Sun Sets On Sad City

If you hadn't noticed, we've wrapped things up here and this just serves to make it official; the era of Sad City Hartford is over and the blog has officially retired. From our first post on June 12, 2010, we had a ton of fun and it wouldn't have been possible without each and every person who stopped by to read our silly little site.

Today The Hartford Advocate announced that our readers have voted Sad City as the Best Local Blogger in The Advocate Best of 2013; a humbling honor for a niche blog hosted on blogspot that relied on our ability to craft a joke or tell a funny story from any picture or situation. From what we remember we join Colin McEnroe's To Wit and Local Band Review as the only winners in this category. Sweet. This win goes next to our place and show results from 2011 and 2012 in Local Blogger, Best Twitterer, and Best Hyperlocal News Site.

We sincerely thank you for all the votes.

There was no way either of us would have guessed that Sad City would have become so popular so quickly or lasted so long. It was a great ride, but in the almost three years since Sad City's birth, we've done just about everything Hartfordcentric there is to do, we had some awesome adventures and experiences and met some super cool people and made some great memories.

At this point our lives have changed and Sad City no longer fits, three years is more than long enough for a blog anyway and we'd rather leave behind some entertaining work than drag on with a half-effort. With all due respect to Time Wakefield, we're more into the Pedro Martinez career arc. This is a young persons game anyway and soon someone younger and wittier will come along with a new fresh look at the city.

Hartford Pic Of The Week: Price Gouging

Admidst the endless hang-wringing about snow removal, which replaced guns as everyone's most passionate cause de jour on the internet, the concept of price gouging was forgotten in the latest storm. Some fine Hartford entrpreneurs, located on the corner of Farmington and Evergreen took advantage of the situation and raised there gas prices accordingly last Thursday. While most station charged $3.89 for a gallon of regular, this fine Hartford business charged a robust $4.39. Fair play in a supply and demand market or unethical?

A Legitimate Gripe

Hartford Pic Of The Week: It's Tax Season

Hartfordites have no excuses for being late on their taxes as dancing Statue of Liberties serve as a reminder for months.

Hartford Business: Di Fiore Pasta Company

While many lament the downfall of the South End over the last generation, some gems, throwbacks to the bygone era when the neighborhood was known as "Little Italy" remain today. The Di Fiore Pasta Company may just be the best of them all. Located at 556 Franklin, Di Fiore Pasta is a family owned shop specializing in homemade pastas and raviolis that are nothing short of sublime. 

Carbone's & The South End: 20 Years Ago

Carbone's is one of the most famous restaurants in Hartford. Located in the South End on Franklin Ave, Carbone's is one of those places you hear about once being "the place to be in Hartford." As the stories go, in the halycon days, Carbone's was a place that top area power brokers and politicians could be found at. 

These days Carbone's remains, but the South End has undergone a profound change in the last quarter-century. The theories on the reasons for these changes are innummerable, and run a wide gamut, including the opening of the casinos in Connecticut. Whatever those reasons may be, we recently came across a 1992 Hartford Courant article in which many of the same questions that remain today existed 20 years ago. The text of the article from October 29, 1992.

We Like To Shop At The Dollar Store Shop

Hartford has lots of dollar stores. Lots and lots and lots of dollar stores. More often than not, when a new business comes to town, it seems to be a dollar store. These announcements are usually followed with the usual hand-wringing and kavetching wondering why Hartford can't get a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods.

At Sad City, when life hands us a Hartford, we try to make lemonade because in the immortal words of Rick Pitino "Trader Joe's ain't walking through that door." We bet if we stopped worrying why West Hartford gets Whole Foods and we get dollar stores (is that really a difficult question to answer?) we can find some great bargains at dollar store.

Hartford Pic Of The Week: If Only....

Some call it graffiti, some call it art. We call it wishful thinking.

An Endorsement On XL Center Management

With the announcement that the NHL will in fact have a season this year, followed by the curiously vague New York Post story asserting that Governor Malloy is looking into bring the NHL back to Connecticut, hockey is suddenly back in the news.

While we have no idea how dedicated the Governor is to bringing the NHL back to Connecticut, we do know that the Hartford Whalers Booster Club is very dedicated to the idea. Over 15 years after the NHL departed Hartford for tobacco and NASCAR country, the HWBC soldiers on with the dream that the NHL will one day return to Hartford.

Hartford Pic Of The Week

Protect your valuables!

What's The Story With 36 Lewis?

Everytime we mention Lewis St to the 40 and over crowd, the first thing that gets mentioned is 36 Lewis and its wild reputation.

 "That 36 Lewis was quite the place."

 "36 Lewis, you could get anything there!"

 "There's a lot of ghosts of good times over at 36 Lewis."

 "You could always tell a person was a good time if they hung out at 36 Lewis."

We are too young to remember when this was a happening spot, but it sure sounds like there are some good stories an we'd love to here them. Do you have any tales to tell of this great spot? We'd love to put together a collection of stories from the heyday. Feel free to leave them here in comments or send them in email.