When you’re in town for a meeting, you generally don’t plan on having a lot of time to do other things. That was the case with my meeting in Syracuse. It was supposed to last two days, and that was too bad, as I was excited to see the area as I had never been there. I got a pleasant surprise, however, when my phone buzzed early on the morning I was supposed to leave. It was a text message alerting me to the fact that my flight had been canceled and that I’d be here for another day. I had my opportunity to see the area. All I had to do was extend my rental car agreement by a day and of course, find another hotel room in Syracuse. The second part was slightly daunting, as anyone who has ever tried to find a hotel at the last minute understands that this can be difficult.
I grabbed my phone and jumped onto HotelTonight. I searched for Syracuse hotels, thinking that this would simply be the first of many searches and that I’d be at this for some time. I was amazed, but within a few minutes I had not only located a Syracuse hotel that was perfect for what I was looking for, but I had reserved it as well. I had my room, and it only took a few minutes. I also had what appeared to be a very nice room. That was confirmed when I pulled up to my new hotel, excited about my day ahead. I was setting out to explore Syracuse.
Syracuse is a city of just under 150,000 residents, and it seems that a lot of them have work or other goings-on downtown. This is a busy, bustling area in the city. The campus of Syracuse University is here, and this is a school that drives a lot of the population here. It’s also a gorgeous campus that attracts some of the best young students in this part of the country and beyond. Overall, downtown Syracuse is filled with all of the options you’d expect – restaurants, bars, shops and the like – and it’s really a matter of what you prefer to do here.
I headed out a bit over to Skaneateles, which is likely a community most have never heard of until now. I kept hearing about how nice it is, though, so I thought I’d go take a look. Only about 7,000 people live here, and it sits along a beautiful lake of the same name. I strolled through the main part of town and along the lake. I decided it was time for some coffee, so I asked around and was told to try a local place just up the street. That’s how I travel – I want to experience places as locals do, or at least as much as is possible. I enjoyed my coffee and went ahead with my day.
I ventured east of downtown for my next stop, which was a neighborhood known as Eastwood. This is a place where a lot of different things are happening and a lot of different types of people feel comfortable. There were families here, along with young professionals, some students and others. Fortunately, there were also a lot of restaurants as I was extremely hungry. After talking with a few people, I was told about a local joint that served incredible hamburgers. I was in the mood for such a feast, so I stopped in and ordered one. They were right – absolutely incredible. I was full, happy and ready for the rest of my exploration.
Washington Square is an interesting place to visit. It used to be known as the Village of Salina but has since become part of Syracuse. There are a lot of different places to shop here, and this was the part of my day where I wanted to spend some time – and a bit of money – on my friends and loved ones. I browsed some of the different local shops here and found a lot of unique items that are sure to make their recipients happy I was here.
I decided to end my day in Westcott, a neighborhood near the university. The first thing you notice here is the diversity, most likely owing to the school’s proximity. The next thing you notice is the artistic quality of the neighborhood. Finally, I noticed my stomach once again. It was dinner time. As I always do, I asked around and was told more than once that I had to stop at a deli and pub that was hard to beat. I went and ordered some food and enjoyed a cold beverage. The beverage was fantastic, and the dinner was even better. The crowd was friendly, and I really enjoyed myself.
After such an interesting day, I was rather tired. It was time to make my way back to my hotel. As I looked back on the day, I realized that I had seen a lot, done a lot and met quite a few people. I never thought any of this was possible when I picked up my phone this morning. I’m glad I was able to find HotelTonight on my phone, as that’s what made all of this possible – finding a Syracuse hotel room in minutes. I would be back here someday, and I would do so with the help of HotelTonight.
