Low-Budget Syracuse Summer Fun: Taste Of Syracuse
Over the past few days I’ve heard a lot about a food festival called the Taste of Syracuse; it’s a yearly event that brings over 40 different vendors to downtown Syracuse in Clinton Square for people to enjoy. There’s food, local clothing and jewelry vendors, artists, live music, and a chance to learn more about Syracuse’s culture. They brought over 250,000 people in last year and they met their expectation to bring more this year. My friends and I said we would do some exploring and try new things we didn’t have the chance to do last summer since we were busy every day, and on the weekends at parties and bars. It’s the whole weekend long (Friday-Sunday) and we attended this year on Saturday, the “largest crowd” day according to recent goers. The night before we were going to a karaoke bar and were able to walk past some of the tents, and oh my goodness was I excited. There was a place called Glazed and Confused (which I’ve been meaning to try forever and heard is amazing), a boozy ice cream place, french fry place, and even wine slushies! They had a food menu that had over 20 places for ONE DOLLAR! The highest-cost option for food was about $10. When we arrived, the first thing we did was go to the ATM to get about $40 (just saying, we wouldn’t need that much). But, it was well worth the money spent. We went to the bar because of so many specials they had, tried so much new food like fried crab legs, different forms of corn on the cob, homemade sweet potato fries, BBQ and more. The live music was amazing and so breathtaking. It was so many different styles of music and I believe was on three stages. We bought custom rings and had fun with free balloon hats/swords toward the end of the night. If I could enjoy something like this more than once, I would. You could easily go with $10-$20, have a good time and taste a wide array of things offered.
The next day I decided to do something I’ve ever done, which is go to one of the library events they offer. This day, it was little kids reading to dogs. I went mainly for the dogs to have a somewhat peaceful Sunday, and it was so much fun! This is something free you could take part in at any of the local libraries in the Syracuse area. I sat on the colored mat with some of the younger children and talked/played with them until I heard the little fur babies make their way onto the little mat. I was immediately overwhelmed with joy, and how can you not get giddy on the inside with dogs? With being a part of such a rigorous program day-in and day-out, even during the summer, doing something that is free and also feels good to the heart just makes you feel ready for the next day. After having such a full two days and much needed rest for once, I was set for the coming week!
If you feel there’s nothing to do over the summer, there’s always something. Syracuse is known for summer festivals! It seems like there’s one every other week and the people are always very sweet. Also, check the library website and syracuse.com for things to do! I feel as though there are hidden gems here that my graduate class didn’t get to explore while attending the first summer session, so hopefully the new class will be able to! Remember to have fun with everything you do and always take a moment to know that you are still young, and take that time with you everywhere you go. It won’t last forever.
