Rochester 3-Day Tour

We had a really good time when Margie & John, our new friends from Ohio that we met on our cruise came for a visit.  They were so great to be with.  I don't think they minded, and I loved it, that I didn't have to do anything fancy.  They arrived on Wednesday around noon after touring Niagara Falls (NY side) and Lockport, the Underground Cave and Boat Ride that we didn't know anything about, but now want to see.

We had lunch here and then following my prepared Tour Package.  I can't say that we followed it exactly, especially not for the meals but we did see most of the sites.  We went to Pittsford and took a walk along the canal at Schoen Place.

From there we went to Wegmans in Pittsford which is one of the out of towners MUST see.  A trip down to Park Ave was next since we decided we would never be hungry enough to eat at 7:00 which was on the planned tour.  We wandered down to F. Oliver's where we sampled and purchased and then stopped into Baker St Bakery next door to buy some bread for dipping when we got home.  On the way home we stopped at our local Wegmans and each bought a $6 meal which we never ate that night because we had wine, bread, vinegar and oil and some other appetizer type things.  And then it was time for dessert.

On Thursday we went to Ontario Beach Park and walked out on the pier

the water was especially disgusting looking!

  We walked to the lighthouse

 and then went into the park and rode the carousel



We saw a car using the electric-vehicle charging station at the pier parking lot.  I didn't even know we had these.  I just Googled it and found out that as of April 2014 Rochester had 24 of these and for the first year they are free to use.  The article said that the cost of electricity is minimal.
Also learned that Governor Cuomo announced a Charge NY initiative in 2013, installing 360 EV stations across New York.  Where have I been??

After all that we went to Pelican's Nest for an outdoor lunch.

And a stop at the Charlotte Lighthouse 

From there, Larry took over the tour and took us to places outside of what the original tour included but were very noteworthy stops.
We went to the House of Guitars, which this year is celebrating its 50th anniversary along with the Riots in Rochester.

This is what I remember the House Of Guitars from way back when.

Not too different now but a lot bigger but still as disorganized.  But just ask and they can find anything you want.

From there Larry took us over for a little hike at Whiting Rd Nature Center, just to make sure we would be able to eat again and then we rode down to the end of Lake Rd where the swing bridge is.

Once home again some of us needed little naps and thought we would never be able to eat again but somehow we managed to down those Wegmans $6 meals from the day before.

On Friday it was time to tour the George Eastman House.  

 Margie likes to take pictures in mirrors as much as I do.

 We toured the house on our own but then took part in the garden tour.

From there we drove over to Lake Ave and passed what used to be Midtown Plaza.  In looking up information about that I came across this video.  I remember all those stores from when I worked downtown at Xerox and we could just walk across the enclosed bridge to get into Midtown.

We finally got to our lunch spot, The Genesee Brew House

We didn't take any pictures of the food, but wasn't beer the reason to come?  But just as a reminder for the next time, Margie and I each got the Brew House Nachos which were really good but couldn't finish them so took them home.  Not so good as leftovers.  Next time share.

Because it was crowded and we didn't want to wait for an outside table we ate indoors and then went up to the 3rd floor roof to take pictures of the falls.

And John found a new friend as we left.

Back home we were going to have a healthy salad and pizza for dinner but by the time we got around to eating, it was just the pizza.  Looks like Larry and I were going to have to be healthy on our own.

We had a great time.  Thanks for coming Margie and John.  See you soon!!