Fall Fun

Not everything is big enough or awesome enough to warrant a full post on their own, so we lumped together some of our fall exploits.


Foodlink Festival at the Public Market
Alex:
Back in mid-September we grabbed up some Groupons for the Foodlink Festival being held at the Rochester Public Market.  It sounded similar to the Taste of St. Louis, which we've really enjoyed attending with friends and family in the past.  Dozens of local restaurants, wineries, caterers and food vendors turned out with all kinds of small samples.  There were some musicians playing on a small stage set up in the middle of the market as we made our way through with our little plates and wine glasses.

The biggest key difference is that here you buy a ticket and get whatever you want, whereas in the STL version you pay for the individual food items.  While it was nice to be able to sample all kinds of things without worrying about price, this did result in longer lines and smaller sample sizes.  There was a high proportion of desserts and wine stands vs regular food, so we got a little over-surgared. 

I think I prefer the setup and the turnout of the Taste of St Louis, but this was still fun to try out.  Someday we'll make it to the much larger and more well known Taste of Chicago, and we'll have to post about that!

Laura: Agreed! The food was all pretty decent, but there were way too many desserts (which is something I never thought I would say!!!). Favorite foods: PB&J cupcake, Savory/Roasted porkbelly, local beers, and Pumpkin Ice Cream. Yum! Also, this event was partially sponsored by Wegman's (the local mega grocery store), so we got a couple free totes and some coupons.

Oktoberfest in Irondequoit
Alex:
In late September we went to meet some of the other med students at Oktoberfest.  Yes, Oktoberfest is celebrated mostly in September, and ends in the first week of October.  In Irondequoit (the area of north of downtown, toward the lake) there was a good sized event that some of Laura's classmates wanted to visit, so we decided to check it out.

The tent was naturally very large, colorful, and filled with polkas and yodeling.  We promptly grabbed some Oktoberfest ales, a rouladen, and some wurst and chowed down.

We found a few friends at some tables and sat with them for a bit.

The food was delicious.  I went back to grab some potato pancakes and apple sauce, and had to get an extra side of their tasty red cabbage (like saurkraut, but also sweet like warm applesauce).

There were quite a few people dancing to the German band, so we jumped in for a little bit.  I grabbed a shot when the space cleared out some so we could get the band.

"Good times!!!!" - Foof

 
Apple Picking in Victor
Alex:
In early October, we went southeast a little bit closer to the Finger Lakes to the small, quaint town of Victor to meet some other med students out for apple picking at the Apple Farm.  After a short tractor ride out into the orchard, we wandered around having some fun and finding the best apples, figuring out what types of apples were ripe, and discussing what kinds of apples were good for what kind of cooking.

Victor, Marina and Brian watching Joe juggle, trying to get themselves coordinated.

Rows of apple trees....

 We even found a lone pear tree next to a barn. Brought one home.....it was delicious!!!

Laura: 
I believe we picked some Crispins (look like giant, more yellowy Granny Smiths), some Cortlands, and maybe a couple Macoun apples at the orchard. All of which contributed to multiple apple crisps and two apple pies (with crust from scratch)!

We also sampled some of the farm's homemade baked goods - apple cider donuts and apple turnovers. Very tasty. Even had a little bit of apple cider. Aside from getting to spend time with friends and pick some tasty apples, it was a GORGEOUS day! So nice to spend some time out in the sunshine and warmth (while it's still here!).

All in all we had a really great time at the Apple Orchard. We'll definitely have to go back. We might just have to go back to explore the town of Victor a little more. Like Alex mentioned, it is a very quaint little city with a lot of shops and local restaurants. Might even have to go there in the winter once the snow falls because the further south you go from
Rochester the hillier it gets, so I bet there is some beautiful scenery out there!

Hope you enjoyed reading about a few of our Fall adventures!
-The Lorax-

Feeeeeed Me!

Laura:
To combat a bothersome gnat infestation in some of our house plants, Alex purchased a couple carnivorous plants to gobble up the little pests. I know....I know.....when you hear the term "carnivorous plant" an image of Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors may pop into your head.....

Luckily for us though, the carnivorous plants that we have recently acquired are much more demur:

Alex:
As you may already know, I like to grow various herbs for all the cookin' I do.  When we left St. Louis I went to great lengths to get rid of the gnats that moved in when I bought Laura some flowers and plants.  I bagged up my big plants and killed off and threw away all my herbs and smaller plants.  It was very sad.

So it was very annoying when I set up all the new plants here in Rochester and right away got gnats again!  In the heat of the summer we had to open windows to cool off, and in came the little pests.  Look at my poor basil plants...  they're living on the underside of the leaves!!

The plants should be two or three times bigger than this, but they're barely hanging on to life.  I have waged war against the gnats.  I have waged conventional war (clapping, sticky traps, smashing...  I just killed one as I wrote this sentence), chemical warfare (sprays), biological warfare (bacteria that infect their larvae), and most interestingly, our subject at hand, crazy space monster warfare!

Rooaaaar!

Be Warned!  Below are graphic images of bug carnage!

Proceed at your own risk

I currently have two types of CPs:  A purple pitcher plant and a cape sundew.

The pitcher forms leaves with wide open bellies filled with sweet liquid and deadly traps.  The purple pitcher doesn't have a lot of crazy mazes or a closing mouth like other CPs, but it has a very slippery and confusing gut.  Once the bug flies in, they have a hard time telling where the sweet nectar ends and the deadly digestive saliva begins.

A thousand tiny gnat screams echo through the chambers of the pitcher's unforgiving gullet

Purple pitcher plant is definitely more fun to say, but the sundew is the real killer.

Say you're a bug.  You get up in the morning and start doing your bug duties:  flying around people's faces, chewing on helpless plants, landing in Alex's yogurt, distracting the Foof while she studies...  Generally just being a pest.

Oops

After a long and obnoxious days work, you're hungry, or thirsty, or whatever the heck you get - who cares?  You're a filthy little bug.  You see sunlight glistening off a sweet orb of what appears to be delectable nectar.  YUM!  You buzz your nasty little thorax over to it and land in it, ready to gorge yourself.  BUT WAIT!  Something is wrong...  this food is a lot less tasty and a lot more sticky than usual...

And for everyone to see...  how embarrassing!

It's got you!  That little droplet of liquid is a very sticky, stringy goo that just never let's go.  Now you're fighting and pushing and flapping to get away, and as you struggle you notice that very slowly, more tentacles with droplets of goo are inching closer, leaning in toward you.  Eventually they pile on, covering you with digestive ooze, and pull you in toward the center of the leaf.  What a way to go!



I've got quite a few more pictures of these guys.  They're an entertaining way of killing off the gnats.  I'll probably pick up some more, including other types of sundew, maybe a venus flytrap, and eventually I'd like to get the ultimate: a tropical pitcher.  If I do, I'll be sure to put more pictures here.

The Lorax - hunter of the gnats

Darien Lake

Labor Day Weekend was a blast!!!! 

(Yes....We realize it's currently October and we're just getting around to this story....sorry for the delay)

Laura: 

As part of our Labor Day festivities, we decided to check out the Darien Lake Amusement Park about an hour west of Rochester. Alex and I had never been to an amusement park together, so we thought it would be a nice way to spend our weekend. Plus, we purchased BOGO tickets at Wegman's (a local grocery store) which made the outing much more affordable. 

Based on the website we expected Darien Lake to be similar to Six Flags - St. Louis, but I would say it's not as nice - there are fewer rides and the whole park seemed old and slightly in disrepair. Despite these cosmetic flaws, the park as a whole was pretty decent and we still had a great time. Here we are after taking a spin on "The Predator" - the tallest wooden roller coaster in New York State!

I was terrified!!!!!!!!! I can't even remember the last time I rode a roller coaster, so going on the tallest one in New York state (with the steepest hills I have EVER seen....looked like you were going straight down into the ground, no slope whatsoever!) was really scary. Also, sitting in the very last row sure added to the whip-lash factor commonly associated with wooden coasters. Oh my neck was so sore the next day!!!!

After riding The Predator, we moved onto another coaster - Boomerang.

Boomerang is the teal rollercoaster depicted here. This ride "begins with a steep incline backwards out of the station, and then propels guests forward through vertical loops and hills. Then, repeat the circuit in reverse". So...let me clarify in case you don't fully understand the terror this ride induces...after everyone is strapped in, the cars are pulled backwards (very slowly) up the steep incline on the left. Once the cars have reached the optimal height you are suspended waiting for the ride to release you and send you rocketing through the station where you originally boarded to ride the crazy spirals and loops of the coaster. New Yorkers must really love steep hills because once again the launch track is VERY steep, so once the ride has retracted you into the "READY TO GO" position you're staring straight into the ground and praying that your shoulder harness doesn't accidentally release, thus allowing your body to hurtle to the pavement below.....did I mention I get scared on rollercoasters? LOL. Despite my terror, the ride was still fun!




After this second roller coaster ride I was feeling pretty nauseous, so I requested we try something a little more relaxed to give my stomach a little time to settle. Solution: The Giant Wheel! We took a nice relaxing ride on the Ferris Wheel and got some nice views of the park and all the other rides it had to offer.

At the top of The Giant Wheel!

From the Giant Wheel, we moved onto the log flume (another slow-paced ride to give my stomach time to settle) and a couple more roller coasters.

Alex:
The next roller coaster we rode was a very small and fairly level one called Motocoaster.  Having said that, I should add that the coaster 1) propels you from 0 to 40 in 3 seconds, and 2) has you sit atop a dirt-bike frame with no supports/restraints above your waist.  Without any real side-supports the twists and turns feel a lot more aggressive.  Zoom in on the pic to see what it looks like.





By that point we were getting a little tired and wanted some non-theme-park food.  There were a lot of pools and water rides at the park that we will have to return and check out another time, maybe when we have some more delightful visitors!  So come on up to the ROC! Definitely a fun way to spend our day!

Stay tuned.....

Hello all!!!

Sorry for the huge lack in posts lately. A lot has been going on here in Rochester, so we haven't had much time to work on the blog. Just wanted to give a quick shout out to tell you to keep checking the blog. We've got 3-4 posts in the works and more to come as summer turns to fall. Then, sooner than I think any of us care to realize, it will be winter!!! Can't believe we've already been up here for over two months.

Stay tuned, folks! We'll be back to blogging soon!

THE LORAX

Wineries and Beach Parties

Laura:
August 27 was an excellent day! We began by touring two wineries near Seneca Lake with a bunch of my med school classmates. The wineries were about an hour southeast of Rochester in the Finger Lakes region of New York state.

We visited the Three Brothers and Zugibe wineries on the east side of Seneca Lake. Three Brothers was a neat because they have three different wine tasting venues, each with their own personality, and a beer tasting room. We purchased a tasting passport ($10/person) and were able to try 5 different wines/beers at each station (~20 samples total). A great buy! The wines in the dive bar and girly tasting rooms were INCREDIBLY sweet. Not really my cup of tea, but some people like that stuff. The ritzy wine  room had a broader variety of wines for tasting and were definitely the best on site. We bought a bottle of "Jazz Infusion" - a blend of Chambourcin, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Pinot Noir. Delish!

We also really enjoyed the wines at the Zugibe Winery. For the minimal fee of $3, we were able to taste any 5 wines off a large list. Excellent wines once again! After finishing the tastings we relaxed outside and chatted with my med school pals for quite a while. The weather was a little balmy, but the company and view were both perfect! Always nice to sit down with my classmates outside of school and just relax (while we still can).  

Good wine, good view, and great friends!

After a lovely afternoon at the wineries, we started to make our way back to Rochester for some more fun. One the way home we were in desperate need of lunch, so we stopped at a little road-side food stand in Geneva, NY to get some hots, mac salad, and cones (hot dogs, pasta salad, and soft serve ice cream).

Mmmm...Moosetracks!

Our final event for the evening was a birthday party for two of my classmates at Marge's, a little bar located on the shore of Lake Ontario. Marge's is the greatest little bar I've ever seen! You get your drinks at the bar inside and then walk out the back of small building for direct beach access to Lake Ontario. We arrived just in time to see the most glorious sunset!

Alex

This ended up being a real nice day.  I only want to add that at the second winery a cup game came up, involving a lot of rhythmically slapping the table, flipping cups, and passing them around in a circle.  Some people knew the cup game, and others were fascinated and wanted to learn.  Next thing I or anybody else knew there was a drumming circle of cup players going.  I was able to get my camera and shoot a quick video before the flash mob of cupsters finished.

Hurricane Irene

Alex:
So I've had some questions about how things are around here in the wake of the recent hurricane, and basically the answer is Just Fine. We're pretty far west and inland, so we really didn't get any rain at all. On Sunday we had some high winds and very gloomy overcast skies, but it wasn't bad at all (we even went out shopping and to a Greek festival). The odd part was that it was very cold -- temperatures down to the 50s. I guess the spiraling winds were bringing cold air down out of the north for us.


5 million people were STILL without power last I heard! I don't think we ever lost power, despite the fears of high winds blowing trees into power lines.

One last interesting bit: Irene was the first hurricane to make landfall on continental US since 2008 - Hurricane Ike.

Laura:
Yep...we're doing just fine here in Rochester. A number of my med school classmates who have family and friends living in NYC and other coastal cities had some horror stories to tell about the storm....no power for 12 hours.....towns completely flooded....bridges washed out....etc. Hopefully things will get back to normal for all those people!

Thanks for being concerned about our safety during this crazy hurricane.

-The Lorax-

Water, Water Everywhere

Laura:
Alex, myself, and two of my med school classmates attempted to go on a glorious sailing adventure on the Sunday of White Coat Weekend. Background.....my Advisory Dean, Dr. G, owns a sailboat and during our first Advisory Dean lunch he offered all of us spots on his crew (no previous sailing experience required!) any time he went sailing on Lake Ontario in the next few months. Super excited about the chance to go on a real sailboat, I signed us up right away!

That Sunday we picked up my classmates and headed up to Lake Ontario. Now the weather was not the nicest....gloomy, overcast, imminent rain....but we decided to go for it anyway. When we arrived at the marina, Dr. G was already preparing the boat for a trip out on the water. Yeah! We all climbed aboard and were shortly underway. We used the motor to get chug up the Genesee River a bit and then out into Lake Ontario. Once out in open waters, Dr. G cut the engine and we started sailing....sort of. There wasn't much wind that day despite the impending storms, so we very slowly sailed along the shore.

That column sticking up in the center of the picture is the red/white striped beacon at the end of the pier in the "Beach Break" post. The right side of the picture is the Ontario Beach Park.

 
We did get some brief lessons in steering and sail management, but with so little wind there wasn't much for us crew to do. Despite the lack of super sailing, we did have a great time sitting around and chatting on the boat for a couple hours. Eventually we decided to head back in since the wind was drying up and the storm clouds were getting darker. We made it back to the car just as the rain started, and the four of us have an official "Wind Check" from Dr. G so we can come back anytime to experience "real" sailing. All-in-all it was a pretty good time.

Once we got home, I decided to take a rainy Sunday nap to escape the gloom outside.......meanwhile.......


Alex:
I took a short nap as well, but as I drifted in and out of sleep I heard the rain ebbing and flowing.  At one point when I woke up it occurred to me that it had been going real hard for a while, so I thought I'd take a look out the window.  What I saw surprised me, so I grabbed my camera.

It was absolutely pouring outside.  Our driveway had turned into a little stream and our high-curbed streets were like canals.  Cars driving through would push the water in front of them creating huge waves that would flow right over the mall.

Other people down the street had noticed the flooded streets and were out playing.

We had roofers working on our house and their equipment had been filling up our parking lot out back, so my car was parked across the street.

I worried about damage to my wheels and breaks from all the water.

After a few cars drove by and kicked up the water level I started to worry about water actually getting into the floorboard and engine of my car!

Motion blur shot - you can see the wave kicked up in front of the car, and to the side and behind the car the water is flowing right over the mall

It was pretty incredible!  I walked through the water myself briefly, and when I went back inside Laura woke up...  Sorry I didn't wake you up, but you looked so cozy!

Laura:
I missed everything!  :0(  At least there was this video to watch.......

-THE LORAX-