Rochester, New York on the Cheap

So, you are a cheap skate, flat broke, or have decided to take advantage of the "bad" economy. Hardhat, come on over, visit Rochester, enjoy the fresh air, go walking on the trails, visit Ontario State Park, go kayaking in the Erie Canal, Braddock Bay or the Irondequoit Bay, use your bicycle - have lots of Kodak moments! After all, Rochester is the home of the Eastman Kodak Corporation, right?

There's plenty of hotels that now have available accommodations on Route 104 in Greece, or by the Rochester Airport. You don't have to camp out at the Stony Brook State Park in Dansville anymore.

From Buffalo or Syracuse, gas to Rochester for a car load of people costs less than a movie, and the facilities of the libraries themselves for the weekend are worth the expense.

There's also Maplewood Park, Seneca Zoo, Bicycle Route 5 and Bicycle Route 390, and outdoor concerts at Lake Ontario State Park, hosted by Wegman's, listed as one of the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work for in America. Yes, the park on the Lake that you or I could actually swim in comfortably.

I mean, boating around Rochester is a lot of fun! You can take powered boats, or kayaks, or paddle boats - rentals for the day or a few hours. You might be tempted to plunk down a few Ben Franklin greenbacks and buy yourself a kayak, and go trekking across Lake Ontario, however, that's a bit reckless. Moreover, taking your new Kodak camera and plunging through the reeds of the Braddock Bay Wildlife Refuge through 2 feet of water will only make you a regular stick-in-the-mud. Luckily, most of us will choose the sensible routes. Kayaks are great, and the summer months are warm enough that the local gentle rain (usually) is not especially dreary, and might even be a bit of unexpected fun.

Back to the land, there's the Greece Historical Society on Long Pond Road, north of Latta Road, which is a great place to visit, and is open on Sundays, which is next door to the Greece Public Library, which is large enough to bring a vanload of information freaks over to, and has a small refreshment bar to check out, too.

The George Eastman House, the George Eastman Kodak Museum, brings history to the public of the formation of the Kodak Corporation, the development of film and camera technologies, and is a fun way to spend time. It is officially known as the George Eastman International Museum of Photography, and even if you get lost, and stop in at the neighborhood center on Route 104, on the border of Greece and Rochester, you will be able to receive good directions.

The Strong Children's Museum is a nationally renowned museum that your children will be telling all their people about having visited.

Guess what - the High Falls Brewery, zymurgists, beer brewers who manufacture Genesee Beer, will be open to the public on Friday afternoons starting in July, appointments are recommended, if not mandatory; the tours are scheduled. If you don't have an appointment, and don't mind spending the day searching for an Abbott's Custard shop or local microbrewery instead, there are free smells from the sidewalk.

Apple Annie's on Route 104 and Apple Annie Drive is the place in Rochester to get apple cider, and is a fun place to visit, to gab with the shop help, to gander at the memorabilia, to check out the mix of old and new technologies, and possibly to get some apple cider.

The Greater Rochester Visitor's Association has more recommendations about places to visit in Rochester, NY, which is, according to Rand McNally, the third largest city in New York. It was America's first boomtown, and was nicknamed the "flour city" throughout the 19th century.

Other attractions include the Susan B. Anthony House, which is probably a good place to visit, definitely a source of college essays, term papers, or school reports for children; as well as the Rochester Public Market, established in 1827, a good place to get raw food, or cooked food.

If you enjoy Rochester as much as I do, you might have to send yourself reminder emails on the order of "It is time to go home." You might even have to text message yourself this on your cell phone. That's what weekends are about, losing track of time because a few days went by unexpectedly well.