Trip to Syracuse New York
 

I am going to be in Syracuse New York for 4 days the latter part of Sept. I have never been there and am looking for some suggestions on what to see, and any good restraunts in the area. Thanks!!

There was a good restaurant called China Road.

http://syracuse.citysearch.com/profi...hina_road.html

And they have very good prepared food at Wegman's.

And Dinosaur BBQ started there.

We have visited friends and relatives in Syracuse on numerous occassions and there ain't a hell of ot to do.

You can see part of the Erie Canal and visit the campus of the University.

How about ideas for the rest of the stay, that is day 1 afternoon, and days 2-4 Aduchamp?

I agree - I've been there a few times and never felt compelled to linger.

I wish I could be more generous about Syracuse since my cousin has lived there all his life and there was little to see besides the State Fair that lasted two weeks.

They have music and such at night and events at the university but during the day, I too am open to suggestions.

Thanks anyway guys, we are going for an interview at SUNY. I am a bit hesitant about driving around there........any thing I should know other than get an EZ Pass?

I second the rec for Dinosaur BBQ:

http://www.dinosaurbarbque.com/syrIndex.php

We also really like King David's for Middle Eastern food:

http://www.kingdavids.com/

My husband and I lived there way back in the mid/late 70's and still have friends in the area. We stopped to have lunch or dinner with them a few times in the past few years when we were passing through New York State. We were surprised to find that there's an area downtown that's been revitalized with lots of bars and restaurants. Two different times we found the area to be quite lively even fairly late on weekday evenings.

One suggestion for something to do would be to take a drive to Skaneateles:

http://www.skaneateles.com/

I can't help much with suggestions on things to do, but when I took my son their last fall to tour the university, we tried to go to Dinosaur BBQ and the line was around the block. There is a street (North Salina Street) that is a mini-little italy area (maybe just a few blocks worth), with some nice restaurants. You can google it to find more info.

You should check out what events are happening on campus (sports, art gallery, etc). The school website would have that info. It's a lovely campus. There's also a mall nearby.

Excellent!! Thanks to you all!!

Hi. My son now goes to school there and so I'm also trying to find things to do in the area. Some ideas:

Step into the Jefferson Clinton Hotel lobby, at Armory Square, and pick up an Historic Walking Tour booklet. It shows you the route to take, maybe a mile or so, and points out some very interesting architectural and historical facts.

Walk/browse/shop the Armory Square area. Good restaurants in that area include Opus, Enoteca, Lemongrass. There are also a ton of Irish pubs and informal eateries in that area.

The MOST (Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science and Technology) is also right there.

Check out the Carrier Dome at SU.

Try to get to the Dinosaur BBQ at off hours. I think it's worth it.

Check out the Erie Canal Museum and the Everson Museum of Art.

Take a drive into the Finger Lakes region to Skaneateles. Stop for dinner at the Inn Between in Camillus.

That's enough to at least fill a few hours!

if you have time, take a trip up north to Thousands Islands area. its @ the E end of Lake ontario as it funnels into the St. Lawrence River. Really beautiful area!

You guys are great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks so much!!

Of course, there's always Niagara Falls, about 4 - 4.5 hours away. I have yet to get there.

Please report back on your return. I'm going next month and will appreciate your ideas!

Hi brewski. Are you back? Please, tell us what you did, what you liked and what you didn't like. Inquiring minds want to know!

Iregeo, if you are looking for things to do in Syracuse and you like art, check out the Turner to Cézanne Exhibit at the Everson Museum https://www.everson.org/exhibitions/...to_cezanne.php

The Syracuse Symphony Orchestra has opened it's 2009/2010 season http://www.syracusesymphony.org

One of the largest Farmer's Markets in NYS is at the CNY Regional Market in Syracuse. It's open on Saturday year round but at it's largest (350 vendors) from May until mid November. Produce, baked goods, hand crafted items etc. Don't miss the Regional Market Commons which is a building at the front of the market with a few specialty shops and restaurants (also open year round)

If you pick up a Thursday edition of the Syracuse Post Standard there is a "Weekend" guide with everything that is going on. This summer there were tons of festivals including Taste of Syracuse, Blues Fest, Jazz Fest, Italian Fest, Irish Fest, 3-day arts and crafts festival, Balloon Fest, antique shows, a Brew Fest and more. October 28-November 1st is The Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament www.syracuseinvitational.com The Salt City Autumn Antiques Show & Antiquarian Book Fair October 24 & 25, at the Fairgrounds, and in November the Junior League hosts it's Holiday Shops over Veteran’s Day weekend at the fairgrounds in the Center of Progress Building.

If you are into theater check out Syracuse Stage www.syracusestage.org. The Red House www.theredhouse.org offers theater, art and film. The Delavan Gallery is worth a visit too: www.delavanartgallery.com as well as over a dozen smaller galleries. There is also an terrific Historical Museum

The Landmark Theater landmarktheatre.org
has a full schedule of dance, film, theater and comedy (including Robin Williams) lined up and Chris Botti is at the Goldstein Auditorium on the SU campus in late October.

There are a wide range of dining options, for Italian I recommend Francesca’s and Asti's in Little Italy on North Salina and Pastabilities in Armory Square. Lemon Grass is great for Thai, Riley's on Park St is a wonderful neighborhood pub. There are literally hundreds of places to eat. Avoid Erie Blvd. it's nothing but chains like Olive Garden, etc.

There are also movies theaters all over the city and an IMAX theater in Armory Square. This winter maybe you would enjoy a hockey game, basketball game?

There truly is something for everyone, if you have a specific interest please let us know so we can suggest something. Enjoy your visit!

Thank you Margo_Chester. Lots of great info. I'll be there visiting my son on parents' weekend. Where do you suggest I take him to buy his winter gear...coat, hat, boots...?

I would try the LL Bean outlet in the Fayetteville Towne Center first; it really isn't that far from campus, depending on traffic maybe 10-15 minutes. http://www.corcompanies.com/properties/fayetteville/ if your son decides that he needs things for his dorm/apartment there is a Target in the same center.

If you don't find what he needs at LL Bean you can try Carousel Mall, there is a DSW (shoes) a Macy's, Lord & Taylor, JCPenney. The mall is poorly laid out, crowded and the parking lot is a mess due to construction, I think you would waste a lot of time there when you could be doing something fun. Try Bean's first and go from there.

Also, if you are going to try to go out for a nice dinner over the weekend, make a reservation or you might have a bit of a wait.

Will do. Thanks again!

Hey gang,

First of all THANK YOU for all of your responses!!!!!!!! All of your input was very much appriciated. Margo, I wish I had your post earlier, but you were certainly a treasure trove of information.
The trip overall was fine, great pilot on American Airlines, he actually let the passengers ask questions, and told us about the flight generally. Personally, I hate flying out of San Francisco,there were way to many people for my taste and the airpost is to big. Fly Oakland if possible.
When we arrived at Syracuse it was late a night and raining. I convinced my partner to take a cab at least to the hotel and then we could always rent a car later. She agreed and we were off. I always think that if the cab driver is the least bit friendly it is a good idea to pick their brains for information about the area.

We stayed at the Parkview Hotel on E. Genesee St. It was perfect for us. I did not make the arrangements for this trip so I was thinking.......a hotel by the freeway (URRRR no sleep)....well I could not have been more wrong. This is one of the quieter hotels that I have stayed in. Freeway or no freeway, we didn't hear anything. The room was very spacious and quiet. I would stay here again without hesitation. There was a great little coffe shop downstairs and the front desk staff was very helpfull.

The weather was pretty crummy to say the least, so we ended up not renting a car. We either took a cab or walked, and generally that proved to be just fine with us.
We toured Syracuse University, checked out the Erie Canal Museum, walked around Armory Square wound up eating at Pastabilities (which we enjoyed) and enjoyed the architecture around the area. A word of warning here, don't plan on checking out the Armory Square area on Sundays. Nothing is open. We stopped by on Monday and it was better but it seemed there were still quite a few places closed. All in all though we enjoyed the vibe of the area and there was a wonderful crafts store, it was quite nice.

We did check out the mall, which I didn't think was bad at all. We do not have a Lord and Taylor's store out here so it was nice get a chance to shop in some different areas.

Though Syracuse has been hit very hard by the economy (at least that's what we were told), we still enjoyed our stay. The people were great and very friendly. When we told them we were from California we did not get the usual grimace (which I have experienced in Oregon, sorry)and people were happy to chat and share information about their ideas for sightseeing.

Overall, I would still love to return and get a chance to check out the other places in the Finger Lakes area that you folks have mentioned. Nice people, and we had a nice relaxing trip. In addition the interview went well.

Thanks again for all the folks who shared ideas. This is an awsome site to check out for trip info.

Glad the trip and interview went well, brewski. Thanks for posting back!

It's a bit of a coincidence that you happened to post today. One of our friends from Syracuse, who I mentioned in my post upthread, is in our area for a conference this week and we're having dinner with her tonight. I have a feeling your post will come up in our conversation!

CAPH52

I wish the weather would have been a bit better, though I have bitten by the travel bug now. I had not flown since before 9/11 wow what a difference.

I want to do Washington DC next...........and I will certainly check here for ideas.

Thanks again to all you folks out there!!!!!