What's good in upstate NY?

We will be visiting relatives in Ontario this coming fall and we were thinking of paying a short (2 or 3 day) visit to the USA as we have never been there. We will def. be visiting Niagara Falls so we might ingress from there. Anyone have any tips? We don't have to have an action packed stay nor do we want to spend a long time on the road (so no NYC trip for us), just want to soak up the atmosphere, see some cool things, perhaps have a beer or two (in fact I have never had a PBR, it's on my list )

Let's hope the new Potus will let us in!

Radboud said:

We will be visiting relatives in Ontario this coming fall and we were thinking of paying a short (2 or 3 day) visit to the USA as we have never been there. We will def. be visiting Niagara Falls so we might ingress from there. Anyone have any tips? We don't have to have an action packed stay nor do we want to spend a long time on the road (so no NYC trip for us), just want to soak up the atmosphere, see some cool things, perhaps have a beer or two (in fact I have never had a PBR, it's on my list )

Let's hope the new Potus will let us in!

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If you're in the Buffalo/Niagara Falls area you can Google "Buffalo Area Craft Breweries", check out the map and go from there. Big Ditch, Resurgence, Community Beer Works, Flying Bison, Aurora Brew Works to name a few good ones.

If you're passing through the Rochester/Finger Lakes, use this link:

www.fingerlakesbeertrail.com/

Check out "Trail Map" and take your pick!

You can Tweet the Donald ahead of time and let him know you're coming. But expect to be "extremely vetted".

Awesome thanks! I just realised we will be having our kid with us when we visit breweries/tap rooms, what does NY state law say about that?

Yeah entering the USA over land on a non-Canadian passport is going to require a bit of research beforehand

If you can make it to the Rochester & Finger Lakes region there are a lot of breweries and wineries around the finger lakes. Depending on the age of your child you may want to spend some time at "The Strong". This would give your child a chance to be a kid and it's pretty cool for adults too!

Here is a link regarding your question of kids at the breweries and wineries in the finger lakes region.

http://www.visitfingerlakes.com/blog/post/kid-friendly-wineries-and-breweries-in-the-finger-lakes/

Also if you make it to the Rochester & Finger Lakes Region I would recommend the following breweries to look into. Feel free to PM me with any questions about the breweries out this way.

Crafty Ales and Lagers - Where our brew club meets.
Genesee Brew House
Rohrbach Brewing Co.
CB Craft Brewers
Naked Dove Brewing Co.
Nedloh Brewing Co.
The VB Brewery
Twisted Rail Brewing Co.

Thanks, much appreciated!

Radboud said:

We will be visiting relatives in Ontario this coming fall and we were thinking of paying a short (2 or 3 day) visit to the USA as we have never been there. We will def. be visiting Niagara Falls so we might ingress from there. Anyone have any tips? We don't have to have an action packed stay nor do we want to spend a long time on the road (so no NYC trip for us), just want to soak up the atmosphere, see some cool things, perhaps have a beer or two (in fact I have never had a PBR, it's on my list )

Let's hope the new Potus will let us in!

Click to expand...

If you visit Rochester, the Genesee Brewhouse eatery is kid friendly and they have an interesting display of old time bottles, cans and other brewery things. The first floor tasting room is less expensive for samples. Maybe not the best craftbrew ever, but what I had during a visit was all very drinkable and the exhibit is worth a look, before you move on to another tasting room.

We've been to all of the Rochester breweries with our two kids from birth to 3.5 years now and never had issues. Half the rochester ones are guys who are homebrewers and stepped up to where they are now. Genesee is cool and has the museum so it's kind of a 2 for 1. Swiftwater, ROC, Fairport, Triphammer, Rohrbach, and Stoneyard are the ones we frequent the most and the ones closer to us.

Sounds great! Are there any non-brewing related must sees in the area? The Strong looks very cool! My daughter will be 3 years old this fall so loads to see there for her. I might go to the naval museum in Buffalo but the mrs will probably want to skip that one.

Three heads brewing in rochester, Abandon brewing in finger lakes area and of course Genesee.

Rochester doesn't have much for attractions, but you can't go wrong walking around park ave. Bars, restaurants, bakeries and chocolate shops.

As I said we will be doing a bit of driving, any tips for ignorant Europeans? I read about not being allowed to pass or overtake a stopped schoolbus with its warning lights on, are there any other good-to-knows?

Another thing is the police, on travel websites here they always describe US police as quick to anger and fairly unreasonable, being pulled over can end badly over nothing. Any truth to this? I am certainly not planning on breaking any laws nor being anything but courteous and cooperative to any police officer I might encounter.

Radboud said:

As I said we will be doing a bit of driving, any tips for ignorant Europeans? I read about not being allowed to pass or overtake a stopped schoolbus with its warning lights on, are there any other good-to-knows?

Another thing is the police, on travel websites here they always describe US police as quick to anger and fairly unreasonable, being pulled over can end badly over nothing. Any truth to this? I am certainly not planning on breaking any laws nor being anything but courteous and cooperative to any police officer I might encounter.

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Yes do not pass a stopped school bus with their lights flashing. Children are crossing the road and it's illegal. As long as you follow the speed limit and use caution when driving you will be ok. Since you are coming from Canada and you're from overseas, remember we use MPH not KPH. So pay attention to that when you're driving.

Customs at the border will probably be the hardest part. They may ask a lot of questions and make sure you have your paperwork with you (i.e. Passports, Visas, government ID, copies of children birth certificates or other ID for them, etc...). Double check as you get closer to your trip to know what you need. I know when we cross the boarder into Canada and back to NY my wife and I need our passports and copies of the kids birth certificates. Always be polite whether it's customs or the local police. I find that politeness and respect is the best thing you can do when you interact with any law enforcement.

Also, double check with the rental car company about taking the car across the boarder. That might be another issue you need to look into ahead of time.

I hope this doesn't scare you b/c it shouldn't. Everything should be fine and just make sure you have the right documentation for traveling and enjoy your trip!

Radboud said:

As I said we will be doing a bit of driving, any tips for ignorant Europeans? I read about not being allowed to pass or overtake a stopped schoolbus with its warning lights on, are there any other good-to-knows?

Another thing is the police, on travel websites here they always describe US police as quick to anger and fairly unreasonable, being pulled over can end badly over nothing. Any truth to this? I am certainly not planning on breaking any laws nor being anything but courteous and cooperative to any police officer I might encounter.

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I had a few friends from the Netherlands come over to the US and get a car. The biggest shock to them is being allowed to right turn on red. Remember you can do a right turn on red light! Unless a sign says no.

Also, if you end up near Cooperstown, NY; Ommegang is down there! Excellent Belgian style beers. ITs about a 3 hour drive from fingerlakes region.

Thanks, will remember that. One of the many 'challenges' will also be to drive an automatic, have never driven anything but a stick shift all my life!

I checked out the Park Ave neighbourhood in Rochester, looks nice and lots of holiday rental options (Airbnb etc). Nice tip!

Turned out our US visit wasn't very long due to budget and time constraints; we visited Niagara Falls NY and drove around for an afternoon, did some shopping and went back to Canada again. I got flipped off by a soccer mom in an SUV haha, the highlight of the trip And I got to buy some PBR at Walmart! In fact I bought a bunch of US mainstream lagers, most of which weren't that interesting as you can imagine. I did like Yuengling though!

Now we really want to go back to Canada and the US, almost everyone we met was very friendly, we had an awesome time!

Radboud said:

I got to buy some PBR at Walmart! ...bought a bunch of US mainstream lagers,... I did like Yuengling though! Now we really want to go back to Canada and the US,...

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Yes, and this time to find some good craft beer!

GHBWNY said:

Yes, and this time to find some good craft beer!

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Ah actually found some, I visited the Creemore Springs Brewery in Creemore ON. Awesome people, great beer. I LOVE their lager! I relieved the local Beer Store of some of it quite a few times!

Suarez Brewing is located in the southern area/Hudson valley. We get them in certain places in Massachusetts so you may be lucky enough to see them at a brewpub up north. They're worth it.

It has been more than a year since we went and planning on going back next summer! Again we will stay in the Barrie area but this time want to take more time for a USA trip. Thinking of doing a tour of NY state as we wanted to do, or do a lap around Lake Huron and see Michigan (Sault St Marie, Saginaw and back to Ontario). We might even visit Dr Pol and see if he is as incredible as they say . Probably going to skip Flint and Detroit. What are your opinions on said road trip? Worth it or better go east to NY?