Need Rochester, NY, advice please
 

We're thinking of doing a baseball weekend in Rochester in August (Friday to Sunday). I really know nothing at all about that city but I hear good things about it. I don't quite know where to start planning, though, so here are my few start-off questions:

What's a good area of the city to stay in? We're happy to take cabs or public transportation if necessary but for the most part we like to walk.

Any recs for hotels? I've looked at the Radisson Riverfront and the price there is good but is that a good area for touristing? I've also looked at the Hyatt but it gets mediocre reviews. Any suggestions?

Restaurants? We don't need anything fancy but my SO can't do Indian or Chinese food. At least one decent place near the ballpark would be great.

The ballpark -- if we stay in the centre of the city, is it within walking distance?

Any other suggestions of things to do while we're there would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much
gtg

For staying in the city try the Plaza. http://www.rochesterplaza.com/roches...tractions.aspx
Ask the concierge about the local restaurants.
The National Museum of Play is nice and you may want to see the George Eastman House.

gtg - I lived there a hundred years ago from 2nd through 6th grade. Just make sure you go in the summer, which it sounds like you are doing. I remember going to Red Wing games, but can't tell you the current location of the stadium. Winters are brutal and the reason why I made the decision way back when to live in the South when I grew up.

Good luck on your research and have fun. You will meet lots of nice people! :)

Thanks to both of you. Yes, definitely going in the summer!

I'll take a look at the Plaza but tom, what's your opinion of the location of the Radisson Riverfront?

And also, is there an area of the city that's historic and/or charming for walking around?

I remember a good paved trail along the riverfront (Gennesee River) with a view of the waterfall from a bridge.
The old Erie Canal runs through town.
The Eastman House and several other old mansions are along East Avenue.
I never stayed in the city since I have a cousin that lives near Macedon.
I did wait around in the city while waiting for the westbound Lake Shore Limited (about 10PM).
If you want to see a winery head to Canandaigua.
Naples is famous for grape pies.

If you want a great historic location and charming neighborhood to walk, take a look at East and Park Avenues. Gorgeous old Victorian homes. The George Eastman house is right there on 900 East Avenue... The world's oldest museum dedicated to photography. It's pretty neat!

I second the Rochester Plaza suggestion, as that would be walking distance to Frontier Field where the Redwings play (assuming that you're going to see a Redwings game) and is a nice place. I'd also like to suggest the Strathallan Hotel on East Avenue which will put you right in the charming neighborhood I mentioned before, with a ton of cute shops and restaurants.

As for restaurant suggestions, without going too over-the-top price-wise, my top suggestions would be The Owl House which is top rated but reasonably priced, Lento Restaurant for great seafood (chef and owner Art Rogers was just a semifinalist for a James Beard award) and Jines for great greek. If you want to get REAL Western New York... Grab yourself a garbage plate somewhere, either at Nick Tahou's or one of the other many locations that make them. Be sure to try a Zweigles white hot dog while you're there - another Rochester staple!

Hope this helps!

The Third Ward (off downtown)has spectacular historic properties (love the Greek Revival) and mansions that have been restored. (Now it's Corn Hill district)

To enjoy the Erie Canal: http://www.eriecanalway.org/document...e_2012_web.pdf

The Genesee River (waterfalls, trail, etc.)goes through downtown: http://www.cityofrochester.gov/grt/

The downtown area has some very old churches (like St. Luke's), and other buildings that are architecturally wonderful.


I've heard that the "new" baseball park is a terrific venue.

p.s. I think it's "Rochesterian" (say Roch-es-TEAR-ian, and make it a bit nasal), or at least it was 40 years ago:)

Oh this is exactly the kind of info I was looking for -- thank you all so much!

I'll take a look at both hotels and I'm sure I'll end up at one or the other. Yes, it's a Redwings game we're going to.

Any time I need travel info (or how to unclog a drain even), my philosophy is "go to the Fodorites"!

Have you considered Buffalo for a baseball trip? If you've never been there or haven't been there in the past 3-4 years you will find lots of old and new things happening and a good choice of downtown hotels.

If time allows, consider popping down the road to LeRoy NY, home of the Museum of Jell-O. Seriously.

A few things that come to mind:

Mt Hope Cemetery- Sounds strange, but one of my favorite spots in Rochester. You could spend hours exploring. Susan B Anthony and Frederick Douglass are buried here.

Rochester Public Market-Saturday morning. Go for breakfast/brunch and people watching. It was voted best farmers market in the nation a few years ago.

Wegmans-Yes, a grocery store. We Rochesterians are awfully proud of being the hometown of Wegmans, and a visit to the Pittsford mothership is worth a trip.

Erie Canal-If you're in Pittsford for Wegmans, you can drive into the village for a walk along the Erie Canal. Walk east towards Fairport. Along the canal in Pittsford are several businesses and restaurants. Label 7 (Napa) and Aladdin's (Greek) are both good.

Sea Breeze-An old amusement park overlooking Lake Ontario.

Strong National Museum of Play-My kids absolutely LOVE this place, so if you are bringing little ones (or if you're a kid at heart), this is a must. Unfortunately, the Toy Hall of Fame is under construction until September or so, but there is a Boardwalk Arcade exhibit with old arcade games set up for the summer.

Hope this helps!

Thanks -- that's all a great help. We're big fans of markets so that's probably a fer-shur.

KathyK, we do Buffalo for baseball every summer and have been doing it for years! We always have dinner before the game at the Pearl Street Grill and buy peanuts from the peanut guy at the stadium. We often stay over at the Hyatt and last year we went down to a craft fair at the canal. I spent my summers in Crystal Beach so I'm a big Buffalo fan and happy to see it coming back to life.

goddess I spent my summers right down the road in Thunder Bay! When you come back to Buffalo you will notice even more changes including a new Hilton and Marriott downtown as well as the addition of 716 Sports Bar and Restaurant across from the First Niagara Center. It seems every few weeks a new restaurant is opening. Have fun in Rochester.

Thunder Bay? Surely you don't mean Thunder Bay, Ontario. That's WAY up north!

No not that Thunder Bay. There is a small beach community about a mile and a half from Crystal Beach called Thunder Bay. It's closer to the Peace Bridge between Crystal Beach and Crescent Beach.

Geez, I've never even heard of it!

I've been thinking about going back to Crystal Beach to take a look around but I know it's all different now. Still I'd love to see that beautiful beach again.

Back then Thunder Bay was a community of summer homes with a public beach, community center with baseball diamonds and a hot dog stand at the corner of Thunder Bay Road and the Dominion. There was nothing else there. You do know the amusement park is no longer in Crystal Beach?

Oh, I know. I hear it's all condos now. My sister and I and our cousins used to go during the week when it wasn't busy and beg rides from the operators. Those were wonderful summer days for me -- no school and those were the times when your parents just let you go out in the morning and assumed you'd come home for meals. None of this dreadful parental supervision or play dates for us!

Something wonderful

http://rocwiki.org/Dentzel_Carousel

How pretty, Sylvia! I don't know if we'll get to it but it's certainly nice to see it here. Last time I was in NY with my SO, we saw the lovely carousel in Brooklyn.

A couple of other options include Letchwork State Park and the Finger Lakes.

http://www.nysparks.com/parks/79/details.aspx

http://www.fingerlakes.org/

Letchworth that is.

Hi. I'm back. As it turns out, neither the Rochester Plaza nor the Strathallan Hotel have rooms available on the weekend we were planning to go.

Any other suggestions? Location is really the most important thing, I think. We like to walk in nice areas, hope to go to the ballgame, like nice shops and restaurants. Both suggestions above would have been fine, location-wise.

We don't need posh digs. If the location is good, we're fine with a Hilton Garden Inn or Holiday Inn type of hotel. Hoping to keep it well under $200 a night (as the Canadian dollar has tanked). Someplace clean, a little nice and well-located would be fine.

I've made a note of all your other great suggestions. Now we just need a place to stay. It's difficult when you don't know a city at all to pick a hotel :(

DISCLAIMER: Haven't been in 14 years, so not sure how current this info is.
An area I enjoyed was around Park Avenue (also mentioned above by Roxy)--then, it was a sort of hippie area. Lots of fun, casual restaurants, shops and great "energy." Delicious reasonably priced Mediterrranean food at Sinbad's. 1940s-50s atmosphere at nearbyHighland Park Diner.
i loved the town. Hope it's on the upswing. They went through economic tough times with the closing of Kodak factory. (Many fantastic mansions you see now were owned by the company's executives. )You can take a lovely walk walk on the Genessee River Trail which goes th rough town
I can't tell if you want to stay at a place specifically in easy walking distance of baseball stadium. If NOT, what about the neighboring Brighton section for a nice area and decently priced hotels like Courtyard?

Thanks, cali. I'll make a note of your suggestions and take a look at Brighton too.

I think I'll look at a map of those other two hotel locations and see what I can find near them.

I forgot to ask this. What does everyone think of the Hyatt Regency? It still pops up as #1 on tripadvisor although it gets meh reviews. Is it bad? Is it in a good area?

And what about cali's suggestion of the Courtyard in Brighton?

Apologies, Goddess, for my 14 year old memory. This will make it even more confusing. The area I meant was Pittsford, not Brighton! It's a pretty town next to Rochester and Brighton. I didnt actually stay at Courtyard, but friends liked it.

No worries, Cali. We were talking about it tonight and I think we're going to forego the trip altogether, at least for this year. The hotel prices are too high and the Canadian dollar too low. It's just too costly a weekend just for a ballgame. I think maybe we'll drive to Montreal or Quebec city if we go anywhere at all.

Thanks, everyone, for the info. I,ll keep it all and maybe we,ll try again next summer.

Hi again, everyone,
Well, we did cancel our long weekend in Rochester this summer but as it turns out, we're taking a somewhat longer actual vacation by doing the Hudson Valley drive in October.

A one-night stay in Rochester will be our last stop before coming home and if the timing works out, we'll have an afternoon, an overnight and half a day the next day.

I've revived all your suggestions and just made a reservation at the Strathallan. I don't think we'll have time to do much more than go to George Eastman House and explore the neighbourhood but I will keep your restaurant suggestions in mind too for lunch and dinner.

Anyway, I just wanted to thank you again for you suggestions and let you know that they actually were going to be used!

gtg

When Robin Williams, who I had the privledge to meet left us, I could not help but think of George Eastman's departure. He made a choice. Leave now or suffer miserably.

To my friends

My work is done

Why wait?

GE

I think his last letter is in the museum and is where I first read it many years ago.

Wow. My last words will probably be "Hey, can I have seconds on that chocolate ca...."