3 Days in Buffalo

 3 Days in Buffalo, NY

The purpose of this getaway was really to enjoy the hotel!  We had been to Curtiss Hotel previously for 1 night, and knew that someday we wanted to return. The weather was absolutely perfect and incredible for our August 18-20 getaway.  

We arrived  about 11:00, and Curtiss Hotel (Franklin St. right in the heart of the city!!) allowed us to check in early. Usually there is free Valet Parking, but due to COVID there is no valet parking, but it is still free, and there is lots of space...and no need to tip the valet each time-WINNING!!!

We went to our room, and the bathroom was exactly as we remembered it...incredible, with a jacuzzi with colored lights and an enormous shower with at least 6 spray heads.  Heaven. Nothing like a relaxing jacuzzi after a long day of being tourists.

We walked to lunch at Big Ditch Brewing Company on Huron Street.  We ate outdoors.  The beer is great, and the food is wonderful.  Our server was very sweet and helpful.  Highly recommend.

After lunch we took at walk down to Canalside.  On the way we passed a park with homeless people and  all of their sleeping bags.  They did not seem to be bothering anyone, and noone seemed bothered by them.  We were in no way nervous.   We passed by the location that the Toronto Blue Jays are currently calling home for the season.  Canalside is absolutely gorgeous.  They are currently working on upgrading, and there is construction all over. They are creating a carousel, probably for next summer.  We enjoyed walking up and down the waterfront.  It wasn't too busy.

At 2:30 we boarded for our Buffalo River History Cruise.  The cruise was incredible!  We were on the boat for 90 minutes of interesting information about the Grain Industry on the Buffalo River as well as amazing views.  We went out to Lake Erie but did not go on the Lake.  There were only 15 people on board a huge boat, so plenty of space to social distance. 

We walked back to our hotel to enjoy the indoor/outdoor Urban Hot Springs.  The water is so relaxing. 

For dinner we stayed at our Hotel and ate out on the patio at Chez Ami.  Our food was excellent.  

After dinner we took the elevator to the roof to have a cocktail, enjoy the fire pit, and see sunset with the panoramic view of the city.  Unfortunately, at this time of year the sun sets behind another building...but it was still nice to be up there outside!

Breakfast was included the next morning.  Instead of the traditional buffet you order your breakfast from the menu.  The food was incredible...and included in our room price.

On this morning we drove to the Buffalo Zoo (Parkside Ave).  We prepurchased timed entry for 9-11:30 AM.  The process is really screwy...with everyone arriving at 9 and creating a bottleneck.  Supposedly they "sanitize" before the afternoon session...but I think revolving entry times truly makes more sense.  The animals all looked pretty sad, and it was a cool morning so the animals should have been awake and walking around, not sluggish like they were.  So...we had a good time, saw some cute animals, but compared to the many other zoos we have visited this one just wasn't very good at all.

We drove back to the hotel and parked there.  We were able to walk to lunch at Pearl Street Grill and Brewery.  This place was incredibly HUGE....with 4 floors with outside patios on every level.  PreCOVID I bet this place was rocking on a Friday night.  We ate outside, with lovely views of the highways crossing over each other.  The food and the beer were great!!

We took a different way back to the hotel and saw more sleeping bags.  They were all tucked up underneath the bridge.  I'm assuming the city allows them to sleep there at night, but they have to put their stuff away during the day.  Again, we were not nervous in that area...it's a city, with city stuff going on.  At no point did we feel in any danger (but we did not walk at nighttime....)

Back at the hotel for a couple hours before we drove out to Thin Man Brewery (Elmwood Ave). We could have easily walked...but we had put a bunch of miles on our feet, and had to still walk to dinner.  We went here for our daughter, as she likes their Minkey Boodle.  We were hoping to pick up some kind of merch for her like a T-shirt.  We did a flight, and had a drink, but this isn't our kind of beer.  They had no merch due to COVID, but we were able to buy a goblet beer glass for her so that would just have to be good enough!!!

For dinner that night we walked back down to Canalside.  We met our friend Denise who drove from Rochester (1 hour) to hang for dinner with us.  We ate at The Liberty Hound, sat outside (had quite a wait in which time we enjoyed Canalside again!!) and saw a beautiful sunset!  It was such a special night seeing our friend.  She drove us back to our hotel.  She came up to see our bathroom (really...who cares about a bathroom...but this one is just so incredibly over the top opulent)!!  We all went up to the rooftop again for drinks.  This was a little crowded (not our thing these days) since it was Wine Wednesday...so we just had a fast drink and left!  Everyone was seated as NYS requires...just a lot of people.

The next morning we had to sadly check out, but on the way home we went to Tifft Nature Preserve and Buffalo Harbor State Park.  We loved the State Park.  It has beautiful walking paths along Lake Erie.  This walk is connected to Canalside, and it would have been a perfect day to have made that walk...but we had to be getting home!!

It was a great trip.  I would guess the weather played a huge part, but so did the hotel we chose to enjoy for our getaway.  When we travel we look for hiking and walking places, as well as wineries and breweries. We love water...lakes, oceans, or even ponds.  Lake Erie was a delightful backdrop for this mini vacation!! 

Specific reviews for all places mentioned here are on TripAdvisor.

Travel tip from Laurie:  Split all cash evenly between the adults traveling.  Each adult should carry a different credit card from the other adult.  If one person is compromised, the other credit cards will work fine.