Wherein local farmers and artisans converge on Cazenovia Park on Sunday mornings offering up not only the usual array of fresh produce, meats, eggs, dairy products, and prepared foods, but also products such offbeat vendors as Chateau Buffalo with its craft wines and hard ciders, and the locally-themed photography of John Angelo. Unique among local farmers' markets, the South Buffalo Market also has food trucks on hand so you can munch on a snack while shopping, and live bands perform in front of the Crotty Casino most days.
Jun-Sep: Sun 10AM-2PM (no market on July 4 or first weekend in Sep)
Straddling Cazenovia Creek in the southeast corner of the city, Cazenovia Park is most famous as the site of an eponymous 9-hole golf course that's arguably the finest in the city. More than that, though, this is a place of wooded walking paths, serene creekside views, and friendly games of pickup baseball on well-manicured diamonds. There's also a swimming pool and an ice rink. When the park was first built, the creek was dammed to create the large Cazenovia Park Lake, on the shore of which stood a pleasant, airy lodge (still in existence today as the Peter J. Crotty Casino) with charming views over the water from the veranda. Athletic fields, a carriage concourse, a bandstand, and gardens almost as extensive as South Park's rounded out the original offerings. In 1925, Cazenovia Park's size was almost doubled by the addition of a golf course to its east end; though not designed by Olmsted, the seclusion of the new portion from the rest of the park means that the divide between Cazenovia's two halves seems nearly seamless. Aside from the lake, which was drained in 1965 due to persistent problems with flooding and pollution (revealing the previously submerged Cazenovia Park Falls; see below), the park remains mostly true to its original design and is in better shape than many of the other Olmsted parks in the city.
Shoppers at this thrift shop know their money is going to a good cause: "Living Arrangements for the Developmentally Disabled" is the acronym of the charitable organization that runs it. Though prices here are among the best you'll find at any local secondhand shop, the selection at LADD — which consists of the usual thrift-store fare such as books, kitchenware, toys, Franklin Mint-style decorative knickknacks, and above all, clothes — is usually unimpressive. It's worth trying your luck, though: interesting items do happen along occasionally. If you see something you like, don't delay, because good stuff goes quickly.
Mon-Thu Sat 10AM-3PM
Section 8 claims — believably — to boast Western New York's largest selection of model kits and supplies. Stop in to check out model sets of all kinds — from trains to kites to cars to airplanes to rockets — or peruse shelf after shelf stocked with accessories and supplies. If there's something you need that you can't find in the store, the staff can virtually always order it — and if you're headed back home, they'll ship their products worldwide (exceptions are spray paint, enamel and lacquers, which can be sent to points within the continental U.S. only). If you're selling rather than buying, Section 8 will pay a fair price for model collections of all kinds.
Mon 1PM-6PM, Tue-Fri 11AM-8PM, Sat 9AM-6PM