I enjoyed First Friday! It was something different to do. It is family friendly and great to get…read moreout and enjoy our community. It also brought us in to explore local businesses and restaurants. Get out and enjoy Buffalo!

I spent a good part of my childhood in Kaisertown in the heart of south Buffalo, home to third and…read morefourth generation families many of whom immigrated from Eastern Europe. Many of the homes used to be (and with 9.1 residents per address statistically might still be) "doubles", homes that were divided front and back as two separate residences, often housing two or more generations. North of beautiful Olmstead-designed Cazenovia Park, Kaisertown embraces its Eastern European history with old world traditions like Beggar's Night (the night before Halloween) and Dyngus Day, the Monday after Easter. If you ever travel through or move there, have a good thought for former Meet the Press host Tim Russert, once a proud Kaisertown resident, and don't miss out on the Broadway Market just east of the nabe.

This is a town that loves sports. Football and Hockey are daily topics of conversation for many…read more Today happens to have a home game and I got caught in early morning traffic to the game. Perhaps if everyone took busses the traffic would be easier. Maybe they could all take the Buffalo Sports Food Bus, depicted in a mural on South Park Ave near the Botanical Gardens. Whoever the artist is, they made good use of the building doors in their mural. Well done.

Picking up a CSA brought me to Mass Ave, not an area I'm in often. But wow. It's alive. Very…read more The heart of it seems to be a school with a terrific playground, and the next blocks Boys and Girls Club. That building has a HUGE mural. No idea when it was done, but from the distance across the lawn it looks fresh and well maintained. No doubt done before the current influx of Public Art all around town.

My family and I went for a ride on the Queen City Ferry after our reservations for the Moondance…read moreCat were cancelled. For eight bucks you can ride all day between the marina and Riverfest Park. While the ferry makes multiple stops for patrons to exit, you can also just ride the ferry for a relaxing waterfront tour. The staff doesn't narrate the journey like the Miss Buffalo but they were very knowledgeable about the area. The boat probably holds about 15 max and we were easily able to board with no wait on a Wednesday afternoon in August. The only thing thst would make this better is if they extended their hours past 8 pm. A great addition to Buffalo's waterfront!

What a hoot. Traveling across buffalo's harbor dodging kayaks and yes ginormous ships for a foray…read moreto outer harbor. Stopping at labor day is so unnecessary since our weather remains delightful into the fall.

Buffalo Reading Invasion combines a passion for reading with community building. The concept was…read morecreated by Geoff Schutte, an employee of Tapestry Charter School and AmeriCorps alumni. The reading invasion is exactly what it sounds like - an "invasion" of readers once a month gathered in a public setting. Previous locations include Bidwell Park, Hoyt Lake, community gardens on the Westside of Buffalo, Larkin Square, Symphony Circle, Wilkeson Pointe, etc. People come out once a month for an hour of silent reading while relaxing and gathering in beautiful public spaces, generally from 7-8pm. Check out buffaloreadinginvasion.com for more information or to find out when and where the next reading invasion might be. I've been seeing other cities adopting an idea similar to this and hope the idea takes off. Reading together with friends only once a month is not nearly enough! Coming together to enjoy the act of reading is a beautiful thing. I'd recommend you bring something to sit on (chair, blanket, etc.), a book, perhaps a snack/picnic, and a sweatshirt or additional blanket to keep warm once the sun goes down. Happy reading!

Originally this place would not allow anyone to wear any kind of shoes, OR to go barefoot. Hence it…read morewas called Sockport for a long time. Then it became the capital of "saying something twice in different ways", which is why it was known as Dockport for years. Then it became "the Switzerland of WNY" and was known affectionately as "Clockport" for awhile. Then gang violence took over and it adopted the moniker "School Of Hard Knocksport." This caused everyone to put Locks on their doors... and bam. You have the present-day name. Actually think I gave Lockport a bad rap when I gave it a rap before although I didn't actually rap about it but I can rap about it as you see if you've read of my other reviews for a rap endlessly about other things that one might rap about. So here's the thing. It's a much nicer place than I thought. I might have seen the bad side of it before. I think it's actually really nice place to live. The main problem is that it's so damn out of the way like it's so far away from everything that it's hard to even fathom getting all the way up here. There's no highways that really go here except for the interstate 990 which doesn't really go all the way and then it turns into Millersport which is kind of kind of kind of a highway and then it joins Transit and it's just kind of annoying. Having said that I think it's a really cool place to live and I like the YMCA and there are some pretty decent food options and some pretty nice people up here as well. And they don't seem to be afflicted by the horrible weather to the same degree as other parts of the region are. So I have to give them a massive five star upgrade I think finally eventually now. I've been to Lockport more times than I can count. My sort-of doctor is here, my fave Italian restaurant is here, 3 or 4 good friends live here, and I used to visit a garage here. I know the town pretty well. City, rather. It's a great City. Seriously though it is named as such because of the locks. The Erie Canal dissects the heart of this charming little city which has everything from leafy estates to cozy trailer parks with Eminem lookalikes rap-battling in the bushes with little dogs named Jack. Speaking of Jack, everyone loves One-Eyed Jacks. Let me just say, on record. I don't. Sorry. Instead, try Pulp 716 for Boba and the infamous sweet sauce slices of Pizza Oven for a snack. What I do love is The Village Eatery. If not for that place, I might even give LP a 3, (although LPs were always better than singles, right?) but it's like, the best Italian American food everrrr. OK, it's comparably good along with Mulberry in Like-I-Wanna, but it's much more typical and wholesome and filling and would probably take my prize for best Italian American Food In USA. Yes. That good. Parts of LP are really pretty, and even though it's way way way out of the way, it's really cute. Taking the 990 & Millersport up here is pretty fast. If you try and go up Transit, well in the words of the late, great James Caan, "forget about it, beefcake." Oh and Lockport will soon be changing its name. It has become the heart of the gay male community in WNY, and 7-and-a-half percent of the population is now either gay, or male, or both. Oh wait I meant, is both. Experts say this will rise up very fast and impress everyone, growing to a massive, erect 69% by mid-2015. And since these strapping young (and old) (and Middle Aged) (and so on) men often send pelfies to each other, it obviously will soon be known as "C**kport."

I am quite sure I would not want to drive the Niagara Scenic Parkway in the winter. Maria B.'s…read morepicture suggests black ice and low traction and me ending up in a ditch and getting to write a new review of a towing company. No, thanks! Instead, I'm cruising along a stretch of the highway in July when it's green and smooth and there's no ice on the road. Beautiful to look at, the Niagara Scenic Parkway is only 16 miles long, going from New York Route 18 along Lake Ontario to Lewiston near the bridge to Canada. Two lanes in each direction with a median, at least on the part that I drove. And no toll which makes me happy. [Review 1419 of 2024 - 423 in New York - 22442 overall]

This roadway gives easy access when driving between LaSalle and Fort Niagara, it follows alongside…read morethe Niagara River. From the North Grand Island Bridge to Niagara Falls you have great river views (on one side, factories on the other). The section from Niagara Falls to Whirlpool State Park has been redone and is beautiful with a winding bike trail and native wild flowers and trees alongside the road. There are access points to gorge trailheads and parks. The road goes from 30 mph in Niagara Falls to 55mph past Lewiston. Four State Parks Niagara Falls, Whirlpool, Devil's Hole, Deveaux Woods and Fort Niagara State Parks are accessed by this road. Unfortunately it isn't very "scenic" on the North end from Devil's Hole to Fort Niagara but there are plans to beautify the road as was done at the South end already. So many cool stops along the way make it a must do when visiting the area.