Cartwright's Maple Tree Inn's 15 minutes of Fame!

I was just on the PBS site and I saw...Cartwright's Maple Tree Inn! For those who haven't been out there yet, it's open about 2 months of the year (late Jan-late March, I think) and it is in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE near Angelica, NY. It's a bit of a drive from Rochester, but well worth it. Anyway, it is featured on PBS's special on great breakfast places around the US (it's the first one in the special). Check it out!

Watch the full episode. See more Breakfast Special.

Peter's Sweet Shop

We're moving from the Highland Park neighborhood in a couple of weeks (to U of R housing). We've become very attached to the neighborhood--in case you were wondering, it's the best one in the city! I could go on for a long time.

Of all the sweet things in the HP neighborhood, the sweetest is Peter's Sweet Shop. It's right here on Clinton. Every day, Peter hand-makes chocolates while his wife mans (womans...) the counter. Even the little cards labeling the chocolates are hand-written. In my opinion, their best chocolates are the caramels, the butter-creams, and their specialty "sponge candy" (the inside is crunchy with little air bubbles). If you take a child in with you, there is a distinct possibility that they will leave with a complimentary chocolate-on-a-stick (and if you go in twice in one day, you can kiss your child's dinner-appetite goodbye, as we found out).

Are you looking for a gift for someone? Do you have an intense chocolate craving? Go to Peter's Sweet Shop! You will be very happy you did. (Photo credit: Peter's website, who borrowed it from the Democrat & Chronicle).

Sauder's Store

 Sauder's is a Mennonite-owned dry-goods/meat/lots of other things store outside of Seneca Falls, about a 55-minute drive from Rochester.  The variety of products is incredible--every kind of flour you can think of, spices, grains, home-style candies, baking necessities (soda, yeast, cocoa, brown sugar, etc.)--all neatly bagged in different sizes and on the shelf. They also have a deli (I'm not a meat connoisseur, but apparently you can get German specialty meat that is hard to find), inexpensive cheeses, fruit preserves, home-made syrups...the list goes on! 

Here's my best price summary: their big bulk items (50 lb bags of sugar, beans, etc) can generally be found for less at other places (Aldi, LDS Storehouse),  but Sauder's prices for baking supplies are hard to beat (and they sell them in hard-to-find quantities). 

Even aside from all practical matters, Sauder's is a very fun place to visit.  The distance is a drawback, but it's one exit away from the Waterloo Factory Outlet Stores, so you could definitely make a day of it (the flour picture is just a random one I found online, but Sauder's is so great I thought it deserved a graphic). 

Jim Dalberth's Sporting Goods

I'm conflicted about "buying local"--I love the idea of putting money back into the community, but our student budget usually doesn't go very far in mom & pop specialty stores.  That's why I was so happy to find Jim Dalberth's Sporting Goods.  I bought a pair of running shoes there, and we found out that anytime you buy shoes, all apparel (they have all brands of shoes; most of their apparel is Asics) is 50% off, so we bought some pants and shorts for my husband.  

The store is right across the Elmwood bridge from the U of R River Campus.  When I walked in I was surprised--it's twice as tall as it is wide, and it looked a little disorganized.  The real benefit of the store, though, is the salespeople.  They don't hover, but they're incredibly efficient and they know everything about running.  Basically, they sell all of their shoes for 15% off the ticket price. 

So--if you are already planning to spend the money on some nice running shoes, you should consider Jim Dalberth's.  You'll end up with good shoes as well as a good feeling about buying locally.  

Wind Ensemble This Saturday Night!

Ohhh...there I go again talking all about orchestra concerts and forgetting about the Eastman Wind Ensemble.  Their opening concert is THIS SATURDAY NIGHT!  It's at 8PM, it's free, and they're doing Rhapsody in Blue with fabulous pianist Tony Caramia.  Even I, as a violinist, have to admit that it will be at least as good if not better than the symphony concert on the 26th.

Kodak Hall at Eastman Theater

The second-to-last phase of the Eastman Theater renovation project is finished!  The hall has always been beautiful, but now it sounds as good as it looks.  The Eastman Philharmonia Orchestra (juniors, seniors, and grads) had their opening night on Friday; the Symphony Orchestra (freshman/sophomore) plays there on Monday, Oct. 26 at 8PM.   As always, student orchestra concerts are free, and so is parking after 7PM!   You can read more about the theater renovation here.

Letchworth Craft Fair Coming Up!

The Letchworth State Park Arts & Crafts Show and Sale is on the weekend of October 10th (Sat-Mon).  Even if you don't really like arts and crafts, there are a lot of fun things to see/eat, and besides, it's hard to resist Letchworth Park this time of year.  Though the craft sale is huge and crowded, the waterfall hikes further down in the park are peaceful (at least when we went).  They waive the park entrance fee for the weekend.

U-Pick

 A few weeks ago we went to Green Acre U-pick Fruit Farm in Greece.  If you're hoping to save tons of money on fruit you'll be disappointed, but if you want some great family fun and a pretty good deal on fruit, then u-pick is for you.  

There are lots of u-pick fruit farms all around Rochester, and a surprising variety of fruit is still in season (Green Acres has raspberries, peaches, plums, nectarines, and apples).  Apple and pumpkin picking last until November.  

Corn 7 ears/$1 at the Public Market

The public market is open all year, but I think it's best during the early fall when the local farmers are there with all of their corn/peaches/apples/tomatoes/potatoes/etc.  Last week I bought some sweet corn, 7 ears for $1!  

The market is open in the mornings on Tuesday (smallest number of vendors), Thursday (larger), and Saturday (an adventure! Tons of vendors, thousands of shoppers, competitive parking).   

Plenty of vendors are selling the same kind of produce you'd buy in the store (avacados from Chile, etc), but the local farmers are easy to spot with their "harvested yesterday" and "home grown" signs.  It's fun to see the farm trucks manned by entire families at the Saturday market.  

Beyond produce, we've gotten some great cheese from the Saturday cheese vendor (he might be there on Thursday), cheap spices, delicious baked goods from the Amish stand, and some good fish (inside the building).

All About Eastman

I've noticed that there are lots of people in Rochester who aren't that familiar with Eastman School of Music.  Since our world sort of revolves around Eastman, I'm always happy to tell them anything they want to know (and usually a whole lot more...).  Eastman is one of the best music schools anywhere!  Newsweek rated Eastman as the "Hottest School for Music" in 2008 (not to reveal any personal bias, but they were probably referring to the attractiveness of the grad students).  

Here's the amazing thing: ALL of Eastman's student recitals and concerts are free! (they do charge for visiting artist recitals and for operas).  It costs $20-50 to see Rochester's professional orchestra (the RPO ) but Eastman's two symphony orchestras each perform once a month (on a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday night) and it's free!   You can also attend concerts by Eastman's wind ensemble, percussion ensemble, new music ensemble, chorale, and individual student recitals.  These events are great for dates or for kids over the age of 8.  The concert calendar is posted online.  After 7PM, parking in the East End Garage (which you can enter from Main Street or Scio) is free.

mmmm...Autumn

There are plenty of places around Rochester where you can go to soak up that fall feeling.  The ALL-KNOWING Rochester kids' activity page (recommended by a wise friend) has a complete "Fall Page" that lists all of the farms, orchards, etc. that have fun fall festivities (FFFs for short).   

Last year we went to Powers Farm Market in Pittsford.  We picked out a pumpkin, petted the animals, and walked through three giant corn-husk teepees that are full of lit jack-o-lanterns.  We also went on the haunted hay ride through the woods.  The hay ride was a lot of fun, but it's hard to remember if it was really worth $3.25/person (kids 1 & under ride free).  

We're going to try somewhere different this year, for variety's sake.  Maybe somewhere more farm-y than Powers (which isn't a farm).  What are your favorite places?