Twilight Tour of Homes – June 16, 2016

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The annual Twilight Tour of Homes, presented by the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site and Explore Buffalo, takes place Thursday, June 16 from 5-9 p.m. This go-at-your-own-pace tour moves to a new neighborhood for 2016 – Chapin, Bidwell and Lincloln Parkways, which were designed by Frederick Law Olmstead – and features seven homes.

Tickets are $40 per person, while a VIP package costs $75 per person (includes pre-tour drinks and hors d’oeuvres at Marcy Casino in Delaware Park).

Find out more at www.trsite.org.

Discover Buffalo 2015: Buffalo History Tours

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Want to learn a little more about the Buffalo-Niagara area? Buffalo History Tours is offering a number of tours this summer, highlighting the history and mystery of downtown Buffalo.

• Canal Stories @ Canalside – offered Fridays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. through September 4^th, this 90-minute walking tour explores the people who lived and worked along the Erie Canal.
• Canalside Family Scavenger Hunt – Saturdays from 2 to 4 p.m. through September 5^th, families use creativity, knowledge and a smart phone to solve riddles, find clues and create images.
• Canalside Murder Mystery – on Saturdays from 6 to 7:30 p.m. through September 5^th, help Detective Stanley Holmes solved the mystery of Norwood Scott’s death at Canalside.
• Officer O’Connor’s Vice Patrol – Saturdays from 8 to 9:30 p.m. through September 5^th, 1880s “cop” Officer O’Connor and other costumed characters bring stories of true crime, murder and mischief to life.
• Downtown Prohibition Pub Walk – Thursdays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. through September 3^rd, learn how Buffalo survived the Prohibition and about the characters – smugglers, gangsters and others – who also survived.
• First Sunday Tour of the Hotel Lafayette – on first Sunday of each month, June through December, at 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m., learn about the hotel’s renovation, its role in Prohibition and more.
• Canalside Haunted History Ghost Walk – Wednesdays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. and Fridays from 9 to 10:30 p.m., learn about ghost ships, spirits and more in this partnership with Mason Winfield’s Haunted History Ghost Walks.

Discover Buffalo 2015: Frank Lloyd Wright tours

Architect, designer and writer Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) was a leader in organic architecture and the Prairie School movement who designed more than 1,000 structures through the world. His designs would eventually earn him the title of “the greatest American architect of all time” from the American Institute of Architects (1991) – and you can find many of his classic works right here in the Buffalo-Niagara region.

Darwin Martin House
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If you’d like to explore Wright’s Buffalo connections, the All Wright All Day trolley tour is a great place to start. The trolley leaves the Margaret L. Wendt Archive and Resource Center at 2062 Main St. in Buffalo at 8:30 a.m., bound for Forest Lawn Cemetery. The next stop is the best-known piece of Wright architecture in the area, the Darwin Martin House Complex, where you’ll get an extended tour of the premises. After that, it’s on to the Pierce Arrow Museum, home of one of the newest Wright buildings, the Filling Station, which was originally designed for the Buffalo area in 1927. The next stop is the Fontana Boathouse, another newer Wright build, where you’ll also have lunch. The day wraps up with a trip to Graycliff Estate before returning to Forest Lawn to view the Blue Sky Mausoleum.

There are numerous dates available for the tour in 2015 – check out the above link for more information on this tour.

Fontana Boathouse
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If you’re interested in a shorter tour, check out Explore Buffalo’s tour of the Fontana Boathouse, also offered on numerous dates throughout the year. Find the calendar of this and other tours at explorebuffalo.org.

Holiday happenings in the Buffalo area: Lockport Tour of Homes and Take Another Look at Buffalo

Tour late 19^th and early 20^th century homes in a former Erie Canal boomtown, and get a different look at the work going on downtown with these two tours happening this weekend.

The Lockport Tour of Homes on Saturday, November 29^th from 2 to 6 p.m. begins at the Kenan Center, located at 433 Locust St. in Lockport. View some of the beautiful mansions built in the 1800s as part of the Light Up Lockport activities; among the homes on the self-guided tour: the Kenan Center, the Nelson House, the Holley House and the Palace Theatre. The tour ends at the Palace Theatre with a tour and hot chocolate and cookies from 4 to 6 p.m., and a free showing of the movie Polar Express at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 – find out more about the event at explorebuffalo.org.

The view from City Hall
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Take Another Look at Buffalo on Saturday, November 29^th from 4 to 6 p.m. at City Hall in downtown Buffalo – you may be surprised at what you see! This sunset reception will feature light refreshments and art by public school students in the Lobby; the 25^th and 28^th floor observation decks will both be open, and docent-led aerial tours from both decks will be available. Visitors can also take free tours of City Hall compliments of Preservation Buffalo Niagara. Find more information at the event’s Facebook page.

Holiday happenings in the Buffalo area: Darwin Martin House and RiverWorks Hard Hat Tours

If shopping isn’t your forte, you might think the whole Black Friday thing is kind of boring. But you’re in Buffalo – we don’t do boring. Check out these tours this weekend for some of the area’s finest architecture and see where the waterfront is heading in the future.

Darwin Martin House - 2014
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The Darwin Martin House will be open for tours Friday and Saturday, November 28^th and 29^th. Located at 125 Jewett Pkwy. in Buffalo, visitors will see the improvements made to the estate during additional tours for the holiday weekend. The Martin House tour is offered both days at 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2 p.m., 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. – tour cost is $17 for adults, $15 for seniors, $12 for students and free for members. The Martin House Plus tour is offered both days at 1 and 2 p.m. – tour cost is $35 for adults, $33 for seniors and $27 for students and members. Find out more at www.darwinmartinhouse.org.

One of the cooler tours in the area is bound to be the Buffalo RiverWorks Hard Hat Tour on Saturday, November 29^th and Saturday, December 13^th from 10 to 11:30 a.m. The tour meets at 359 Ganson St. off Michigan in downtown Buffalo, near the home of the former GLF grain elevators and the new home of the Labatt Blue Pond Hockey Tournament. Tour the multi-use development known as “the Ruins” and learn about the vision for the area, including a restaurant, roller derby track, two rinks for curling and hockey and more. Tickets are $25 for the tour or $40 for the tour and lunch at Pearl Street Grill and Brewery. Purchase tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com.