Such fun catching up with Sean and Michael this week! They share what brought them to Glens Falls (and what inspired them to purchase their first home here this year!), a perfect day in the Glens Falls area - spanning from the city to the lake, and what they’re hoping to see downtown in the future (something I’m sure we can all agree on!)…
Tell us about yourselves!
Hello! I’m Sean Palladino and my fiancé is Michael Biele. I've worked at Global Foundries as a Logistics Technician for the past year, and before that, as a contractor for another company that works with Global. Michael works for Warren County as a Medicaid Financial Examiner. I moved in with Michael in an apartment in downtown Glens Falls after getting to know him online. Every time I visited, I got to know this area more and more. And fell in love with him and Glens Falls in the process.
On Life In and Around Glens Falls
Neither of us lived in upstate New York growing up. I grew up in a small New Jersey town close to Philadelphia and Michael lived in Rockland County, just outside of New York City. He moved here to be closer to a lot of his college friends.
Michael did grow up visiting the Adirondacks with his family during the summer, from Saratoga Springs and Lake George to Camp of the Woods in Speculator.
We met online, got to know each other, and visited each other around 2016 before we decided to move in together in 2017.
Glens Falls is an amazing place to live. We can head into the mountains for snow tubing in the winter, hike the trails in the spring, and make a weekend trip to the coast for the beach in the summer. We love the friendly atmosphere and local businesses popping up every month, whether it’s a new restaurant, artist, or shop.
It took many years to save up enough money to buy a home in 2021. And we got into the market at the most frantic it has ever been! We got incredibly lucky to snag one of the new construction homes in Haviland Cove Park.
After living together in a downtown Glens Falls apartment with lots of character, a new construction home is amazing, as we start the next chapter of our lives together. A clean slate home with so much potential!
Ever since we met with the builder and signed the house contract, we have been dreaming up ideas for how to decorate and renovate the house and basement. Or cool landscape ideas for relaxing by the Feeder Canal. Yes, our house is right on the Feeder Canal! It’s amazing!
Thanks to the Glens Falls Running Club (meets on Tuesday’s at 6pm at Mean Max), I have met lots of people in the area that live around Feeder Bend and the South Street Extension. The neighborhood seems perfect for us; a mix of young and older couples, lots of dog owners, and a small local beach nearby.
Some Glens Falls Favorites
Our favorite thing about Glens Falls is the many local breweries. From Mean Max, Common Roots, Davidson Brothers, and more, there is no shortage of options for a cold beverage within biking or walking distance.
On a similar note, we wish more people knew about the Glens Falls Distillery right in the Shirt Factory. In fact, it’s always a flurry of surprises whenever we visit the Shirt Factory, with so many small businesses inside.
A Perfect Glens Falls Day
Our ideal day around the Glens Falls area would start with breakfast at Spektor Coffee. They have the best bagels, especially with lox and cream cheese. Then we would bike along the Warren County Bikeway toward Lake George, with our backpack loaded with a swimsuit and towel to relax on Million Dollar Beach. After drying off, we would start riding back on the bikeway, stopping at the Log Jam for lunch and to shop at some local shops. We absolutely love the new Candy Space by Chad Rabinovitz!
Afterward, we would continue riding back, stopping for a small ice cream cone from Cooper’s Cave along the bikeway. With our new home along the Feeder Canal, we would transition to heading eastbound on the Feeder Canal Trail and cross the canal toward home, where we would relax and enjoy a cocktail or beer by the fire pit.
On the Past
While we haven’t been in the Glens Falls area long, we remember the first time we met the Cordes family at Davidson Brothers. We were at a Howl Story Slam event and the waitstaff didn’t have enough seats, so they asked if we wouldn’t mind sitting with Janet and John Cordes. They are the nicest people, and Janet is on the board of the Adirondack Theater Festival. At the time, ATF was offering a subscribe it forward program, where season pass subscribers can gift a season pass to someone else. They offered us a subscribe it forward pass and we got to see all the amazing plays and musicals that year, including getting to see Marc Summers in person! They definitely got us hooked on the arts in the area.
On the Future
For the future, we would love a rooftop bar. Downtown Glens Falls has lots of great building architecture, and a rooftop bar would allow a birds-eye view of the city.
