Free Museum and National Park Day!

Thanks Gillian for letting me know about this blog and for getting it started. I thought I would add a contribution that I found out off of www.thefreebieblogger.com. This Saturday the 26th is free Museum/National Park day. You can go on the website above and get linked to the Smithsonian website and search which museums and parks are free. I discovered that the George Eastman house is free this Saturday so go and check it out.

Christmas Tree Shops, All Year Long

I had never been to a Christmas Tree Shop  before we moved to Rochester (I think it's mostly an east coast store).  They carry all sorts of things-- home decor, kitchen equipment, specialty foods, some toiletries, toys, etc.   I think they have the least expensive picture frames/mirrors/seasonal decorations anywhere around.  Granted, the quality sometimes isn't that great, but if you're buying something that just gets hung on the wall, it won't matter too much.  We've been really pleased with the big wall mirror we got there, and yesterday we got a laundry basket for $3.  

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.

Rent your cart, buy your bag

Aldi is a quirky little grocery store.  The selection is limited, but the price is right!  Aldi claims that its store brand products are often made by the same manufacturers that make regular national brands.  For instance, we think that their tomato soup tastes like Campbell's, but it costs a lot less.   Here are some other things that we like from there (with very approximate prices):

1) Tortilla chips for $1.

2) Cheap baking supplies & spices (generally less expensive that Wegmans/Walmart)

3) Bags of fresh spinach for $1.30.

4) Sour cream, butter, cream cheese for...cheap (I can't remember)  

5) Diced canned tomatoes for 45 cents 

6) Frozen ground turkey for 1.80/lb

7) Apple juice concentrate for 90 cents

 

If very low prices make you nervous (is this really turkey?) you should read their explanation of how they cut costs.  One way is to have you pay a quarter to rent your cart (you get it back!) and bring your own bag (or you can buy one for 6 cents).   The whole cart-deposit/use your bag model is a very European thing to do...which is why you should feel very chic and cosmopolitan when you shop at Aldi.