Two days ago I took the CAT fast ferry from Toronto to Rochester and arrived well rested after a 2.5 hour boat ride to the port of Rochester, a scenic Rochester suburb called Charlotte. I was greeted by Patti and Carrie from the Rochester Visitors Association, which helped me with my itinerary and were kind enough to show me around.
It was raining all day and Port Charlotte greeted me with a gray sky and deep-hanging clouds. But the first thing I noticed as we drove towards downtown Rochester was the amount of green areas and parks. We drove through a series of beautifully manicured neighborhoods and Patti showed me some amazing parks systems that Rochester has to offer. We drove through Genesee Valley Park, designed by famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead, who also designed Central Park in New York.
Then we went to Highland Park, where each of them can City has an annual Lilac Festival, when more than 1,200 lilac bushes of different varieties and colors burst into bloom. Driving through a beautiful neighborhood with large villas and expansive front lawns we made our way to Cobbs Hill Park which is located on a hill and holds the water reservoir with a fountain. The unique thing about Cobbs Hill Park is that there is one place in the elevated green area where you can perfectly see the skyline of Rochester away in the distance, past the green area adjacent to that stretch in front of the city.
After exploring some of the expansive parks of Rochester as well as the beautiful Victorian-era Mt. Hope Cemetery, we slowly made our way downtown on East Avenue, a street with many historic homes. One of Rochester's famous home-grown entrepreneurs is George Eastman, founder of Eastman Kodak Corporation, which today has its headquarters in Rochester. Eastman was a great benefactor to the city and donated most of his fortune, estimated at 2 billion U.S. dollars in today's dollars, for various medical, cultural and educational institutions throughout the city. We stopped briefly at his home, Eastman House, an elegant 50-room Colonial Revival Mansion surrounded by formal gardens.
After Eastman House, which also includes the International Museum of Photography and Film, the University moved to the neighborhood Avenue of the Arts, or also referred to as the Artwalk. This is the stretch of road down University Avenue in which a studio, galleries, antique and art dealers in the neighborhood of post-war residential buildings, multi-family Victorian mansions and charming cottages.
winning Artwalk features sidewalk imprints, artistic benches, tiled light poles, sculptures and bus stops all the way from the George Eastman House by a stunning neo-Gothic building of the Memorial Gallery. Every September this neighborhood hosts clothesline art show.
Artwalk After we went down Main Street in the downtown area. I got a look at the Eastman Theatre, home of the Eastman School of Music, one of the top music schools in the country. Eastman Theatre itself is an interesting building, curved and classic style, it is virtually cut off to one side because a neighbor George Eastman asked exorbitant prices for their property, but giving in to these demands, Eastman simply decided to stop building on the property line.
Our next stop is the Browns Race and High Falls Area: one of the newest entertainment districts. Rochester was once known as the Flour City for all wheat grinding that occurred along the rivers. Today, Brown race area is a National Register historic district. resort sits above the Genesee River, right next to the thunderous High Falls. Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge is a bridge that connects the east and west side of town, and is named after Rochester's sister city in France.
Many of the former industrial buildings have been restored and now occupied by ad agencies, tech companies and engineering firms. streets in the district are cobble-stoned pavement and historic character style street lights. There are several places of entertainment in this area, including the steam hammer Grill, which has a patio area overlooking the falls. In addition to this restaurant is an old water wheel, witness the end of the milling history. This is a very atmospheric place and an example of successful conversion of old industrial space into a modern entertainment district.
Kodak headquarters not far from areas of high falls, and our tour continues past several downtown streets. As a true architecture of the skin, I marveled at how Rochester historic buildings are preserved. There are entire blocks that are intact 19th century street front, some of the cast-iron architecture. There was no time to explore the architecture in detail, which will have to wait for my second day in the city. But, needless to say, I knew I had found a city that has preserved much of the architectural heritage that would require further research.
We crossed the city's West End, and passed the famous tavern called Nick Tahoe's House, which is home to the "garbage plate": a plate full of hamburgers, fries, and various other heart attack inducing delicacies. This put us past a beautiful modern townhouse development that, surprisingly enough, has recently built subsidized housing. Then we made our way to the Susan B. Anthony 's house. Anthony was a daring social activist who insisted on voting rights for women and was arrested in 1872 for voting in presidential elections, challenging the law. Her house is the Congregation for many of his fellow activists, including the famous suffragette Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. Rochester's history includes another famous activist, abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and both Susan B. Anthony and Federick Douglass are featured in sculptures in the park just down the road a bit from the Susan B. Anthony House.
then took the Corn Hill neighborhood, an area with tidy historic homes that hosts Corn Hill Arts Festival every July The next stop on our itinerary was the Strong Museum, ranked one of the top 10 children's museums in the United States. He holds the National Toy Hall of Fame and many world-renowned collections of toys, miniatures, dollhouses, as well as the world's most comprehensive collection of dolls. The entrance to the possibility of authentic 1950 diner still in operation and an antique carousel.
Crossing the city again in the east end, past tree lined avenues with attractive homes, we headed out of town in a strange Rochester suburb called Fairport, located on the Erie Canal. On the way we passed through a wealthy suburb of Pittsford, who has a place Oak Hill Country Club where the 2003 PGA Championship was held. On the way to Fairport we drove past St. John Fisher College is a place that Buffalo Bill's training camp. Fairport itself is a beautiful little village with beautiful storefronts, a river walk and public docking facilities. We caught a look at the Colonial Belle, 2-deck tour boat that cruises Erie Canal.
of Fairport we went back to Pittsford, whose quaint historical center is also located right on the Erie Canal. Pittsford is the number of retail stores and restaurants that are built around the old lumber mill and it is the home of Sam Patch, an excursion and charter boat that is a replica of the old canal packet boat. Both Fairport and Pittsford reminded me of Niagara-on-the-Lake with beautifully restored architecture, full of colorful flower baskets and a variety of shopping and dining options.
Well, after this comprehensive program of sightseeing it was time to go to dinner. We headed up along the shore of Lake Ontario on beautiful Irondequoit Bay. name for this large bay of water from the Iroquois Nation and means "where the two waters meet." Indians used this bay and the incoming Irondequoit Creek for canoe travel to avoid the high falls on the Genesee River. At the southern end of the bay is a large attractively styled new restaurant called Bazil's which features casual Italian cuisine.
Although a relatively new restaurant, the place was absolutely packed, and the first thing we noticed was a chandelier in the lobby in front of which is made entirely of bottles of wine. We waited for about 15 minutes, then had a great dinner in the dining room side of the bay. I enjoyed the dinner which was capped off the biggest and most delicious funnel cake I have ever seen.
After this long day of sightseeing Patti and Carrie dropped me at the Holiday Inn Express, where I had a well deserved night's rest since another round of sightseeing would await me in just a few hours. My first day in Rochester have left me with impressions:
- huge expanses of green spaces in the city of
- carefully manicured neighborhood with beautifully decorated homes
- more vibrant entertainment districts, including the historic High Falls area
- one of my favorite spots: the outdoor art experience of ArtWalk
- historic buildings in the downtown core
- and the beautiful Bayside dining at Bazil's
.I admit I did not know much about Rochester before I got there, but the scenic quality of its suburbs and the center of the village definitely hit me. Combined with convenient access water sports on the Erie Canal and Lake Ontario, as well as an extensive range of sporting activities including golf, hiking, biking and skiing ust minutes from the downtown core, I realized why Rochester's slogan "Made for Living".
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