Rochester Disney Travel Agents Near Me

Overview

Introduction

The world-famous Mayo Clinic is in Rochester, 75 mi/120 km southeast of Minneapolis and St. Paul. With its outstanding medical research and treatment facilities, the clinic founded by two physician brothers has become synonymous with the finest in health care and scientific research. Take a tour of the clinic and be sure to see Mayowood, a lovely 100-room country estate furnished with antiques from the Mayo brothers' travels.

If there's time, make the short trip 35 mi/55 km west to Owatonna. In the town square is the grand Wells Fargo Bank (formerly the Norwest Bank), designed in the early 1900s by Louis Sullivan's firm. Though elaborate and ornate, it's still solidly American (look for the mural of a herd of cows).

Southeast of Rochester, 30 mi/48 km, is Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park. It contains the historic town of Forestville, a village that's been restored to appear as it did in 1899. There's a post office, a store, a home and a farm to tour. Costumed guides explain what small-town life was like in the late 1800s. The cave, which stays a chilly 48 F/9 C year-round, also can be toured.

Overview

Introduction

Though it's perhaps best known as the home of Eastman Kodak, the giant of the photographic business, Rochester, New York (74 mi/119 km east of Buffalo), is also the home of Xerox and Bausch & Lomb.

Downtown is the Corn Hill Landing Marina, where the canal boat Mary Jemison offers dinner cruises and tours of the Erie Canal and the Genesee River (May-November). The Rochester Public Market is a nice place to stroll and shop for farm-fresh produce and homemade delicacies.

Other attractions include the home of suffragette Susan B. Anthony, the world-class Eastman School of Music and the Strong National Museum of Play, with engaging family activities and thousands of vintage toys on display. History buffs may want to visit Mount Hope Cemetery, where slave-turned-abolitionist Frederick Douglass is buried.

The hamlet of Childs in Gaines, 30 mi/45 km west of Rochester, is known for its historic buildings made of cobblestone masonry. Built from small stones taken from area fields, the cobblestoned buildings date from the early to mid-1800s. There's a Cobblestone Museum in town and several buildings constructed of the stones, including a church, a parsonage and a one-room schoolhouse.