Summer Town: Crystal Beach, Ontario

My Buffalo blog would just not be complete if didn’t include one very important thing: Crystal Beach. Crystal Beach is technically not located in Buffalo, but it is only a short ten minute drive from downtown over the border to Canada. Being so close, it is a popular destination for many residents of Buffalo to enjoy a beach vacation on the shores of Lake Erie that is as close to perfection as it gets here in the Northeast. Located on the southernmost tip of Canada, Crystal Beach is a tiny beach town that was built around the Crystal Beach amusement park in the early 1900’s. Now that the amusement park is gone, local Canadians and visitors from all over America and Canada come to the best beach on the shores of Lake Erie for a vacation that you will never forget. Named Crystal Beach after the high content on Quartz in the sand, there is much to see and do while there. There is a wide selection of cottages and condos available for rent or purchase. There are countless restaurants, convenience stores, and boardwalk shops that are just a five minute walk from almost any cottage. There is also a food stand right on the beach, as well as several places to buy souvenirs. The crown jewel of Crystal Beach really is the legendary pier. Originally used to bring ships of Americans to the beach during its prime, the pier still stands as a landmark. Many people like to challenge themselves and swim out to the end of the pier, only to climb up the side and jump off of the ledge for a short but worthwhile thrill (believe me, it’s definitely worthwhile). Crystal Beach really is the epitome of summer. It is definitely a local favorite. There is nothing holding you back from finding out for yourself the joy that Crystal Beach will bring you!

Garden Walk Buffalo

Buffalo is quickly trying to become one of the most environmentally conscious, or “green” cities in the country. Aiding this is the annual Garden Walk Buffalo festival that will be held on Saturday, July 28^th and Sunday, July 29^th. It will go from ten AM until four PM. Started in 1995, the Buffalo Garden Walk began as a collection of twenty nine local gardeners showcasing their own home garden and nursery displays. This event, which I think is truly great, aims to beautify the city while bringing together its residents with a sense of pride and community. The event has grown tremendously since its beginning, now being the largest event of its kind in all of the United States. The boundaries of this lovely event now extend five miles around the origin, which was the area enclosed by West Ferry and Elmwood. It now extends all the way to Delaware Park in Downtown Buffalo. Many Corporate businesses and local churches and such have joined in over the years as well, helping to complete the original goal of the Garden Walk festival: to beautify the magnificent city that we live in. Starting in 2002, donations were made by participants to ensure that the helpful festival would continue to provide a Garden Walk for the residents of Buffalo and keep the city as beautiful and as green as possible all year round. The Garden Walk is now a traditional part of the Buffalonian Summer. It is an event that locals and out of town visitors alike look forward to. The Garden Walk is a great way to showcase the natural beauty of our city that compliments the splendid architecture nicely!

Buffalo Tours

Another interesting event happening all throughout the summer in Buffalo are the Buffalo tours sponsored by Preservation Buffalo Niagara. These tours, led by educated and trained tour guides, take groups of people on tours of all of the major historical, architectural, and eye pleasing sights that the beautiful city of Buffalo has to offer. The tours are on foot and last a few hours. Tickets to participate are ten dollars, and there is a five dollar student discount offered. The tours are mainly downtown and showcase landmarks such as City Hall, the Erie Canal, the Guaranty Building, Ellicott Square, the Electrical Building, Lafayette Hotel, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, and the Statler Towers. Tours are mostly available on the weekends, but City Hall tours are available every weekday. The Buffalo Tours group also offers tours that showcase different aspects of the city, like special Waterfront tours and tours that include a bus or boat ride. Through July and August, all tours start at 10 AM. I can also speak from experience about these tours, because my cousin happens to be one of the tour guides for Preservation Buffalo Niagara. She volunteers her weekend time during the summer to put on these tours to convey her love for the city. She really enjoys doing it. It’s nice and comforting as well to know that the people touring you around the city really do like what they do and feel passionate about what they are talking about. Going on one of these tours will not be a disappointment! Buffalo has been called the “best designed city”, and it certainly lives up to its reputation!

Taste of Buffalo

One of the most well known and renowned events of the summer in the City of Buffalo is without a doubt is the annual Taste of Buffalo. Buffalo’s own food festival is supposedly the largest two day food festival in the United States. This year, it is being held through July 7^th and 8^th. It goes on Saturday from eleven AM to nine PM and on Sunday from eleven AM to seven PM. The Taste of Buffalo will be located along Delaware Avenue, from Chippewa Street to Niagara Square. At this food festival, locals will be able to sample the food they know and love from a wide selection of all of the local restaurants they know and love. It will also be a great time to try new things for the first time and add some dishes and restaurants to your list of favorites! Some of the vendors participating will be

·         Alex’s Place

·         Buffalo Tap Room

·         Clarence Center Coffee Co.

·         Dibella’s

·         Eddie Ryan’s

·         Louies

·         Saigon Café

·         Zebbs

·         Lloyd Taco Truck

There will certainly be plenty of delicious Buffalonian food and drink for whatever your taste buds desire! This year’s event is sponsored by Tops Friendly Markets and Ford. A spokesperson from Ford told the Taste of Buffalo event coordinator that “yesterday was the highest sign up count on the summer tour so far. We had at least four or five people signing up at all times!” It is evident that this event is going to be one of the highlights of the summer of 2012 in Buffalo. The sponsors really do care about the residents of the city, too! Tops has given away five scholarships on behalf of the Taste of Buffalo to high school students heading to college who are going to be studying in the culinary field. With delicious food, good weather, opportunities to meet new people and try new things, why wouldn’t you want to go to this fabulous food festival?!

Buffalo Rocks the Harbor 2012

As summer 2012 gets off to a sunny start, Buffalo and its residents are ready for another great line up for the Buffalo Rocks the Harbor concert series. As Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins would say, “the embers never fade in your city by the lake”. He couldn’t be more right. Located directly on the Buffalo Harbor (hence the name), Buffalo Place provides the music lovers of The Queen City with a wide range of bands and singers to enjoy all throughout the summer. Tickets for the shows held at the Harbor range in price depending on the popularity of the act. They can be anywhere from ten dollars to seventy five dollars, with some select shows being held for free. Having been to a show at the Harbor last summer, I can tell you from experience that it’s a truly amazing and unforgettable experience. Everything from the anticipation and excitement of the concert to the actual event is spectacular. Buffalo Place really sets an interesting environment for their shows. The location of the concerts offers wonderful and even breathtaking views of the beautiful Buffalo landmarks like part of the Erie Canal and Buffalo’s grain mills. The late evening concerts allow for the concert goers to get a perfect view of the sun setting over the water if the weather permits. Also featured at many of the concerts are vendors selling some of the best Buffalonian cuisine (see the Taste of Buffalo blog post!).

Some of the highlights of the concert line-up this summer are:

·         Grace Potter on June 29^th

·         moe. on July 30th

·         Weezer on July 13^th

·         Feist on July 15^th

·         The J. Geils Band on August 31^st

Tickets range in price from ten to forty dollars and can be purchased in advance or at the gate on the day of the concert! Don’t miss out on a memorable and extremely enjoyable concert experience at Buffalo Rocks the Harbor this summer.