Leaving Home
Rochester, NY, USA
Someone once told me, “I was never happier than when Rochester was in the rear-view mirror for the last time.”
Harsh.
Having spent most of my life in the town, I don’t share the feeling. But I understand that as with any location, there are reasons to both love and hate the place.
The derogatory statement first aroused emotion (Oh yeah? You couldn’t pay me to live in the overcrowded, overheated dump you’re moving to!), and then reflection. What would be missed if we left Rochester?
Leaving is a possibility for many carrying a Medicare card. Those people often disappear. New York becomes Florida or Arizona. Most often, the parting shot is something about the local weather.
“I’m gonna go! I’ve had it with the snow.”
Snowbirding* is not for me. In fact, I’d have a really hard time with a year without snow. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a diehard northerner who never wants to abandon the colder climes for lower latitude. For a limited amount of time, it’s great to walk on the ocean beach, or wander around a Caribbean island. But I actually look forward to skiing, and snowshoeing, and roaring wood stove fires, and even shoveling, to a point.
But there are many other reasons Rochester would be sorely missed. Here are a few:
Long walks and bike rides on the Erie Canal. What a great way to get outside and get a little exercise. It’s a wonderful underused resource which long ago opened commerce from the east coast to the mid-west. There’s always something interesting to see on the canal, no matter what segment you travel.
Lake Ontario and it’s shoreline — Hamlin Beach, Charlotte Beach, Durand Eastman Park, the Charlotte/Genesee Pier, Chimney Cliffs. OK, a few of these are not technically “in Rochester,” but they’re certainly within easy striking distance. Rochester is on the North Coast of the USA, with the center of the lake as the international border with unseen Canada.
The Great Lakes are much like freshwater oceans. Driving for hours near the shoreline, a visitor asked, as we caught another watery glimpse, “What lake is that?”
“That’s Ontario, the same lake you saw when we started.”
“Oooohh. Now I get why you call them ‘The Great Lakes.’” Indeed!
A river, with waterfalls, runs through it. While not producing the thunder of Niagara, the falls on the north-flowing Genesee River are quite impressive. But they are somewhat obscured, requiring one to seek them out.
There are many people in Rochester who don’t even know the Lower Falls exist. One can drive over the bridge from which this photo was taken without ever seeing the falls.
The Eastman House is a treasure. Amazing to see where George Eastman, Founder of Kodak and amateur photography, lived his life. Additionally, the house is an amazing museum of photography. If you ever get the chance, go down into the vault to see the camera collection. And if you’ve never had coffee and a danish at their cafe, you’re short-changing yourself. Oh, and don’t miss the tulips in the spring!
The Rochester Public Market is a great place to purchase great food (and other items) at great prices. All year round for over 100 years, residents and vendors have filled the outdoor and indoor spaces while shopping. Beyond utility, it has always been a melting pot where differing languages and cultures come together with a single purpose.
Stroll along Park Ave to enjoy shops and restaurants. The Frog Pond, Jines, Stever’s Candy, Parkleigh ,and a whole host of quirky shops beckon.
Park Avenue also hosts one of the many festivals which which go strong every week, all summer long. The Corn Hill Festival is one of the best, and the Lilac Festival is not to be missed, year after year. Maybe pick up a poster, too.
Highland Park is incredible! This Frederick Law Olmsted-designed park is wonderful place to walk, sniff, or just be. Many only see it during the Lilac Festival, which is always well worth visiting, but it is a wonderful place all year long. If your olfactory sense works at all, when the lilacs are in bloom, walking on the south face of the hill is a unique experience. The augmentation provided by the visual splendor is eye-gravy!
A short stroll away is Mount Hope Cemetery, the place of interment for historical freedom fighters like Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass. In addition to being a burial ground, the cemetery features interesting topography and an arboretum to rival the nearby park. (I looked it up. It means a bunch of trees and shrubs.)
Another of the many fine parks in the area is Turning Point. It was once the place of embarkation to the lake for coal carried from Pennsylvania in rail cars. While coal ships no longer visit, cement-toting ships turn around at this wide spot in the river. The park currently sports a boardwalk that allows one to walk over the waters in the gorge of the Genesee river. Enjoy the birds, the fish, the turtles and the cattails.
Rochester has a long history of great music. National acts often fill the just-big-enough arenas in the area on their way from New York City or Boston to points west. The Eastman School of Music anchors a classical tradition that began with live soundtracks for movies on the film Eastman Kodak produced.
The AHL Rochester Amerks, short for “Americans”, have provided professional hockey for over 60 years. The sights and sounds of a game in the Blue Cross Arena conjure hockey barns of bygone days. But the ice sport most missed would be at the Rochester Curling Club. It is game of skill and stamina which also provides great camaraderie.
My wife, Mary, loves the Genesee River. She helped create the Genesee Rowing Club and Boathouse, from which teams of rowers launch their narrow boats to glide along the Genesee. Mary brings back stories of great workouts while herons look down on the rowers from perches in overhanging trees.
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But what is the strongest tug to stay in town? It’s our friends. We enjoy the friendship of a large number of great people who live in and around Rochester.
If we ever leave, they’ll just have to visit us. Or maybe we’ll return.
Or perhaps we’ll never really leave.
All assemblages of pixels are the property of the author.
*Snowbirds are those who fly south for the entire winter, usually helped by some machine.