Everyone loves to complain about Buffalo but I think it is one of the best places to live. We have hot summers and snowy winters, which in essence, gives us the best of both worlds. I’m often asked, “Why did I choose to go to school here?” as college students bustle through the heavy snow. Then, you suddenly look in the distance and see me making snow angels in the snow (I promise this really happened). Why complain about snow when it could potentially cancel classes and force you to stay at home? That sounds like the college dream.
What’s great about the snow and winter time is all the fun activities available while we are off from break for a month and Buffalo is one of the best places to embrace the cold.
Here’s a list of things to do in Buffalo during the cold snowy winter:
1. Sledding at Chestnut Ridge Park~ Chestnut Ridge Park is located in Orchard Park, NY and is a beautiful park with snowy paths that are calm and peaceful. Chestnut Ridge has a large hill, where from the top you can see the city of Buffalo and when you’re done, you can hop on your sled and take a ride. This hill is huge and brings in lots of friendly neighbors to get on their sleds, snowboards, and skis to enjoy the ride. This park is perfect for anyone of any age and anyone can make a day out of it!
2. Ice Skating at Canalside ~ Every week, Wednesday-Sunday, Canalside offers public ice skating with an admission fee of 6$. You can ice skate with your SO surrounded by all sorts of hot spots such as the restaurant 716 and the KeyBank Center. Then when you’re done ice skating, surrounding the rink is local bands, places to stop and get some hot chocolate, and an array of décor all lit for the holidays
3. Hamburg Festival of Lights~ Experience this event by driving through a route featuring over one million shining lights, beaming at everyone corner. The fairgrounds are an interactive experience and after your ride you can enter into the fairgrounds and do all sorts of activities like write letters to Santa, meet reindeer, decorate cookies, and look at fascinating ice sculptures. The Hamburg fairgrounds is a tradition for my boyfriend and I every holiday season!
4. Skiing~ With the amount of snow we get we obviously have plenty of ski slopes. The mountains in the area are Kissing Bridge, HoliMont, and Holiday Valley. My personal favorite is Holiday Valley since it is so close to Ellicottville. Not only is it a large mountain to ski on, right off the property are adorable ski lodges, a cute town where you can find all sorts of shops, local restaurants, and some holiday cheer. Most of the days I have off you can find me here being that it is such a fun, close, and healthy activity, perfect for anyone who is bored this winter break.
Buffalo owns the winter time. The region embraces living in a winter wonderland filled with all sorts of activities. When we Buffalonians hear lake effect snow…. well you already know ☺