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Anything to do in Rochester, NY?

I will be in Syracuse for a wedding and my mom lives in Niagara. I'll have a free day and was thinking about meeting her halfway in Rochester to spend an evening together. Any suggestions about what to do to hang out for an afternoon or a decent casual restaurant for dinner (Italian, Steak, Seafood ~$30 pp). Anything worth photographing in the area? Any malls or outlet stores on the unique side (if that's possible). I've never been to Rochester before, have no idea what's up there other than Kodak. thanks...

I'm fond of Roch., which is something of an overlooked jewel. Just driving down East Ave. downtown will show you some off its 'past glory' as a very wealthy city at the turn of the last century. Depending on whether you can get there before closing time, the George Eastman house is a lovely mansion with lovely rooms and a garden and an interesting museum appended, with some photography from long before you thought people were taking photos. If you are a photographer, you might find this interesting. The art museum has some surprising gems and it's in a nice neighborhood. There's also a good planetarium, although that's not so good for catching up with your mother on family gossip. At the completely other end of the cultural spectrum, the Wegman's on Monroe Avenue is amazing -- yes, it is/was a supermarket, but now it's a wonderful, huge, sort of enclosed open market with gourmet foods, imported stuff, elaborate deli, etc. and you can put together quite a wonderful meal and take it to their very pleasant seating area upstairs and watch them teach people how to cook things. If you are familiar with such places, I'd compare it to an International Safeway, a Sutton's market, or.... Mt. Hope Cemetary is a lovely, historical place with graves of Susan B. Anthony and Fred. Douglas but some amazing "funerary" sculptures. It's hilly and large and an interesting spot to take unusual pictures. The University is an interesting place with lots going on all the time. As for restaurants, there are many and good ones, but I'll let others make suggestions there.

On Eastman House, check: http://www.eastman.org/

We were in Rochester a couple of years ago for a family reunion. The highlight of our trip (in addition to the family time) was a visit to Wegman's Supermarket.

I would not take Craig's comment as an insult. For those of us who can't shop at Wegman's regularly, we are deeply envious. For those of you who can, well, it does make upstate NY tolerable...;^)

In addition to the Eastman House residence (really worth a visit), there is a building attached to it that houses the International Museum of Photography. They have first rate photo exhibitions and lots of historical equipment and displays. Also consider the Strong Museum www.strongmuseum.org It houses an amzaing colelction of Americana among other things. Everything from toys to furniture, clothing, household items, appliances etc. ranging back to the early 1800's and prior. There are thematic displays tied in to social/hisyorical movements or events. It also houses one of the worlds pre-eminent collections of porcelain dolls and.... Japanese writing instruments along with the ink pots and sashes that were used with them. If you want casual, the Dinosaur barbecue is in an old train station downtown and is fun with decent food. I don't know the area well enough to recommend other restaurants but there are plenty to choose from up around Monroe Ave if you just drive or walk through that neighborhood.

Forgot to mention - about 45 minutes from Rochester and abundant with photo opportunities is Letchworth Park - the "Grand Canyon of the East".

Restaurants: try Tapas 177, Daisy Flour Mill, or Agatina's.

2 Vine is a fabulous restaurant. We liked it so much on a recent road trip, we stopped again on the way home. They have a website. Reservations a must.

Sienna and 2 Vine are also good restaurant choices. Entrees run from around $20-30. Both have a hip, city vibe to them and usually are pretty crowded on the weekends. Water Street Grill, which is now located in the Strathallan hotel off of East Ave., is also very good. For Italian, there are many options. One of my favorites is Pasta Villa, which is a pretty small place with good food. Mario's on Monroe Ave. also has good Italian.

Eastview Mall has the best selection of stores, however that is out in Victor, southeast of the city and would take up the better part of the day. There are lots of options, but to get a real "flavor" for Rochester spend some time in the city around the east end area ... East Ave near downtown, Alexander St., Park Ave, Monroe Ave, University Ave areas. For shopping other than the mall try Inspiration Designs, a nice fairly large specialty shop for women's clothing (a bit expensive though) at 3122 Monroe Ave in Pittsford (585-383-8790) right across from the premier Wegmans in the area. Also nice for designer discounted clothes (men, women, children) is Cohoes on 3349 Monroe Avenue in Pittsford (585-218-0230). If you do end up spending time on Monroe Ave in the Pittsford area, either Brio's (Mediterranean Bistro) or Benucci's (Contemp Italian) would be nice for lunch. Benucci's is in Pittsford Plaza off Monroe ( 585-264-1300) and Brio's is in a plaza on the other side of Monroe (3400 Monroe; 585-586-7000). I this sounds interesting you can start off in this area and then just head down Monroe Ave through Brighton right into the city. For some "city" fun in the afternoon you may enjoy browsing down Park Ave and Monroe Ave in the city. Monroe has some interesting funky shops. There are also some nice casual restaurants in the Park Ave area ... I like Hogan's Hideaway and The Big Apple. Park Ave is just a block down from the East Avenue area which is a "must" to drive down to see the beautiful homes and mansions. (That will be where the George Eastman house is.) For a unique shop, visit Craft Company # 6 in an old firehouse at 785 University Ave near the George Eastman House (585-473-3413 for hours). If you are interested in art there is a special show right now at the Art Gallery (which is on University) of sculpture and paintings by Edgar Degas. The Planetarium (part of the Science Museum) is also on University Ave and fun to visit. If you are in that area of the city looking for lunch, try Mamasan's at 309 University Ave for really good Thai/Vietnamese food (585-262-4580 or www.mamasans.com). I would second the above poster's recommendations for dinner at 2Vines (24 Winthrop off East Ave in the "East End", 585-454-6020) ... one of my favorites. Park Avenue Pub (650 Park Ave, 585-461-4140) would also be nice. Grinnell's at 1696 Monroe Ave in Brighton has good steak dinners (585-244-3710). Be sure to stop for coffee at Spot Coffee at 200 East Ave, a really fun, funky spot that attract people of all ages and is great for people watching and hanging out. (This would be right around the corner from 2Vines if you end up having dinner there.) For reference the following streets run parallel to one another north to south (in the nicest area of the city): University Ave., East Ave., Park Ave, Monroe Ave.

the answer to your post is NO.

I second the suggestion of shopping in Park Ave. neighborhood. Definitely go to Craft Co #6, check out Parleigh Pharmacy (not a pharmacy), and Stever's Candy is a must see. My favorite restaurant down there is still Park Ave Pub, but you might think it is a little expensive. The Geaarge Eastman House is in this neighborhood, and the Art Gallery and Strong Museum aren't far. This really is a fine city, regardless of its reputation.

TTT - also, Wegman's is not an entirely silly suggestion, even if you are from a big metropolitan area - but it has to be that one only (the others are "normal" supermarkets).

Thanks for all the responses! I'll definitely check out the Eastman House and some of the shops suggested.

Mike: Enjoy yourself while in Rochester. Syracuse is the most boring city on Earth.

Does anyone have hotel/motel recommendations for Rochester area?

You can watch all the former Kodak and Xerox employees cash their unemployment checks.

If you're into birds, the Kodak Office building has an active Peregrine Falcon nest on top and if you go down there you can usually see them flying around. Of course they have a camera on the nest. It can be seen at http://birdcam.kodak.com/cgi-bin/asC...amp;instance=1

I would recommend the Del Monte Lodge in the village of Pittsford (585-381-9900). It's only a 10 minute ride from there down Monroe Ave into the city and that route would take you by many of the places previously recommended. (Also, see my note above under "Cheryl" from 11/7/02.) The village of Pittsford is nice and quaint and a you can walk to several restaurants and shops. It's also right on the Eire Canal and has a nice walking path along the canal right by the hotel.