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Things to do
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CARLOS ORTIZ staff photographer
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Valentine’s Day is Sunday — and some of the best things to do take reservations.
That means five business days to figure out what you might want to do and whether you want to make it a weekend or go out Saturday to avoid a late night Sunday.
Here are some ideas from romantic to unusual.
1. Take advantage of area hotel specials and make this a getaway weekend.
The Radisson Hotel Rochester Riverside dowtown is offering a $119 deal that includes overnight accommodations, complete with champagne, chocolate-covered strawberries and a red rose. Breakfast is included. Call (585) 546-6400.
Woodcliff Hotel and Spa in Perinton offers a $219 overnight package with champagne, bon bons and brunch. For $299 per couple, you can add the dinner show, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. Call (585) 248-4810.
More deals are to can be found at bed & breakfasts and hotels throughout the region.
2. Tour your favorite wineries with your sweetheart. Check with individual wineries or try one of these options (but make reservations because these do sell out):
3. Several concerts are going on throughout the region this weekend. But men, tickets to a dance concert could score big (and if you actually enjoy dance, you could earn even more points).
On Saturday, Garth Fagan Dance performs A Night of Duets at 7 p.m. at the company’s studio, 50 Chestnut St. Garth Fagan will provide background on pieces, and then they will be performed. The program includes a four-course sit-down dinner, champagne and valet parking. Tickets are $100, and reservations are required. Call (585) 454-3260 or go to www.garthfagandance.org.
If classical dance is more your style, the RIT/NTID Dance Company presents Sleeping Beauty, directed by Thomas Warfield, Friday through Sunday at the Robert F. Panara Theatre. Tickets are $7. Call (585) 475-6254 or go to www.rit.edu/ntid/theatre/sbeauty.html.
4. Casablanca is one of the most romantic films ever. Valentine’s Day Brunch and Film at George Eastman House features the movie on the big screen in the Dryden Theatre. Cost is $27.50 ($7 for the film only). Reservations are required. Call (585) 271-3361, ext. 290, or go to www.dryden.eastmanhouse.org.
5. You can also see romance on the stage. Geva Theatre Center extended the run of Almost, Maine, a play about falling in love and the complications that come with it, through Valentine’s Day. Tickets are $22 to $59. Call (585) 232-4382 or go to www.gevatheatre.org.
At the Auditorium Theatre, it’s love mixed with teen angst in Spring Awakening (which is for mature audiences only). Tickets are $32.50 to $64.50. Call (800) 745-3000 or to www.ticketmaster.com
Downstairs Cabaret’s Cooking with the Calamari Sisters: Mangia Italiano is about making Italian food, and on Feb. 14 will include a Valentine’s Day dinner. For details, call (585) 325-4370 or go to www.downstairscabaret.com.
For some standard, memorable revues, go to An Enchanted Evening with Rodgers and Hammerstein at JCC CenterStage, $24, (585) 461-2000, ext. 235; Irondequoit Theatre Guild’s Be My Valentine at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, $8, (585) 748-2457; or Why I Love You at Blackfriars Theatre (includes wine and dessert reception), $25, (585) 454-1260.
6. Take a horse-drawn carriage ride. The Nazareth Equestrian Team is holding a fundraiser that includes the ride, dinner and dessert, depending on the package you choose, from 6 to 9:30. Call (585) 872-6286. Or you can take a horse-drawn sleigh ride at the Lakeside Winter Celebration at Ontario Beach Park.
7. Speaking of the winter fest, we promised the unusual: You could take the Polar Plunge dive into Ontario Lake together (and benefit Special Olympics at the same time) or make a snow sculpture. The fest is from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the park in Charlotte.
Or you could go the more traditional outdoor route with skating at Manhattan Square Park or skiing, either cross-country or downhill.
8. If, stereotypically at least, dance appeals to more women, golf appeals to more men. So one present could be a trip to the Rochester Golf Show this weekend at the Monroe County Fair & Expo Center. Admission is $8. Call (585) 334-4000.
9. Enjoy the flowers. George Eastman House this weekend is opening “The Dutch Connection,” a re-creation of the flower display George Eastman brought over from the Netherlands a century ago. Or go to the Lamberton Conservatory in Highland Park, always a reminder of what Rochester will be in a few months.
10. Give the gift of song. The Sweet Adelines provide a singing telegram and personalized card (or just a song over the phone). Two local chapters are participating. Call (585) 831-6975 or (585) 394-6537.
