Guides
Nothing says "autumn" quite like wandering a pumpkin patch, scanning the orange rows for the perfect jack-o'-lantern-to-be. Unless, of course, it's scouring an orchard for the crispest, sweetest apples fresh from the tree. There's no need to choose: with dozens of u-pick pumpkin patches and apple orchards in the Rochester
Guides
It's one of those summertime joys you never really grow out of: biting into a plump piece of fresh-picked, perfectly ripe fruit, letting the sticky-sweet juice dribble through your fingers and down your chin.You can score some summertime sweetness of your own at one of Rochester's many pick-your-own farms, where
Guides
With its strategic position along Lake Ontario, the Genesee River, and the Erie Canal, Rochester has always been about location, location, location. Our sweet spot among the Finger Lakes made us the country's first boomtown, the birthplace of the modern photography industry, an international hub for the 19th century civil
Guides
Open a map of Rochester and you'll spot certain names over and over. Strong. Eastman. Sibley. Who were these people, and what are their names doing all over downtown? They're entrepreneurs and philanthropists, kooks and pioneers. Maybe not nationally lionized like Susan B. Anthony, but still local heroes. Need an
Guides
Luckily, Rochester has several volunteering clearinghouses that will do the hard work for you, matching you to the charity or non-profit that best suits your schedule, interests, and talents. Best of all, they're now online, which means volunteering is only a click away. The Volunteer ConnectionThe largest of the local networks,
Guides
Admit it: this holiday season, you indulged. You had that extra slice of pecan pie. And thirds on mashed potatoes. And all of Santa's cookies. And hey, let's not even get started on all the eggnog, right?When it comes to holiday weight gain, though, there's good news and bad news.
Guides
The holidays: A time for food, family and friends...and unwrapped presents, wasted fruitcakes, unread greeting cards, broken ornaments, shredded ribbons, and tons and tons of tinsel. We're talking some serious trash here.All that adds up - in our landfills. According to The Use Less Stuff Report, each year Americans discard
Guides
Think the green lifestyle is hard, inconvenient, or expensive? Think again. Between added costs to your heating and energy bills and the negative impact on the environment, the lifestyle of modern convenience is increasingly becoming truly hard living. Living green is about minimizing impact and living smart, eco-friendly philosophies that
Guides
Wal-Mart desks, Target coffee tables, Value City bookshelves and chairs - they're all great deals for your wallet, but not so great for your home. Cobbled together from cheap, flimsy materials, discount furniture is inherently generic, making little artistic or aesthetic impact on your living space. On the other hand,
News Articles
Rochester was once a hub for the largest illegal - even traitorous - resistance movement of the 19th century. Its citizens spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and put their lives and personal property at risk helping with the escape of fugitives from across the country.The Underground Railroad - focus
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Once solely the realm of white-haired aristocrats with too much leisure time on their hands, birding -- or the pastime of studying and watching wild birds -- has exploded in recent years. In fact, it's downright stylish: not since John James Audubon painted his first bobwhite have American birds been
Guides
Forget winter and summer (a.k.a., construction); the best season in Rochester is definitely autumn. September and October days just plain smell better, and they have great perks: cool breezes, beautiful foliage, and all the apples you can eat. The cider alone makes living in New York worthwhile.What better way for
Guides
Fact: going back to school is hard. Between balancing a full-time job, quality time with your kids, and us-time with your spouse, you barely have seconds in the day left over for sleep, much less going to class. Your hectic schedule is so daunting that it might discourage you from
Guides
Let's be honest: Most of us aren't rock stars. Or master chefs. Or even - as long as we're being honest - halfway decent gardeners. In fact, there are plenty of awesome jobs we wish we had, but, because of our day jobs, our families, or plain old Real Life
Guides
Summer's back, which means it's time to haul out your grill and fire up some hotdogs and hamburgers. But hold that thought. Your poor grill deserves a little excitement after being cooped up all winter, so give that tired ballpark food a rest. Instead, try one of these alternative grilling
Pop Culture
The success of the Rochester Wiki (http://rocwiki.org), Rochester's independent online encyclopedia, is a classic chicken-or-the-egg scenario: does it take a village to build a wiki, or a wiki to build a village?Is the website - which receives anywhere from 6,700 to 8,300 hits daily - popular because residents are so
Pop Culture
Finally, your obsession for unlocking every single Xbox 360 Achievement --- even the ones in those ridiculous Burger King games --- will pay off. On February 12, Microsoft launched Xbox Rewards, a new program offering gamers loot for playing 360 games. Sign-up is free, but participants must live in the
Pop Culture
If you're one of the lucky ones to score a Nintendo Wii so far, you've probably fiddled around with the Channels interface more than you'd like to admit. You already know about the basic ones, like the Disc and Mii Channels, and you've most likely skipped over the Photo Channel
Profiles
While you ring in the New Year, Darren Blum will be prepping for his first Imperial March.Blum, a Rochester native, will be marching in the 118th Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, as one of 200 Imperial Stormtroopers, the infamous white-helmeted baddies from the "Star Wars" movies. Led by "Star Wars"
Pop Culture
Good news for Battlestar Galactica fans: the SciFi Channel's critically acclaimed space opera has been unofficially picked up for a fourth season. Even better news: when the show returns from its mid-season hiatus on Sunday, January 21, it'll also jump from its where-good-shows-go-to-die timeslot of Fridays at 9 p.m. to
