A Rochester Primer

With games approaching quickly here is a brief overview of the Rochester Area and a list of things to see and do while you're in town.

We'll start with the Blue Cross Arena.

Getting there:

FROM THE EAST

NYS Thruway to exit 45 (Victor)

Take 490 WEST and exit at Clinton Avenue

Turn Left at Broad Street (third light)

The Arena is on the corner of Broad and Exchange Streets.

FROM THE WEST

NYS Thruway to exit 47 (LeRoy)

Take 490 East to the Inner Loop exit #13

Take Plymouth Ave. exit #13 and turn right onto Plymouth

Turn Left at Broad Street (third light)

The Arena is on the corner of Broad and Exchange Streets.

FROM THE SOUTH

390 North

Take 490 East to the Inner Loop exit

Take Plymouth Ave. exit and turn right onto Plymouth

Turn Left at Broad Street (third light)

The Arena is on the corner of Broad and Exchange Streets.

Parking:

There is a parking garage across Exchange Street, event parking usually runs in the 10-20$ range. If you get there early there is street parking and $10 lots on Court Street. You can also take you chances with street parking on Exchange, but this has a tendency to fill up quick and it can be a bit of a walk.

Tickets:

Weekend packages are going for $71 for all three games. Unfortunately you have use Ticketmaster right now. The box office will have individual game tickets on sale starting Wednesday for $38 a game. Again, you have to go through Ticketmaster.

Game Times:

Clarkson plays Massachusetts at 2:30 PM EDT on Friday. St. Cloud takes on Maine at 6:00 PM EDT. The winners face off Saturday at 6:00 PM EDT. According to the tickets there is NO RE-ENTRY. In our opinion, this sucks big time, but it's how arenas make their money.

After the Game:

(Right-click to open the map in a new window)

1 - Blue Cross Arena
2 - Dinosaur Bar-B-Que
3 - Manhattan Square Park
4 - The Old Toad
5 - East and Alexander

As you leave the Blue Cross Arena (1) cross the Court Street bridge and you can't miss the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que (2). Much bigger than the original in Syracuse, be sure to expect a big crowd in here before, during and after the games. A large bar with a good beer selection and ribs that might be the best this side of St. Louis.

Continuing on Court St. on the right hand side will be Manhattan Square Park (3), featuring an outdoor skating rink. Temps are slated to be in the mid 50's this weekend so bring your skates and take a couple laps.

Moving further east down Court as it turns into Broad Street, cross over the inter-loop and head one block further east and find yourself at The Old Toad (4). An authentic British Pub that hires British exchange students as servers and features some of the best beers on tap in the city. Odds are high you'll find the author of this post in there after the games.

A left hand turn at the Old Toad brings you to the corner of East and Alexander and what many consider to be the highlight of Rochester night life. Clubs and bars line the street and a left hand turn down East for two blocks will bring you to the Little Theater. Rochester's main independent movie house. A right hand turn down East will take you to the George Eastman house and the Rochester Museum and Science Center and Strasenburgh Planetarium.

Hopefully this will start your trip to the Flower City off on the right foot, enjoy your stay and see you at the rink.