Geneseo.

Geneseo, NY.

(It's here, for those who've never been.)

Fortunately, our flight in was rather uneventful - a one-third-full plane, open seats with an extra five inches of legroom,¹ and a tailwind that brought us into Rochester ten minutes early. The weather's crummy - intermittent cold drizzle and overcast skies - but I suppose that one can't ask for too much in the northern US in January.

Sharon was kind, and willing to humor me immediately after our arrival by accompanying me to the Rochester Public Market. We had a minor whirlwind tour of downtown Rochester on the way there - inasmuch as the map from the rental counter was, uh, sketchy at best. It was a distinct shock from what we're used to in Madison.

For one, it's outside, which must be an interesting experience once the western New York winter sets in.² We also knew it was more of the flea market persuasion after spotting bananas and pineapples at one of the first stands. All in all, there wasn't a whole lot of local produce available - and a lot of random stuff, too.³ (Not that you'd expect that now, but I wonder how different it is during the summer.) There did appear to be some local apples, honey, and one guy selling his own grass-fed beef and pork. And I know that there are a bunch of other, seasonal markets around in several of the surrounding towns that may be a better shopping experience.

What it did remind me of, very much, was the market I shopped at in Brighton, from time to time. I remember that market having more or less fixed stalls - essentially a covered shopping mall consisting of produce vendors, butchers, fishmongers, etc. It's been too long - with too much evolution in cooking skills and expectations - to pretend that I can remember the quality of it. (I do recall being pleased with the fish I got there, if for no other reason than it was clearly fresh.)

Rochester, despite having a population about the same as Madison, is a taller, more compact city. It also has a faint air of economic depression about it. Nothing too severe, but an evident fray about the edges. Whereas Madison's been growing steadily through the recent past, Rochester looks as though things have more or less remained steady. Still, there appears to be a lot of architectural character, as though the tiniest thread remains to connect it to its past in the Industrial Revolution.

Geneseo, though, is quite a different beast altogether. It took us just over half an hour to make the drive from downtown Rochester, mostly on four-lane, high-speed highway. Just minutes from downtown Rochester, and you're surrounded by trees and farmland. And hills! Hills! I love hills, for reasons I can't even begin to figure out. My legs shudder at the notion of even attempting to bike around the area.

The village of Geneseo is a tiny blip, a mere ten thousand people. Half of them are students at the university. Main Street, with most of the shops, is about three very small blocks. Quite charming, though. It's surrounded by farmland, rolling hills, and trees, and it's quite a short distance to the westernmost of the Finger Lakes, Lake Conesus. At seven miles long - though quite narrow along its length - it's small by Finger Lakes standards.

It's funny, the sorts of things you check out when you're trying to determine the livability of a place. We stopped into the local Wegman's, just to see what the local grocery store setup was like. Smaller than the one in Downingtown - anything has to be smaller than that - but still quite sizable, with a pleasant, cozier feeling. A far cry, for sure, from the Super Wal-Mart horning in across the way.

We were quite pleased to hear that the Geneseo folks are fighting hard against the expansion of big box stores and other development in the air. I can only hope they can dig their heels in deep enough.

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¹Normally, United wants to charge an additional $24 for this. When the plane's nowhere near full, though, those of us in the back get the roomier seats for free.

²There's a large, permanent canopy structure, to which the vendors back up their trucks. It's quite narrow, though, especially with two-way traffic trying to squeeze past shoppers purchasing stuff.

³Such as super-cheap t-shirts, duct tape, purses only a twelve-year-old would think stylish, etc. But we did find honest-to-goodness cheese curds, which I'd never expected to see outside of Wisconsin.