People who know me know I always say “Saratoga has been very good to me”. Growing up in Long Beach, N.Y. and raising my 2 boys Nicholas and Dominic who are 5th generation, you would think I would never move. Then 17 years ago I came to Saratoga for the first time to go to the races. I had never been to Saratoga or even heard of Saratoga with the exception of the song “You’re so vain” by Carly Simon. I remember driving down Union Avenue in awe of all the beautiful homes. I recall saying “I could live here”. That was the beginning of my Saratoga story.
I met my husband John that day at the races. He was also from Long Island but always had a passion for Saratoga. He had been spending summers here for most of his life. The next time I visited was 2 weeks later on Travers weekend. I took a train in the early morning so I would be in time for the races. John had bought me a card from Impressions the next day. It was a photo of a train and the inside read “You stepped off the train and my heart skipped a beat”. We fell in love that weekend.
We bought a second home and came to Saratoga most weekends. Impressions was always on our list of things to do. I loved to see what was new and John always got a tee shirt or sweatshirt from the outside sale rack. Our home is filled with treasures from the store. When Sophia our Italian Greyhound came into our lives, her favorite stop on her walks was always to see the ladies at Impressions and get her treat. It didn’t matter which direction we started out in, she always managed to direct us to Impressions for her first stop. I recall saying that it seemed like a really nice place to work.
Who knew that we would eventually move here and open an ice cream store on Broadway. Johnny’s Ice Cream was another shared dream that we had and was located in a building that Dave and Mare co-own. 3 years later we closed the store and I ended up down the block employed at Impressions. So now you see why I love this town and I say “Saratoga has been really good to me”.
-Carrie
