mama Mia's. A great annual getaway that we will see again next year.Slideshow[]
9/8/2017 - London, England - We started our days in London with the spectacular views of Big Ben and Parliament from our penthouse suite at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel. We enjoyed a nice breakfast at the hotel and decided to walk on this rainy overcast day to Trafalgar Square to The National Gallery to view some of the phenomenal works of art there. We saw awesome works by van Gogh, Renoir, Monet and a special showing of works from Raphael, da Vinci and Michelangelo. The National Gallery is a must do when in London. We then jumped back on the Tube and headed back to Piccadilly Circus and shopped a bit and had a nice steak dinner at Angus Steakhouse. We walked around Piccadilly and Covent Garden areas a bit and took in some entertaining juggling street performers. We then headed to the Duchess Theatre to enjoy the comedic play, The Play That Goes Wrong. The play was very good and funny in a almost Monty Python kind of way. The next day we were up early taking in the view and grabbing the complimentary breakfast and headed back on the Tube this time headed to Green Park and a tour of the grounds of Buckingham Palace area. A perfect day to site see and we headed back on the Tube and encountered a huge peaceful protest against the Brexit proposal. We headed to Hyde Park and walked thru the beautiful Park to the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. We walked all the way to the Royal Albert Hall and Albert Memorial on this gorgeous day, Hyde Park is a pretty park and a must do. We then stopped at the megastore Harrods and wandered around and tried out some awesome virtual headsets. We finished the day having dinner at the original Hard Rock Café that also included some live music at a small club called The Back Room. London is a great town.Slideshow[]
Robin Trower Rips It Up At The Tralf Music Hall
10th Annual Finger Lakes Raceday
10/18/2014 - Buffalo,New York - Today we took a short road trip west to downtown Buffalo to see one of the true classic rock guitarists Robin Trower, perform at The Tralf Music Hall. We were excited to finally see him perform live for the first time as he always seemed to allude us in prior shows. The evening started with a stop at Guitar Center to check out some of their inventory and do a little preconcert jamming of our own. After that we stopped at TGIFridays for a nice steak and lobster dinner. We then headed to the show, where we had general admission tickets and got a spot front row on the right front side of the stage. The Tralf is an excellent small venue seating only a few hundred people and we were literally within arms reach of the artists as they performed. The opening act was a local musician named Mick Hayes. He came out and did a good solo acoustic set that included overdubbing with numerous pedal effects. He played some covers including some Hendrix and some originals that included a comical Oreo cookie blues tune. Again he did a good set. Robin Trower and his band came out after a short intermission and jammed a fantastic set. The sixty-nine year old Trower played with great energy and ripped thru classics like Daydream, Day Of The Eagle, Rise Up Like The Sun and Bridge of Sighs. He played these as if it was the mid seventies and he extended the jams with great solos. The crowd loved it and he and his band really seemed to appreciate it. They came out for a two song encore of Too Rolling Stoned and For Earth Below. This was a fantastic show and truly lived up to my personal expectations after the long wait to finally see him live. Just love seeing great artists like this in these small venues, I hope he comes back next year we will be there.Slideshow[]
9/2/2013 - Farmington, New York - Just after a hot air balloon almost crashed into our house, today we headed to Finger Lakes Racetrack for the tenth annual outing of a day at the races for some thoroughbred horse racing action. We squeezed it in on Labor Day again for the second year in a row just before the start of the new school year and it was a nice early September day. We hit the track, where picking winners were hard to come by with everyone hitting some small winners. The track was packed for Labor Day and even a quick jaunt to the casino turned out to only be a tax deductible donation. The day also included a trip to Eastview Mall for some back to school shopping and a nice dinner at TGI Fridays. A good day to finish off summer.Slideshow[]
Dolphins, Beaches, and Fun And Were Done - Part III
Dominator Pulls Off Upset Victory In Pinewood Derby
4/22/2011 - Marco Island, Florida - Our final days on Marco Island included an excellent Dolphin / Shelling tour, more beach fun, food, and just relaxing in the pool. The Dolphin Study Eco Tour and Cruise left from Marco River Marina just 2 minutes from our house. We got on board the Dolphin Explorer boat and left the marina and instantly found a large school of bottlenose dolphins. The dolphins were all around the boat and were close enough to touch, they put on an excellent show playing and jumping in the wake of the boat. The tour then went to one of the Ten Thousand Islands for some sun and shelling. An excellent tour that was both fun and educational and enjoyed by everyone. After the tour back to the house and pool for more swimming and rest and relaxation. We also journeyed back to Bonita Beach Park for more beach fun which included renting jet skis again for some more fun motoring around. During the last days we continued the daily ritual of walking on the beach and enjoying sunsets from South Marco Beach. This also included another dinner at our favorite eating spot there the Sunset Grill. The last night the kids decided to treat us with tremendous ice cream concoctions at the Cold Stone Creamery with their dog track winnings. It was expensive but very good. We finished the final day watching the end of the Sabres game 5 playoff victory over the Flyers. We then got everthing packed up and the next day back to the Fort Myers airport for the direct flight back to Buffalo. Another great vacation in the books.12Slideshow[]
1/20/2008 - Hilton, New York - Hilton New York was the scene today where Dominic's Pinewood Derby car the Dominator pulled off an upset to win the Bear Den Championship. Dominic competing against his buddy Tyler B, the two time Den champ, pulled off an astonishing come from behind victory. Dom lost the first two qualifying heats to Tyler's car but Dom made a tremendous comeback. Dom won the next two qualifying heats to make it to the Den finals. In the Den finals, Dom in a surprising upset won the Den championship in three straight heats up against Tyler and two other qualifiers. Dom then went on to the Bear championship and won the Bear title in three straight heats to then qualify for the Pack championship. Dom's tremedous run ended here in the Pack finals where he placed a very close third finishing just slightly behind the first and second place cars. Congrats to Dom and the Dominator on an excellent win!Slideshow[]
A Very Merry Christmas At Home With Family
Wedding: Carmela M. (DeFranco) & Donato J. Florio
12/25/2007 - Hilton, New York - Christmas kind of snuck up very quickly this year but everything was in place for Santa's annual visit. We were greeted very early by a nice white Christmas as the kids were up early and ready to go. Grandma Florio and Aunt Patty joined the festivities which appears to becoming a Christmas tradition. The kids wasted little time ripping thru all the gifts and the games began. We were joined later by Aunt Mary, Jack, Rebecca, and Michael. Soon after that Mike, Dee, Chris and Kevin and special guest Roxy showed up to join the Christmas festivities. The festivities included the annual golf ball ritual, a Guitar Hero III competition, and eating the delicious christmas beast and ham. Check out all the holiday pictures at the Christmas 2007 Picture PageSlideshow[]
8/5/1939 - Brooklyn, New York - Miss Carmela M. DeFranco and Donato J. Florio were married today, Saturday August 5th, 1939, at St. Blaise Church in Brooklyn, New York. The Reverand R. Nelson officiated the ceremony. The bride is the daugther of Rocco and Dominica (Lubrachi) DeFranco. The groom is the son of parents Giacomo and Theresa (Grieci) Florio. The ceremony was performed in the presence of A. Cardiello and J. Florio as witnesses.Slideshow[]
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