What's in Rochester? I'll tell you

Last Wednesday I left work early, met Bogdan at the train station, got in a car, and drove 5.5 hours to Rochester, N.Y. Bogdan was interviewing for a professor position and I was the official "scout" of the city. We ate an extremely late dinner in downtown Rochester at Dinosaur BBQ, a restaurant my boss, who grew up in the area, recommended.  We sat at the bar chatting up the very friendly and loquacious bartender whose definitely-firm-for-a-man but incredibly-firm-for-a-woman handshake nearly crushed my fragile hand. She suggested local beers, let us taste all of them before ordering one, and took our order of a huge plate of BBQ with a side of cajun corn. The dinner was great and we left Dinosaur full, happy and tired.

Bogdan's interview lasted the entire day on Thursday (started at 9 a.m. till the end of the dinner at 9:30 p.m.) so I spent the day exploring. First stop was the downtown area, specifically Park Avenue. The houses lining the street were huge Victorian homes, some well kept, others dilapidated.  Shops and cafes were sporadically sandwiched between the homes. Big, old trees were still bare—no blossoms, which was a stark difference from the D.C. area that was blooming with Spring. I parked and walked a few blocks checking out a couple of stores and was surprised by how few people I saw on the sidewalks. Yes, it was a mid-morning on a workday, but in Frederick on Market Street there's always people walking around.

I then drove to the public market, which is open 3 days a week, and explored that less affluent and more globally diverse area. The day was beautiful—sun shining, blue skies, temps in the mid-50s—so it was a shame that I had to spend the majority of the day in the car. Rochester is very car dependent and spread out.

Later in the afternoon I drove about 10 minutes to Pittsford, to explore a historic downtown. The downtown was very small, but charming. Right off the main strip, the Erie Canal meanders its way through town on its way from the Hudson River to Lake Ontario. A paved towpath runs alongside the canal, and I walked and took photos while listening to the chorus of seagulls (one of my favorite sounds) reminding me that I was very near water.

Rochester's claim to fame (aside from Kodak) is the Wegman's grocery stores. This summer a Wegman's is opening in Frederick and I know so many people who are crazy excited about that, so I decided to check it out. The prepared food section alone—sushi, Indian, Chinese, sub shop, etc.—was enough to make me equally excited, but the low prices on the food and other products has me really looking forward to the June opening.

Bogdan's search committee graciously invited me to dinner, so we ate, went to the hotel to sleep, and got up early for the drive home. The farther south we drove, the snow piles and bare trees were replaced with flowers and blooming trees. Spring has not sprung in upstate New York.

I had very low expectations for Rochester, and those were surpassed. Is it the next big tourist destination? Of course not, but I enjoyed the visit.