Shuffle Off to Buffalo
Posted on June 30, 2014 by bob in Travel
At the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, you can see one of the world’s most impressive collections of modern and contemporary art, including works by Van Gogh, Picasso and Warhol. Across the street is the stunning Burchfield Penney Art Center committed to the art of Buffalo and Western New York.
Walking in Buffalo highlights some of the finest architecture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including buildings by Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan, H.H. Richardson, Richard Upjohn, and Eliel and Eero Saarinen.
The emerging Canalside district showcases the waterfront and history of shipping along Lake Erie and the Erie Canal, the centerpiece of which is the re-excavated and restored 1825 commercial slip that was the western terminus of the canal. The Outer Harbor has bike trails, parks and boardwalks offering views of the lake and city skyline.
History abounds in Buffalo. You can stand where Teddy Roosevelt took the oath of office at the recently renovated Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site, and learn about Buffalo’s Native American, ethnic and industrial heritage at the Buffalo History Museum. Mark Twain was a newspaper editor in Buffalo in the late 19th century, and pages from the original manuscript of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are on display in the Mark Twain Room at downtown’s central library.
The city is also filled with African American heritage, including the Colored Musicians Club, now a museum, where Duke Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie performed. The club still hosts regular gigs by area musicians. 
If performing arts are your thing, visit one of Buffalo’s two dozen theaters, anchored by the magnificent Shea’s Performing Arts Center, which hosts an annual Broadway Series. The Grammy Award-winning Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is led by JoAnn Falletta, hailed by the New York Times as one of the finest conductors of her generation.
No trip to Buffalo is complete without a stop at the Anchor Bar, where chicken wings first took flight 50 years ago this year.
Add to that 400 independently-owned restaurants, delicious local specialties, a pair of wine trails and vibrant farmers markets, and sample some Western New York culinary favorites including beef-on-weck sandwiches, sponge candy, and charcoal broiled hot dogs. Several brewers make Buffalo their home, among them Flying Bison Brewing Co. and Hamburg Brewing Company. The first distillery in Buffalo since Prohibition, Lockhouse Distillery, opened in 2013.
Shoppers can find everything from trendy, hip boutiques at Elmwood Village, to all the major department stores at shopping centers and malls around the city.
Sports fans can sample the NFL’s Bills, NHL’s Sabres, AAA baseball’s Bisons, world-class fishing, great skiing and fantastic water sports. Kayakers can glide through the city’s historic grain elevator district on the Buffalo River or rock climb up those elevators on Silo City Rocks, set to open this year.
Spend a day in the natural splendor of the Tifft Nature Preserve, just minutes from downtown Buffalo, or admire floral beauty during a stroll in the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens. A series of parks and parkways throughout Buffalo designed by renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted provide a scenic respite in the heart of the city.
Our region also offers a host of family-friendly activities, from The Buffalo Zoo and Buffalo Museum of Science, to the Explore and More Children’s Museum in East Aurora. Military buffs will be amazed at the submarine, destroyer and cruiser permanently docked at the Buffalo harbor, part of the Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park, the largest inland naval park in the country. 
Festival hosted in the city include the National Buffalo Wing Festival, the Allentown Art Festival, and the Taste of Buffalo, the largest two-day food festival in the country.
GardenWalk Buffalo, the nation’s largest free garden tour, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, while the Erie County Fair celebrates its 175th. There are also numerous ethnic celebrations, from St. Patrick’s Day parades to the Galbani Buffalo Italian Heritage Festival, along with Dyngus Day, following Easter Sunday, when polka bands, Polish food and a parade ring in the end of the Lenten season.
Just 20 minutes away is one of the wonders of the world, Niagara Falls, where you can get up-close with the roaring waters at the Cave of the Winds, or venture to the base of the falls on a Maid of the Mist boat tour.
Information provided by Visit Buffalo/Niagara. For more information visit www.visitbuffaloniagara.com.
