Finally, the moment we’ve been waiting for -- spring break! It’s finally here and everyone is packing frantically to get home to their families and pets. Once you get home, however, you realize that you have a whole week ahead of you filled with nothing but homework. This is where I come in! If you’re from the Rochester area, like me, I’m going to tell you the top 10 places you can go to when you want to take a break from writing that 20-page paper.
1. Highland Park.
I’m going to start out by describing this park as one of the prettiest and most famous that Rochester has. It is home to the Lilac Festival that occurs every May and has numerous beautiful paths to walk on. Not only this, but the views are phenomenal, especially since a lot of the park is set on a hill. This is the perfect place to go for a walk with your loved ones and the perfect place to go for a long run.
2. Java’s.
Looking for coffee? Java’s is the place for you. It’s a cozy little coffee place next to the Eastman Theatre in downtown Rochester. It serves a variety of goodies, from sandwiches to cookies as big as your face, from iced coffees to smoothies, coupled with the cutest names for each item. The atmosphere is also very comfortable. Whenever you walk in, you feel as if you’re stepping onto an artist’s canvas while listening to soft indie or pop rock.
3. Pittsford Dairy.
March break will, hopefully, include a lot of sun and warm weather! Obviously the only thing to do during such an occasion is visit this place. Set near the canal, this dairy provides homemade ice cream in over 30 different flavors. Want more? It also sells mouth-watering chocolate milk and homemade pies and cookies. I have to admit, one of my favorite flavors is cotton candy. What’s yours? Go there and find out!
4. Pittsford Plaza.
What better place to go during the day or at night then this beautiful plaza? This plaza combines Barnes & Noble, Pittsford Cinema, TJMaxx, and many small restaurants to create a huge attraction for people from every town. This plaza ranges from families eating a quick lunch together at Root31 to hundreds of couples getting a quick coffee at Finger Lake’s Coffee Roasters. Oh, don’t forget the famous Trader Joe’s!
5. Rochester Museum and Science Center.
Do you enjoy science and fun? The Science Museum is filled to the brim with fun activities. It has a huge planetarium which shows different movies every week on top of showing all of the constellations and laser light shows. It also includes the butterfly exhibit which I will be talking about in my next point.
6. Butterfly Exhibit.
The most magical place on Earth outside of Disney? Rochester’s Butterfly Exhibit is an enormous indoor butterfly garden where hundreds of different butterflies land on you. On top of these colorful butterflies, people can observe the beautiful flowers and plants all around as well. It is a great interactive environment for everyone from little kids to adults.
7. Eastview Mall.
Obviously you’re going to want to buy new clothes during break because it’s finally getting warmer, so you’re going to have to go to the best mall that Rochester has to offer: Eastview. Not only does it have a lot of small shops on top of JCPenny and Macy’s, it also has a food court and a merry-go-round!
8. Geva Theatre.
This theatre is very famous and is located in downtown Rochester. The Geneseo Shuttle actually goes to Geva Theatre on weekends. It’s the perfect cozy theatre to go watch whatever is showing during that specific season. The tickets are very cheap and the shows are phenomenal. For example, last semester with Geneseo, I went to go see Spamalot at Geva and it did not disappoint!
9. Cobb’s Hill.
Have you ever wondered if you could find a Geneseo look-alike sunset anywhere? Well, you’ve come to the right place. Cobb’s Hill is exactly as its name: It is a hill which houses a large reservoir and has many paths to walk or bike alongside it. The hill itself, however, is a wonderful place to sit on and watch the sun set over the trees and buildings. The view is breath-taking and so worth walking up the hill for.
10. The Erie Canal.
On a warm, summer day, or in this case March break, it is nice to cool off by walking along the canal and feeling the breeze from the water. Hungry? Stop by one of the restaurants along the canal or have some gelato inside of an exotic jewelry store. If you’re lucky, you’ll be the person that people will wave at when they pass by you on their boats or kayaks.
Rochester is such a bright and lively city. I couldn’t possibly list all of the wonderful places that you should go to, but these are, by far, some of the best! Enjoy!
