Two days ago I took the CAT fast ferry from Toronto to Rochester and arrived rested after a 2.5 hour boat ride in the port of Rochester, a picturesque Rochester suburb called Charlotte. I was greeted by Patti and Carrie from the Rochester Visitors Association, who 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 gray skies and thick clouds. But the first thing I noticed as we drove into downtown Rochester was the amount of green space and parks. We drove through several well-kept neighborhoods and Patti showed me some of the amazing park systems 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.
Then we head to Highland Park, where every May the city celebrates the annual Lilac Festival, when more than 1,200 lilac bushes of different varieties and colors bloom. Driving through beautiful neighborhoods with large villas and expansive front gardens, we headed to Cobbs Hill Park, which is located on a hill and has a water reservoir with a fountain. The unique thing about Cobbs Hill Park is that there is a place in this elevated parkland from which you can perfectly see the Rochester skyline in the distance, beyond the lush green neighborhoods that stretch across the city center.
After exploring some of Rochester’s sprawling parks, as well as the beautiful Victorian-era Mt. Hope Cemetery, we slowly made our way downtown on East Avenue, a historic street lined with sprawling mansions. One of Rochester’s famous local entrepreneurs is George Eastman, the founder of the Eastman-Kodak Corporation, which to this day is based in Rochester. Eastman was a great benefactor of the city and donated most of his wealth, estimated at $ 2 billion in today’s dollars, to different medical, cultural and educational institutions in the city. We stopped briefly at his home, Eastman House, an elegant 50-room colonial mansion surrounded by formal gardens.
Following the Eastman House, which also contains the International Museum of Photography and Cinema, we crossed University Avenue to the Barrio de las Artes, or also known as Artwalk. This is a stretch of road down University Avenue that houses studios, galleries, art and antique stores in a neighborhood of post-war apartment buildings, multi-family Victorian mansions, and charming cabins.
The award-winning Artwalk features sidewalk footprints, art benches, tiled lamp posts, sculptures, and bus canopies from George Eastman House to the impressive Neo-Gothic Memorial Art Gallery. Every September this neighborhood hosts the Clothesline Art Show.
After Artwalk we headed down Main Street towards the city center. I took a look at the Eastman Theater, home to the Eastman School of Music, one of the best music schools in the country. The Eastman Theater itself is an interesting, curved, classic-style building, it is literally cut on one side as a neighbor of George Eastman demanded an exorbitant price for his property, and instead of giving in to these demands, Eastman simply decided to leave. to do so. the building on the property line.
Our next stop was the Browns Race and the High Falls Area – one of the city’s newest entertainment districts. Rochester was once known as the city of flour for all the wheat milling that occurred along its river. Today, the Brown’s Race area is a National Register Historic District. The area sits on the Genesee River, right next to the thunderous High Falls. The Pont de Rennes bridge is a pedestrian bridge that connects the east and west side of the city and is named after the sister city of Rochester in France.
Many of the old industrial buildings have been renovated and are now occupied by advertising agencies, technology companies and engineering companies. The streets of the district are cobbled pavement and feature historic-style street lighting. There are several entertainment venues in the area, including the Triphammer Grill, which has a patio overlooking the falls. Next to this restaurant there is an old water wheel, testimony to the grinding history of this area. It is a very atmospheric place and an example of a successful conversion of a former industrial area into a modern entertainment district.
The Kodak headquarters is not far from the High Falls area, and our tour continued through several downtown streets. As a true architecture buff, I was amazed at how many historic Rochester buildings have been preserved. There are entire blocks that have an intact street front from the 19th century, some with cast iron architecture. There was no time to explore the architecture in detail, I would have to wait for my second day in the city. But it goes without saying that he knew he had found a city that had preserved much of its architectural heritage that would require further exploration.
We crossed the west end of town and passed a famous tavern called Nick Tahou’s House, which is home to the “garbage plate” – a plate full of hamburgers, French fries, and a variety of other heart attack-inducing delicacies. This route took us past a beautiful modern townhouse development that surprisingly houses newly built listed homes. We then headed towards Susan B. Anthony’s house. Anthony was a daring social activist who insisted on the right to vote for women and was arrested in 1872 for voting in presidential elections, in defiance of the law. His home was a congregation for many of his activist friends, including famous suffragettes Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. Rochester’s history includes another famous activist, abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and both Susan B. Anthony and Federick Douglass appear in sculptures in a small park just down the street from the Susan B. Anthony House.
We then visit the Corn Hill neighborhood, an area with neat historic houses that hosts the Corn Hill Arts Festival every July. The next stop on our itinerary was the Strong Museum, ranked as one of the top 10 museums for children in the United States. It houses the National Toy Hall of Fame and many world-renowned collections of toys, miniatures and dollhouses, as well as the most comprehensive collection of dolls in the world. The entrance area features an authentic restaurant from the 1950s still in operation and an old carousel.
Crossing the city again to the east end, past tree-lined avenues with attractive houses, we headed out of the city to a picturesque Rochester suburb called Fairport, located on the Erie Canal. On the way we passed the wealthy suburb of Pittsford, which is the location of the Oak Hill Country Club where the 2003 PGA Championships were held. On the way to Fairport we passed St. John Fisher College, which is the location of the course. Buffalo Bill’s training session. Fairport itself is a beautiful little town with beautiful storefronts, a river walk, and public docks. We take a look at the Colonial Belle, a 2-deck sightseeing boat that cruises the Erie Canal.
From Fairport we went back to Pittsford, whose picturesque historic center is also right on the Erie Canal. Pittsford has a number of retail stores and restaurants that are built around a former sawmill and is home to the Sam Patch, a charter and excursion boat that is a replica of an old canal package ship. Both Fairport and Pittsford reminded me of Niagara-on-the-Lake with beautifully restored architecture, colorful overflowing flower baskets, and a variety of shops and restaurants.
Well, after this full program of sightseeing, it was time to go for dinner. We drive down to the shore of Lake Ontario and enter beautiful Irondequoit Bay. The name of this great bay of water comes from the Iroquois nation and means “where the two waters meet.” Native Americans once used this bay and the Irondequoit Creek inlet for canoeing to avoid the high falls of the Genesee River. At the southern end of the bay there is a great new attractive style restaurant called Bazil’s, which offers casual Italian cuisine.
Although the restaurant is fairly new, the place was completely packed, and the first thing we noticed was the chandelier in the entrance hall that is made entirely of wine bottles. We waited about 15 minutes and then had a great dinner in the bay side dining room. I enjoyed dinner, which culminated in 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 a well-earned night’s rest as another round of sightseeing awaited me in a few hours. My first day in Rochester left several impressions on me:
– the large expanses of green spaces within the city
– meticulously manicured neighborhoods with attractive well-kept houses
– several vibrant entertainment districts, including the historic High Falls area
– one of my favorite places: the ArtWalk outdoor art experience
– the historic buildings of the city center
– and the beautiful bayside dining room 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 neighborhoods definitely impressed me. Combined with convenient access to water sports on the Erie Canal and Lake Ontario, as well as a wide variety of sporting activities, including golf, hiking, biking, and skiing, just minutes from downtown, I realized why Rochester’s motto is “Made to Live.” .