Exactly seven hundred and thirty days ago today, Leesa Oliver (née Perazzo) and I got married nearby and had our reception in this space at The Adelphi Hotel at Saratoga Springs, New York. It’s now in the midst of massive reconstruction, which will include a studio apartment for a cool $775,000.00. Our special day in 2021 was warm and suffused with unalloyed joy. We popped in to the hotel yesterday afternoon for a celebratory cocktail and a stroll down memory lane. The place is where, in 1878, town luminary John Morrissey died at 47 of pneumonia. He’d been the proprietor of about 30 casinos here before opening The Saratoga Club in Congress Park, so named because gambling was illegal (ahem). Morrissey was such a big deal, the State of New York closed its offices on the day of his funeral and flags flew at half staff. On October 21, 2021, the bells of Universal Preservation Hall, where we wed round the corner, rang out joyously. For me personally, it marked a turning point.
© 2024 John Oliver
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