Hello from Rochester: A Perfect
Getaway for Stressed Out Torontonians (and Other Urbanites)
by: Susanne Pacher
Two days ago I took the CAT fast ferry from Toronto to Rochester and arrived
well-rested after a 2.5 hour boat ride in the Port of Rochester, a scenic
Rochester suburb called Charlotte. I was greeted by Patti and Carrie from the
Rochester Visitors Association who had helped me with my itinerary and were kind
enough to show me around.
It had been raining all day and Port Charlotte
greeted me with grey skies and deep-hanging clouds. But the first thing I
noticed as we drove towards downtown Rochester was the amount of green spaces
and parks. We drove through a number of nicely manicured neighbourhoods and
Patti showed me some of the amazing parks systems that Rochester has to offer.
We drove through Genesee Valley Park, designed by famous landscape architect
Frederick Law Olmstead who also designed Central Park in New York City.
We then headed to Highland Park where each May
the City holds the annual Lilac Festival, when more than 1,200 lilac bushes of
different varieties and colors burst into bloom. Driving through beautiful
neighbourhoods with large villas and expansive front lawns we made our way to
Cobbs Hill Park which is located on a hill and holds a water reservoir with a
fountain. The unique thing about Cobbs Hill Park is that there is one spot in
this elevated green zone from where you can perfectly see the skyline of
Rochester away in the distance, past the lush green neighbourhoods that stretch
in front of downtown.
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 historic street with extensive mansions.
One of Rochester's famous home-grown entrepreneurs is George Eastman, the
founder of the Eastman-Kodak Corporation, which to this day has its headquarters
in Rochester. Eastman was a great benefactor to the city and donated the
greatest part of his wealth, estimated at $2 billion in today's dollars, to
different medical, cultural and educational institutions throughout the city. We
briefly stopped at his home, the Eastman House, an elegant 50-room Colonial
Revival Mansion surrounded by formal gardens.
Following the Eastman House, which also contains
the International Museum of Photography and Film, we crossed over to University
Avenue to the Neighbourhood of the Arts, or also referred to as Artwalk. This is
a stretch of road down University Avenue which houses studios, galleries, art
and antique retailers in a neighbourhood of post-war apartment buildings,
multi-family Victorian mansions and charming cottages.
The award winning Artwalk features sidewalk
imprints, artistic benches, tiled light poles, sculptures and bus shelters all
the way from the George Eastman House towards the stunning neogothic building of
the Memorial Art Gallery. Every September this neighbourhood hosts the
Clothesline Art Show.
After Artwalk we headed down Main Street into
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. The Eastman
Theatre itself is an interesting building, curved and classically styled, it is
literally cut off on one side since a neighbour of George Eastman demanded an
exorbitant price for his property, and rather than giving in to these demands,
Eastman simply decided to stop the building at the property line.
Our next stop was the Browns Race and High Falls
Area: one of the city's newest entertainment districts. Rochester was once known
as the Flour City for all the wheat grinding that occurred along its River.
Today, the Brown's Race area is a national register historic district. The area
sits above the Genesee River, right next to the thundering High Falls. The Pont
de Rennes bridge is a pedestrian bridge, connecting the east and west side of
the city, and is named after Rochester's sister city in France.
Many of the former industrial buildings have
been renovated and are now occupied by ad agencies, tech companies and
engineering firms. The streets in the district have cobble-stoned pavement and
feature historically styled street lighting. There are a number of entertainment
places in the area, including the Triphammer Grill, which has a patio area
overlooking the falls. Beside this restaurant is an old water wheel, testimony
to this area's milling history. It's a very atmospheric place and an example of
a successful conversion of an old industrial area into a modern entertainment
district.
The Kodak headquarters are not far away from the
High Falls area, and our tour continued past a number of the downtown streets.
As a true architecture buff, I marveled at how many of Rochester's historic
buildings have been preserved. There are entire blocks that have an intact 19th
century street front, some with cast iron architecture. There was no time to
explore the architecture in detail, that would have to wait for my second day in
town. But needless to say, I knew I had found a city that had preserved a lot of
its architectural heritage that would require further exploration.
We crossed into the city's west end and passed
by a famous tavern called Nick Tahou's House, which is the home of the "garbage
plate": a plate full of hamburgers, fries, and a variety of other heart-attack
inducing delicacies. This route took us past a beautiful modern townhouse
development that, surprisingly enough, holds recently built subsidized housing.
We then made our way towards 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 the presidential election, challenging the law. Her house was a
congregation for many of her activist friends, including the famous suffragettes
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. Rochester's history includes another
famous activist, the abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and both Susan B. Anthony
and Federick Douglass are featured in sculptures in a little park just down the
road from the Susan B. Anthony House.
We then took in the Corn Hill neighbourhood, an
area with tidy historic homes that hosts the 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. It 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 area features
an authentic 1950s diner still in operation and an antique carousel.
Crossing the city again into the east end, past
tree lined avenues with attractive homes, we headed outside of town to a quaint
Rochester suburb called Fairport, located on the Erie Canal. On the way we
passed through the wealthy suburb of Pittsford, which is the location of the Oak
Hill Country Club where the 2003 PGA Championships were held. On our way to
Fairport we drove past St. John Fisher College which is the location of the
Buffalo Bill's training camp. Fairport itself is a gorgeous little village with
beautiful storefronts, a river walk and public docking facilities. We caught a
glimpse of the Colonial Belle, a 2-deck sight-seeing boat that cruises the Erie
Canal.
From Fairport we went back to Pittsford, whose
quaint historical center is also located right on the Erie Canal. Pittsford has
a number of retail stores and restaurants that are built around an old lumber
mill and it is the home of the Sam Patch, an excursion and charter boat that is
a replica of an old canal packet boat. Both Fairport and Pittsford reminded me
of Niagara-on-the-Lake with beautifully restored architecture, colourful
overflowing flower baskets, and a variety of shopping and dining opportunities.
Well, after this comprehensive sightseeing
program it was time to go for dinner. We headed up towards the Lake Ontario
shoreline and into beautiful Irondequoit Bay. The name for this large bay of
water is from the Iroquois Nation and means "where the two waters meet." The
Native Americans once 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 the restaurant is fairly new, the place
was absolutely packed, and the first thing we noticed was the chandelier in the
front entrance hall which is made completely of wine bottles. We waited for
about 15 minutes and then had a great dinner in the bay-side dining room area. I
enjoyed the dinner which was capped off by the largest and most delicious funnel
cake I have ever seen.
After this long day of sightseeing Patti and
Carrie dropped me off at the Holiday Inn Express where I had well-deserved
night's rest since another round of sightseeing would await me in just a few
hours. My first day in Rochester had left me with a number of impressions:
- the large expanses of green spaces within the
city
- meticulously manicured neighbourhoods with
attractive well-kept homes
- several vibrant entertainment districts,
including the historic High Falls area
- one of my favourite spots: the outdoor art
experience of ArtWalk
- the historic buildings of the downtown core
- and the beautiful bayside dining at Bazil's.
I admit I didn't know much about Rochester
before I got there, but the scenic quality of its suburban and downtown
neighbourhoods definitely struck me. Combined with convenient access to water
sports on the Erie Canal and Lake Ontario as well as to a huge variety of sports
activities including golf, hiking, biking and skiing ust minutes from the
downtown core, I realized why Rochester's slogan is "Made for Living".
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