Rochester & Toronto
Rochester & Toronto
Both of us graduated from the University of Rochester and had our first jobs there. We lived there for 10 years and experienced it’s wonderful summers and infamous winters. Since we left, several of Rochester’s major employers: Xerox and Kodak, have since landed on hard time, especially Kodak. We want to return to the city (above) to see how much have changed, and visit our old Alma mater as well.
View of Toronto Skyline from Ferry
Toronto, a Canadian city situated on the north shore of Lake Ontario, has been growing. The influx of immigrants in the last couple of decades have also brought in capital investments and talented labors. Toronto hosts a major ATP tennis tournament - Rogers Cup - every year where many top rank players attend. It’s actually better than going to the US Open in Flushing Meadow, NY because the Toronto venue is smaller and more intimate. We’ve decided to attend it this year with tickets to the quarter finals and final matches. It also gives us a great opportunity to try out their Chinese cuisine.
The travel plan calls for an overnight stop in Rochester first before spending 6 nights in Toronto. On our way home from Toronto, we’ll spend two nights in Rochester again. The drive to Rochester takes about 6 hours. By the time we arrive in town, it’s almost 6PM.
Our Old Townhouse in Brighton NY
After checking in to our hotel, we swing by our old townhouse in Brighton. We lived here back in the mid 80’s. The neighborhood is very much the same, the trees are obviously more established than when we left 30 years ago with a few more commercial buildings. Unfortunately, property value hasn’t gone up much in this area, sign of a depressed, stagnant city.
When we lived here, we used to frequent a steak house called Scotch ‘N Sirloin. The place is still here, everything is almost the same. That’s a pretty good track record for a restaurant. The Todd Mart Plaza it was situated in has doubled in size and is now called Winton Plaza.
Scotch ‘N Sirloin
The food is still as good as how we remember it to be. I used to order the French onion soup all the time and it is still marvelous.
French Onion Soup
They have a “Back to the 40’s” promotion to celebrate their 40th year in business. The second entree carries a 40 year old price. We have the NY strip and the petite filet. The NY strip costs $26, while the filet costs only $9.
New York Strip & Baked Potato
The travel plan
Aug 7, 2012