Ever since we officially decided to move to Buffalo, I’ve been working on a list of things to do once we get there. Some are things that we’ve done before (since we’ve been visiting my in-laws in the area for the past ten years, and hubby lived there before that), and others are new ideas that I’ve come across in reading Visit Buffalo Niagara or surfing various Buffalo blogs. I’m going to keep track of our progress via the new Buffalo tab at the top of my blog, so feel free to follow along as we explore Buffalo and the surrounding region.
In the City
1. Cheer on the Sabres at First Niagara Center – as often as possible!
2. Run the Buffalo-Niagara YMCA Turkey Trot (again; I ran with my sis-in-law back in 2011).
3. Attend Shakespeare in the Park (again; hubby and I did this many moons ago when he lived in Buffalo).
4. Climb at Silo City Rocks.
5. Attend Holiday Pops and classical music concerts at Kleinhans.
6. Have dinner at Rue Franklin (again – yum).
7. Volunteer with Literacy New York – Buffalo-Niagara.
8. Join a moms’ group in my neighborhood.
9. Take Peanut to the Buffalo Zoo and the Explore & More Children’s Museum.
10. Kayak Canalside.
11. Attend First Fridays and the Allentown Art Festival.
12. Visit the Albright-Knox Museum (again).
13. Explore the Erie Canalway and the Scajacquada bike routes.
14. Check out the Olmstead park system.
15. Attend the Taste of Buffalo food festival (next summer, since 2013 has already happened).
Surrounding Areas
1. Take hubby to Aurora Brew Works for a belated anniversary celebration.
2. Tour every Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house in the greater Buffalo region.
3. Take Peanut swimming in Lake Erie.
4. Visit every winery on the Niagara Wine Trail.
5. Have a playdate with a friend who lives in the ‘burbs.
6. Bike to Akron, NY.
7. Niagara Falls, obviously.
8. Work our way through the “50 Hikes in Western New York” book.
9. Visit the Roycroft campus.
10. Go snowshoeing!
Farther Afield
1. Make another trip to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
2. Spend a weekend in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
3. Become Adirondack 46’ers.
4. Take Peanut to visit Cornell, her future alma mater.
5. Road-trip through the Eastern provinces of Canada.
Buffalo family and friends: any other suggestions for must-do activities in the area?
covered in flour 
Let me know if you’re hiking this fall/winter! Becoming a 46’er is one of my goals as well. My mom an I are hopefully going to hike Cascade and Porter soon!
I will definitely let you know. It’s more of a long-term goal, since the little one isn’t ready for long treks just yet. (Oh, I can only imagine the epic whining if we tried…) But we might try one of the smaller mountains when we’re in A-town for the holidays. I’m sure my parents would be only too happy to baby-sit. If we do, I’ll be sure to let you know and maybe we can make it a family outing. 🙂
When Peanut is old enough, taking on the bunny hill at Kissing Bridge with Aunt Grace? Long term goal 🙂
Absolutely! 🙂
“Take Peanut to visit Cornell, her future alma mater.” This made me smile. 🙂
LOL. No pressure, Peanut! 😉
We’ve been laying on the Cornell brainwashing since the very beginning. In the NICU, Peanut’s favorite “lullaby” during Kangaroo Care was the Cornell Alma Mater. One of my sorority sisters sent her “Cornell 101: My First Text-Board-Book” – it’s hilarious! – and another (my BFF, Peanut’s godmother) bought her a tiny Cornell hockey jersey. Yep, she will have no doubt growing up that we are a Cornell family.
I understand! I would love it if one (or all!) of my daughters went to my alma mater, but I’ll keep an open mind about it. 😉 I think my twins will probably go to different colleges, and I wouldn’t want there to be any pressure to get into one school (particularly when the admissions process has a heavy dose of arbitrariness to it!). That doesn’t stop my parents from buying head-to-toe Yale gear for my kids. Oh well. One of my twins already says how much she wants to go there. We’re thinking of doing a “college tour” of Philly area schools in the near future just to teach them that there are many great options out there. I hope that Cornell will be on our list when the time comes! 🙂
Heh, you’re smart to keep the kids’ minds open (and yours too)! We’ll try to do that too, really, for all we joke about Peanut going to Cornell. (Although I do hope that she does – like you, I’d love it if she went to my alma mater – and I’m quite involved in the Cornell alumni community, so I hope that helps her when the time comes, if she wants it to.) Of course, all I really want is for her to get a great education and be happy. 🙂 If that happens to be a Big Red education, so much the better!
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