just a bit south of the Arctic Circle

[dragonlady7]

So, Norwegian cousins arrive tonight.
They got into JFK on the 7th and have been wandering the eastern part of NY state with various of the cousins-- saw my dad's brother's kids Jessie and Maureen, saw dad's sister Alison and her kids Terry and Christine...
Whew. Lots of hyperlinks. (I always do 'em the hard way, so that's hard work for me.
Where was I? Oh yes.

Norwegians arrive soon (Hm. I have no photos of them online. Too bad my camera is still kaput; I won't have any photos of them anytime soon either! Well, we'll see.) and I have resolved to show them Buffalo and surroundings to the full extent permissible by the law. We'll see how far I get.

First:
Wings and beer.
(they'll probably get in too late for a Friday night fish fry.)

Possibly, Anchor Bar, for historical significance's sake. Alternately, I hear Gabriel's Gate is good (down on Elmwood, downtownish-- The Strip-- they're that funky place with the metal statue on top that holds flaming torches. V. cool) for wings. Everyone from out of town raves about Duff's; I was just there and yes, they're good, but wow the vinegar, and they're not as mindbendingly hot as they claim to be. Not that I want my wings hot...
So I want some variety for my own sake.

I have to take them to a wide range of dining establishments. Mom says they eat a ton, so that's something good when coming to Buffalo: food here is cheap, plentiful, and highly fattening, so it sucks when dieters come to visit because all the best stuff is off-limits.
The list of must-goes includes Andersen's for lunch (excellent roast beef on weck; best frozen custard anywhere); Curly's (an awesome Carribean place in, of all locations, beautiful downtown Lackawanna); Condrell's (an old-fashioned ice cream sundae joint with loads of homemade candies, in Kenmore); Andy's (a clam bar on Niagara); Papa Jake's (a little bar, for awesome huge fish fries); and then there are several other contenders like either Kentucky Greg's or Fat Bob's for southern-style pit barbeque, "that German place that starts with an S and had potato pancakes at the Taste of Buffalo", and others I can't remember now.

Activities we must do include a possible visit to Shakespeare in the Park (they've moved on to presenting a modernized Taming of the Shrew that's getting pretty good reviews), one or more massive pubcrawls as I research bars I might want to work at, some sort of local music if any's forthcoming, a minor-league baseball game (dave's mom has some free tickets to see the Bisons), and possibly a trip to the local drive-in theater, since those tend not to be common up near the Arctic circle. (When it's warm enough, the damn sun never sets.)

Day trips include Niagara Falls, the various art museums of Buffalo, the Naval Park (which features a submarine, a destroyer, and some other ex-Navy castoff that's been refurbished and is in tourable condition), the Italian Festival in North Buffalo (a celebration of all that is right and good in local cuisine), and possible locations in Rochester. If they're up for some hokey entertainment I'd take them to the Ren Fest in Stirling, which is east of Rochester and a bit of a hike, but fun and silly.

Possible overnight / several day trips include such varied destinations as the wineries of the Finger Lakes, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada, the fabulous city of Toronto (the previous two depending on the state of the boys' papers), and possibly such distant but tantalizing attractions as Cleveland and Philadelphia if they wanted to go out of the near region and see more of the US.
So, we'll see.

Anyhow. That's a brief list of possibilities. There is nothing that is so much fun as having visitors come in from out of town so you have an excuse to experience the place as a tourist. Tourists with inside help get to do the most fun stuff. Cuz you never get around to it just on your own...