1. Oregon Coast
2. Oregon Coast Aquarium (Newport)
3. Dining Out
4. Camping under the stars
5. Golfing
6. Shop Oregon
7. Oaks Amusement Park (Portland)
8. Silver Falls State Park (Silverton)
9. Sea Lion Caves
10. Crater Lake
11. Sauvie Island (Hwy 30 W. N of Portland)
12. Bonneville Lock and Dam (Interstate 84)
13. Oregon Coast Light Houses
14. Oregon Wine Makers
15. Covered Bridges
16. Timberline Lodge (Mount Hood)
17. Hiking the Cascade Skyline
18. Thunderegg Searching
19. Bird Watching in the Klamath Basin
20. Ancient Fossils
21. Oregon Trail Treking
22. Jordan Valley
23. Oregon State Parks
24. Hot Springs
25. National Forests & Wilderness Areas
26. Fishing & Hunting
27. Oregon Caves National Monument
28. Portland, The River City
29. Trailblazer Basketball
30. Oregon Zoo (Portland, PDX)
31. Oregon Museum of Science & Industry (PDX)
32. Pittock Mansion (PDX)
33. Portland International Airport (PDX)
34. Portland Rose Festival (PDX)
35. Columbia River Gorge (Ore. / Wa. Border)
36. Jet Boat Rides (Gold Beach, PDX)
37. State Capitol Building ( Salem)
38. Historic Oregon City (South of Portland)
39. Oregon State University ( Corvallis)
40. University of Oregon (Eugene)
41. Ashland's Shakespearean Festival (Ashland)
42. Sking (Cascade Range / Central Oregon)
43. Mount Hood (Cascade Range)
44. Sunriver (Bend Area / Central Oregon)
45. Ghost Towns
46. Get Married
47. Portland State University (PDX)
48. Watch OPB on TV
49. Rainier Days-weekend after July 4th, Rainier
50. Enjoy the Four Seasons
51. Sky Diving
52. Musuems
53. Art Gallerys
54. Oregon SandDune Recreation Area
55. Go on a Honeymoon
56. Take pictures of Oregon
57. Watch Drag Racing in Oregon
58. Buy a Home in Oregon
59. Learn about Oregon's History
60. Fly a Kite
61. Mail Postcards back home
62. Exchange Recipes
63. Star Gaze the Oregon Sky
64. Columbia River Sternwheeler Trips
65. Visit Nike Town
66. Wallowa Lake Tramway
67. Tillamook Air Museum
68. Fort Clatsop National Memorial, Astoria
69. Astoria Column, Astoria
70. Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach
71. Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, Cannon Beach
72. Tillamook Cheese Factory, Tillamook
73. Marine Discovery Tours, Newport
74. Japanese Garden, Portland
75. Powell's City of Books, Portland
76. Mt. Bachelor Ski Area, Bend
77. Newberry National Volcanic Monument, Bend
78. Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ashland\
79. Oregon City Municipal Elevator, Oregon City
80. Oregon Air and Space Museum, Eugene
81. Columbia River Gorge, Hood River
82. Mt. Hood Railroad, Hood River
83. Full Sail Brewing Company Tasting Room & Pub, Hood River
84. Oregon State Capitol, Salem
85. West Coast Game Park Safari, Bandon
86. Hult Center for the Performing Arts
87. Hoyt Arboretum
88. Astoria Bridge
89. Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
90. Mt. Rainier National Park
91. Larch Mountain (Trail map)
92. Wallowa County
93. Rainier Oregon Fishing
94. Enchanted Forest, Salem
95. Oregon Whitewater Adventures
96. Willamette Queen Sternwheeler
97. Newport Performing Arts Center
98. Bomber Exhibition Center
99. World Forestry Center
100. Oregon Symphony

By:
http://www.oregon-coastdirectory.com/top100/top100.htm

So, here we go - one hundred fun ways to spend a money free weekend. The list below includes the first forty-five (with duplicates removed), plus about sixty new ones. Print this off and use it as a checklist or a thumbnail guide for your own money-free weekend. Please note that everyone’s interests are different - you probably won’t find everything on this list fun and neither will someone else, but the two lists won’t overlap (I can think of countless things other people find fun that I find utterly dreadful). Anyway, here goes!

1. Check out the community calendar. Look at your town’s website (as well as those of cities and towns nearby) or stop by city hall to find a list of events going on in the community, many of which are free. You’ll often be surprised at how many interesting (and free) activities are going on right now in your area.

2. Visit your community library. Not only is a library a warehouse of books, most libraries also have extensive CD and DVD collections you can check out. Many libraries also have “story time” for young children, film nights, book clubs, and many other events that you may be unaware of - completely for free. Stop in and check out what they have to offer.

3. Get involved in community sports. Many towns have community sports fields where both youth and adult sports leagues and activities are regularly going on throughout the weekend. Stop by, watch a game or two, and if something intrigues you, look into joining either as a participant or as a volunteer.

4. Get your financial papers in order. This may not sound like a fun activity up front, but the peace of mind it gives you will make your life a lot more relaxing. Spend an hour or two organizing all of your statements and other financial documents. This is a perfect time to start your own filing system. If you’re more adventurous, try initiating an electronic filing system, as it will save you significant space and make information retrieval easier (though it’s more of a time investment up front).

5. Check out some podcasts. Podcasts are wonderful things - top-notch audio programs available for you to listen to for free. Give some a sample - you can do it easily by using iTunes. Visit the Podcast section of the store and check a few out. My favorites include The Splendid Table (on food topics), Marketplace (on economics and business), Speaking of Faith (on religion), Fresh Air (interviews of general interest), This American Life (quirky general interest stuff), and This Week in Tech (technology news), among many others.

6. Play board games. We have a pile of board games, mostly received as gifts, that we often pull out and play, plus our closest friend has a few choice ones. Classic games like Monopoly and Pictionary can be great fun, but our favorites are Settlers of Catan, Cartagena, Puerto Rico, and especially Ticket to Ride. Just dig through the recesses of your closet, find an old board game you haven’t played in ages, and bust it open!

7. Bake a loaf of homemade bread. You probably have everything you need to make a loaf of bread in your kitchen right now (except for maybe the yeast). Anyone can do it, and the bread turns out deliciously. Here’s a detailed visual guide for making a simple loaf with minimal ingredients and complexity.

8. Learn how to juggle. All you really need is three balls and a video showing you how to do it. Not only is it a fun activity to learn, it’s something that’s fun to bust out as a party trick on occasion (trust me, you can always get people to smile if you juggle three fruits in the kitchen while preparing something).

9. Teach yourself how to change the oil in your car. If you’re due for an oil change, just bring the oil you need home with you and teach yourself how to do it. All you really need is an old pan to catch the wasted oil and a funnel to pour the old oil back into the canisters for later disposal. Just use your car manual as a guide for the procedure and you might just find that not only is it a lot easier than you thought, but it’s a useful skill to have and it’s cheaper than taking your car into Jiffy-Lube (or wherever you take your car for oil changes).

10. Meet your neighbors. Make an effort to introduce yourself to your neighbors if you don’t know them well. Invite any interesting ones over for a cup of coffee and a chat, just to get to know each other better. Your neighbors can not only become friends, but can also be a valuable resource - a friendly pair of eyes on your property when you’re away or a helpful set of hands when you’re trying to complete a challenging task.

11. Have a “cupboard potluck.” Go through your cupboards and find any items that might have slipped to the back over time. Invite some friends to do the same, then get together for a potluck dinner prepared from only these ingredients and whatever else you have on hand. It makes for a “free” meal and a lot of fun for everyone involved.

12. Clear out your media collection - books, DVDs, CDs, etc. Just go through what you’ve got, determine which ones you’d actually like to keep, and get rid of the rest. You can either sell them at a used media shop or swap them online using services like PaperBackSwap, SwapTree, and SwapADVD. In either case, you’ll get rid of stuff you don’t watch or read or listen to any more in exchange for either some money or new media to enjoy.

13. Make a 101 Goals in 1001 Days list - then start on some of them. A 101 Goals in 1001 Days list is a very effective way to codify all of the ideas of things you’d like to do all into one place, so that when you have spare time, you can just turn to the list and do what’s next on it. Spend some time thinking of things that belong on this list, then when it’s finished, you’ll have an excellent list of potential accomplishments and be ready to go with lots of activities.

14. Make decisions about and write out your will. This is a thought process that many people put off, but it makes you feel quite relieved when it’s done, adding to your peace of mind and relaxation. Spend some time thinking about what you want to happen to your personal assets when you die, particularly in terms of the personal mementos that you want others to have and where you want the value of your estate to go. Do you want it all to stay with family members? Do you want to remember a charity? Then, when you’ve figured it out, sketch out the basics of a will. Later, you’ll likely have to have a lawyer prepare it for you, but just having the decisions made doesn’t cost a thing and is a big mental relief.

15. Do a household maintenance walkthrough. Just go through your home and look for any little maintenance tasks that need to be done. Do filters need to be replaced? Are there any burnt-out light bulbs? Here’s a maintenance checklist that might give you some ideas as to what to look for. It might not be the most fun activity you can think of, but it’ll add subtly to your enjoyment of your home when it’s done - cleaner air, light bulbs in place, and so on.

16. Organize a walking tour. Find out about the interesting historical and cultural sites in your town, then go on a walking tour of it. Pack a lunch in your backpack and have a picnic on the village green or in the park. You can easily turn this into a full day if you live in a compelling area.

17. Teach yourself how to knit. Knitting requires two needles (a dollar, or probably free if your closet looks anything like ours), some yarn (extremely cheap and also likely laying in the closet if your home is like ours), a lot of patience, and an instructional video or two. Try making a scarf or two for your friends or a small blanket for a new baby in the home of a friend or a family member. While it’s not quite free, if you stick with it, you’ll make things much more valuable than the input cost of a bit of yarn, plus you may learn a compelling new skill.

18. Take some digital photographs. Take your digital camera out with you and take pictures of anything you find interesting. Take lots of them, then go home later and see if you’ve taken anything beautiful and compelling. Great images can make for the basics of homemade greeting cards (yep, keep going downwards for more on this), nice desktop wallpaper, screensavers, or many other interesting uses.

19. Share those digital photographs with others. Sign up for a free Flickr account, then upload some of your most interesting pictures to share with others. Spend the time to title them appropriately, add interesting captions, and allow them to be used under a Creative Commons Attribution license so your images can be enjoyed by as many people as possible.

20. Start a blog on a topic that interests you. You can get a free blog at Wordpress or Blogger. Join the service and start a blog on a topic that interests you. Not only can it be a ton of fun, it also helps you improve your communication skills, reach out to others, and perhaps earn a bit of income as well.

21. Organize a potluck block party. Get permission from the city to do this before you try it - ask if you can block off a street for a block party on a certain date. Then throw yourself into organizing it. Go door to door, telling people about the block party, and inviting them to bring something. Ask if they have tables and/or chairs that can be used for it. Then, on the day of the party, set out the tables and chairs you borrowed and dig in. Since you’re the host, just contribute one of the “cupboard potluck” dishes you made from idea #11.

22. Visit a free museum or a zoo (or find out when you might be able to get in for free). Many cities have free educational attractions, such as zoos or museums. Make an effort to enjoy these free attractions. If your community doesn’t have free zoos or museums, call them and ask about opportunities for “free to the public” exhibits or “free days” or even free passes upon request. Quite often, you’ll find that there are many opportunities to enjoy museums, zoos, science centers, and the like without any cost at all.

23. Learn the basics of a new topic. Just go to MIT’s OpenCourseWare, find a topic you’re interested in, download a bunch of mp3s of lectures on the topic, and listen to them while you’re doing household chores. Some great suggested starting points: microeconomics, macroeconomics, basics of philosophy, western philosophy, and introductory physics. Another great option: fire up iTunes, then click on the “iTunes U” option on the left hand side. You’ll find tons of material there to teach you the basics of countless topics.

24. Cook some meals in advance. If you already have a bunch of basic food staples on hand, spend some time cooking some meals in advance to store in the freezer. It’s easy to prepare casseroles, soups, pasta meals, and many other items all at once, then store them in portion-sized containers in the freezer for eating later. Not only is this way cheaper than eating out or buying convenience foods, it’s also healthier and also far more social. Missing some ingredients but have an abundance of others? Team up with friends and make it a social event - share ingredients so that you can all take some casseroles or other dishes home for the freezer.

25. Build a basic net worth calculator for yourself. One great way to ensure that you’re consistently making financial progress is to build your own net worth calculator. Once you have it set up, updating it is easy, and it can provide a great snapshot of your financial situation as well as show off your progress. Here’s a detailed guide to making one with any basic spreadsheet program.

26. Have a quilting bee. All you need is a bunch of spare cloth (old shirts will even work, as will old curtains, old sheets, and so forth), some needles (in a lot of closets), some thread, some scissors, and some friends. Just get together, cut out squares of interesting cloth, and start sewing. You can stuff the inside with soft excess cloth, like tee shirts and such, instead of buying batting, and you’ll create a warm and interesting quilt over time.

27. Try out some great open source and free software. Ever wanted Microsoft Office but didn’t want to foot the bill? Spend some time downloading and setting up OpenOffice. Want a good scheduling program? Try out Sunbird (a program I really like). Want to design a nifty newsletter or lay out some pages? Try out Scribus (which I’m actually currently using for a future Simple Dollar-related project). Your computer can do so much more - and it’s free!

28. Practice origami. All you need is some scrap paper and a bit of time. The simple things, like cranes and frogs, then you can try harder stuff like an origami iris. A well-made origami piece constructed from interesting paper can be a beautiful decoration.

29. Make a how-to video for YouTube. Share your knowledge! All you need is a digital camera that captures video and (optionally) some video editing software. Just create a video to demonstrate how to accomplish something interesting and useful. Start off by making a script to follow, then turn on the camera and follow it. When you’re done, upload it to YouTube and let others enjoy it. If it’s useful and entertaining, people will come.

30. Do a “bill reduction.” Spend a few hours trimming your monthly bills. Find ways to reduce your regular bills. Ask for credit card rate reductions. Think about what monthly bills you can completely eliminate, then do the footwork to get rid of them. This might be a boring task now, but if you can trim $50 from your monthly bills for free, your future self will be very happy.

31. Play football / soccer. All you need is a ball, some open space, and some friends. Designate whatever is available as goals, then kick the ball around. Don’t worry about being terrible at the game - as long as everyone’s just having fun, it really doesn’t matter how bad you are. Trust me - I’ve played football with Europeans who spent their entire life playing while I’d played perhaps an hour of serious football in my life, yet I had a lot of fun (albeit with a lot of falling down and jumping out of the way).

32. Scan your old pictures. If you have a digital scanner laying around somewhere, bust it out and scan in the piles of old prints you have laying around. If you have a screensaver of pictures, scanning in old prints and adding them to the rotation will make your screensaver all the more amazing. Plus, it becomes easy to just attach them to emails and send them to friends and family.

33. Have a film festival. Invite some friends over and have them each bring one of their favorite DVDs. Then just settle in with some snacks (whatever you have on hand) and burn a lazy afternoon and evening just watching movies together. It’s a ton of fun and it doesn’t cost anything at all.

34. Seduce your partner. Really, is there any way to really have more fun than that for free? It’s fun, romantic, great exercise, and can really help heal any relationship problems you might be having. An afternoon in your partner’s arms will make both of you feel better, and it won’t cost a penny.

35. Do some networking. Spend an afternoon writing emails to professional contacts, just to see what they’re up to and letting them know what you’re up to, setting them up to send en masse on Monday morning. While it might be boring for some, it can open countless doors for your career if you do it consistently, help you build new relationships and friendships, and all it takes is a little bit of spare time.

36. Practice yoga - or try it for the first time. All you need is some floor space and a blanket to do most yoga poses. Try out a basic yoga session to see if you like it. It increases flexibility, improves concentration, and holding some of those positions for long periods can be a powerful workout.

37. Cut your own hair. I have a pair of hair clippers in the bathroom and every once in a while, I take them out and just whack away at my hair. Not only is it a free way to get your long hair cut, it can also make you look a lot more presentable, plus the act of cutting your own hair is a really powerful experience.

38. Do a neighborhood cleanup. No need to organize a formal activity. Just walk through the shared spaces in your neighborhood (parks, sidewalks, etc.) with a trash bag and pick up the trash. Not only is it a pleasant way to get your blood rushing, it also beautifies the area around you, not just for your enjoyment, but for the enjoyment of everyone. If you want to really get into it, invite people that live near you to get involved as well and make it an event.

39. Build some paper airplanes. Design and build a bunch of different paper airplanes, then have a competition in the back yard to see which one flies the best. This is a great way to use up some scrap paper, particularly old newspapers. You can easily turn it into a contest - the winner gets to pick what activity to engage in next, or gets to choose what you’re having for supper.

40. Rearrange the furniture in a room. It’s amazing how much a room can be refreshed just by moving the furniture around to a new position. Try moving the couch to a different wall, then moving the entertainment center elsewhere. Take your bed and turn it ninety degrees, then moving the dressers to match the new configuration. It’ll refresh the look of the room and give you a good workout to boot.

41. Read an entertaining book. Look around your house for a fun book to read, perhaps something loaned to you by a friend or something you received as a gift, and curl up and let yourself be sucked into the story. I’m a sucker for Stephen King novels - I can just pick up any one and quickly be sucked straight into the plot for a fun afternoon’s read.

42. Build a giant blanket fort. If you have kids, there are few things more fun than an afternoon spent building and playing in a gigantic fort in the living room. Use chairs, blankets, and tables to make an enormous hidden structure, then hide in there and play games and read books. If they’re a bit older, build two forts (on opposite sides of the room) and have “fort wars” - toss small beanbags and pillows back and forth. No cost, but an afternoon that’s a ton of fun.

43. Call a family member or a friend you haven’t spoken to in a while. Not only does it provide you a chance to catch up and firm up a relationship with another person who is important to you, it can also be a very entertaining and enjoyable way to spend an hour or two.

44. Start a natural collection or an observation notebook. In other words, spend some time in nature collecting items of interest (like particular rocks) or observations of things. Perhaps you’ll want to look for birds, or maybe your passion is rocks or feathers. Whatever it is, get your hiking boots on, get out there, and see what you can find. Here’s some advice on how to get started.

45. Start a compost bin. All you need is a barrel or a large bucket (or, if you live in the country, some open space). In that bucket, just keep vegetable waste, coffee grounds, and eggshells. On occasion, scoop in a bit of dirt from the ground. Move the contents around regularly and keep it a bit moist. Over time, the compost will turn almost black. At that point, you can let it dry out and have perfectly natural fertilizer for your lawn or garden.

46. Have a yard sale. A yard sale is a very lucrative way to spend a money-free weekend. Not only does it provide you an excuse for cleaning out unwanted stuff from your home, it can also bring in a nice little wad of money as well, plus give you a weekend’s worth of entertainment and activity. This is really a great way to spend a money-free weekend.

47. Learn a foreign language. Doubt this can be free? There are a lot of ways to learn a foreign language online, from podcasts that teach language skills to YouTube videos and many other free language learning opportunities. Search around for resources for any language that you might want to learn - you’ll find tons of materials to help you.

48. Deep-clean the room in your house you spend the most time in. One great afternoon project that will provide aesthetic value for years is deep cleaning a single room in your house, ideally the room you’re in most often. Getting that room pristine will subtly add to your enjoyment of that room for quite a while. This means going the full nine yards - moving everything out, scrubbing the walls, thoroughly cleaning the floor, cleaning all of the items in it, and so forth. When you’re done, the room will feel fresh and new in a very subtle way.

49. Make some homemade greeting/birthday/Christmas cards. All you really need for this is some card stock or some cheap blank cards from your local dollar store, plus some photographs (or a desktop printer). You might also want to have some other creative printed materials on hand - I like to keep old New Yorkersome tips on what to write on the inside. covers for purposes like these. Just use pictures and other elements to create unique greeting and holiday cards, then save them for the appropriate occasion. Here are

50. Take a nap. Seriously. Most people do not get adequate sleep during the week. Why not just kick back and take a snooze for an hour or two. It’s the ultimate free energy refreshing technique.

51. Get things done. Almost everyone has a long list of things to do “when they have time.” Use the fact that you’re intentionally spending a money-free weekend to in fact get some of those things done. Clean up the house. Dust the front room. Fix that old toaster. Go through the stuff on the garage loft. At the end of the weekend, you’ll have accomplished something useful, plus your wallet will be fully intact.

52. Dig up your family tree. Take a peek at genealogy.com and see what you can find out about your ancestors. Try to assemble a family tree, and see if you can link to any distant cousins or long-lost family members. Doing this can give you a much clearer picture of your heritage and help you get in touch with your family roots.

53. Sit down with your partner for an afternoon and talk about your goals. Spending some time with your partner discussing goals can go a long way towards getting you both on the same page in your relationship. Find out what your partner wants out of life and what you can do to support it, then share your own desires. Find areas where you’re working in concert towards something bigger. Doing this can only lead to more clarity in your relationship. Here are some tips for getting started.

54. Play Calvinball. You need a ball (or a few balls) and some number of children and some open space. Just kick the ball around (or throw it) and make up rules as you go along. With three or more kids, a game of Calvinball can go on for a good hour with everyone having a good time.

55. Do some puzzles. I enjoy doing both sudoku puzzles and crossword puzzles. You can find a huge number of these puzzles online for free. They’re a great way to stretch your mind a bit at the kitchen table for a half an hour or so, solving a problem with just your intellect.

56. Volunteer your time. There are countless volunteer projects out there that need nothing more than your time. A Saturday spent working for a volunteer cause is a Saturday well spent - it gives you a full day spent making a positive contribution to society, working your body and your mind for the benefit of others, and leaving you at the end of the day knowing you used your gifts to provide for others.

57. Turn on the water sprinkler. This is another great one for family fun with kids. Just run out a hose in the backyard, attach a sprinkler to the end, and turn it on, jetting the water up in the air. Then run around in the water. Lots of fun for the kids - and it can be a ton of fun for the parents, too, if they run through the sprinklers.

58. Try a basic meditation technique. Meditation is a spectacular way to push stress out of your life and calm yourself. Knowing how to meditate effectively and doing it regularly can be a major part of your stress management, and it costs nothing. Here’s a wonderful basic meditation technique to get you started - there are countless others out there. Try a few and see which ones work well for you.

59. Get involved in an open source programming project. If you’re a computer programmer, there are few more intellectually stimulating ways to get involved in your passion than to be involved in an open source programming project. One role that almost every project can use is a person that is willing to fix mundane and boring bugs - finding that one line of code that’s causing a minor issue and fixing it. Look for a project that’s compelling for you and dig in.

60. Teach yourself a card trick. There are many card tricks out there that rely on knowing a specific pattern, some basic sleight of hand, or some combination of the two. Learning a clever one and mastering how it’s done can be a great way to spend an afternoon, especially since the skill can be used again and again as a party trick. Here’s a great one to learn - it’s really clever and can utterly baffle people.

61. Attend a religious service. Even if you’re not a believer, attending a religious service can be a worthwhile educational experience. I really enjoy attending services of different faiths, as the varieties of religious experience are quite fascinating and incredibly insightful. Plus, most religious services - if you pay careful attention - offer a ton of intellectual food for thought no matter what your beliefs are. A religious service is always a worthwhile experience.

62. Start a workout routine. Most basic exercises - push-ups, sit-ups, jogging, and so forth - require no extra equipment at all. Spend some time doing research into fitness and figuring out a basic workout routine that will work for you, then do the basic “stress tests” you’ll need to do to figure out where you’re at. For example, the one hundred pushups routine is very useful, but you need to couple it with other exercises, such as leg lifts, prone lifts, and jogging. You can also try out the lifetime fitness ladder for a more diverse workout routine.

63. Read a “great” book. By this, I mean a book that genuinely challenges both your beliefs and ideas as well as your language skills. Reading a great book is always a good mental workout. I recommend trying out any of the Pulitzer Prize winning novels or any essential work of philosophy to get started. Try hitting the library and checking out A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell, The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer, Sophie’s Choice by William Styron, or Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison - all of which deeply challenged and moved me. These books are deep, challenging reading - read them slowly and you’ll grow as a person.

64. Go swimming. Almost every town has a community swimming pool or some sort of area where the public can swim - lacking that, go to a state park with a public swimming area. Swimming is wonderfully invigorating and often makes me feel very peaceful - best of all, it’s something you can do for free.

65. Get involved with public access television. If you’ve ever wondered what goes into the process of producing a television show, most communities offer the resources for you to do just that. Stop by your local public access station and see what opportunities are available there. You can usually get involved for free in an ongoing program as an extra hand and learn a great deal about the whole process.

66. Blow bubbles. Just mix one part liquid dish detergent with 15 parts water - one quick way to do this is to just mix 1/4 cup detergent with 3 3/4 cups of water. Use filtered and fairly soft water if you can. Then, take a wire coat hanger, bend and twist it into a small loop or two, and you’re ready to go. Another idea - take tin cans or coffee cans, remove the top and bottom, and hammer down any sharp metal edges, then dip the end in the solution and wave it in the air. Blowing bubbles works even better if you have small children who love to chase them or are just learning to blow them.

67. Start a journal. A journal can be a powerful way to recall the events that happened in your life previously. Getting in the habit of writing the events of the day down at the end of each day is a great way to remember the specifics, plus writing entries on what you’re thinking about now can be the basis of powerful memories and reflections in the future. Plus, it can often be a release from the tensions of the day. All of that for just a pen and an old notebook - a great free way to spend some time.

68. Write a letter to your future children or grandchildren. All of us have some advice or some stories inside of us that we want to someday share with our children, grandchildren, or other loved ones. Take some time to write these things down with the intent of giving them to that person some day. In the event that you pass on, you can be sure that they’ll still receive the things you want to tell them. This can be a very powerful way to consider your feelings and memories as you format them in a way that they can be shared with the ones you care about the most.

69. Make Christmas gifts in advance. If you know already that some people will be on your Christmas list, why not spend some time now making them interesting gifts and saving yourself some money over the long haul? Make them some homemade soap, some homemade hot chocolate mix, and maybe a bottle of homemade beer as a gift. Prepare all of these items, then go ahead and box and wrap them, since they’ll stay good for months. Not only is the gift less expensive than what you’d spend at your local department store, it’s also more thoughtful, and it’ll save you time during the harried Christmas season.

70. Go “coupon scavenging.” If you get the Sunday paper, scavenge the coupons out of it, see if there are any for products you normally buy, and chuck the rest. If you find several coupons, then it might be worthwhile to scavenge. Stop by any friends or neighbors who also get the paper and ask if you can have their flyers when they’re done with them, then clean out the coupons in those, too. For example, if you buy V8 Fusion as the default fruit juice for your kids (it’s far healthier than almost anything else like it you could give them) and you spy a $1 off coupon for a bottle, every coupon you scavenge is like finding a dollar bill, and it costs you nothing.

71. Pick up a musical instrument and learn it. Yes, you can find an instrument for free and learn how to play it for free as well. Just hit Craigslist and Freecycle looking for freebies, then utilize YouTube and other resources for tutorials. Here’s a detailed guide to learning an instrument for free. With a bit of diligence and effort, you can go from nothing at all to being able to play an interesting song on your own instrument for no cost.

72. Plan next year’s summer vacation. Figure out what you want to do in general, then use the internet to find specifics on the area. Do some detailed comparison shopping for travel and even set up alerts for cheap tickets. Gather up all of this research, then have a family meeting about the trip. Not only will this save you a ton of money, it can actually be a lot of fun researching a potential trip and thinking of the enjoyment you might get from it.

73. Hone all of your kitchen knives. I actually consider this to be a lot of fun, so I do it on a very regular basis. If you don’t, it’s an even better idea because your knife blades are likely in very bad shape. All you need is a honing steel - a long piece of somewhat rough steel in the shape of a rod with a handle on the end that probably came with your knife set. Just draw your knife blades along this a few times as shown in this YouTube video. Before you know it, you’ll have much more useful knives for your next kitchen experiment.

74. Pick up (and read) a copy of the town’s free newspaper. Many cities have a free newspaper that you can snag at the grocery store - some cities have quite a few of them. I love them - they’re free reading that keeps me informed about the local area and also lets me know about free upcoming events. Around here, we have several free newspaper options - Toons and Cityview are both well worth reading. Try looking in the front lobby of your local library for your free newspaper, or in the front of your local grocery store.

75. Play with a pet - even one not your own. An hour spent scratching a dog’s belly and playing fetch or frisbee with it is an hour well spent, as can be some time spent curled up petting a cat. Spend some quality time with your pet or with the pet of a neighbor or a friend - every pet loves attention and a bit of exercise and interaction.

76. Go on a wandering walk. Just head out your front door and go in whichever direction looks the most interesting. As long as you have some basic navigational skills, you won’t get lost, and you can turn around or backtrack whenever you get bored or hit a dead end. Along the way, who knows what kind of interesting stuff you might find?

77. Hold a baby. To me, there are few things more enjoyable than holding a very young baby. They smell wonderful, are usually warm and soft, and often drift right off to sleep in your arms. I don’t even mind the crying ones, as some whispering in their ear can usually calm them down. There’s nothing better than sitting all relaxed in a chair with a soft, sweet-smelling newborn in your arms.

78. Exchange massages with your partner. A great massage is incredibly relaxing and enjoyable, but they can also be really expensive. Instead of shelling out the cash, just stay at home and exchange massages for free with your partner. Agree to spend fifteen minutes or a half an hour massaging each other deeply and you’ll find that you’re both quite relaxed and happy - and perhaps ready to try other free and fun activities.

79. Help out an elderly or disabled friend or neighbor. There’s always a person or two in your life that could use a helping hand, but often are too proud to ask. One great way to bridge this gap is to just stop in and visit and pay attention - if they need something, you’ll usually find out. Then just volunteer to do it and get started on the task. Quite often, you’ll find that it’s the simple things that really help - reaching something on a high shelf or managing a simple household task. And that little effort can make all the difference. Few things can make you feel more fulfilled than helping someone you care about in their moment of need.

80. Start a book club - or find one to join. If you like reading and know other friends that enjoy it, too, consider starting a book club with them where you all read the same book for a week then meet to talk about it. It can transform reading from a solitary activity into a more socially oriented one, and with a library at your disposal, it can be a free activity as well.

81. Play a card game. A deck of cards and a few friends is all you need for a fun afternoon. Games like bridge, canasta, pinochle, pitch, euchre, hearts, spades, and 500 are not only intellectually challenging, but are intensely social activities as well, drawing you out to interact with others around you. This is a perfect activity for an afternoon with friends and relatives and it costs basically nothing at all.

82. Have an “entertainment swap” with a friend. This one’s pretty easy. Just have a friend bring over a pile of their own DVDs, CDs, books, video games, etc. that they own that they think you’d like. When they get there, have a big temporary swap - swap them an item for an item. This not only will refresh your media collection for a while, but can provide a great opportunity for you to talk about your interests with a friend.

83. Take a child to a playground - and actually play with the child. Take your own child, or a child of a family member or a friend, to the local park, but instead of just watching the child play, dive in and participate, too. Go down the slide. Swing in the swings. Climb across the monkey bars. Not only will the child adore you for it, you’ll find that playing like that is simply exhilirating - a little taste of childhood all over again.

84. Explore a blog you like. If you’re reading this, you’re probably at least a casual reader of at least one blog. What you might have forgotten, though, is that most worthwhile blogs have tons of useful and entertaining stuff in their archives. Dig deep in the archives of one of your favorite blogs. You can start with The Simple Dollar by visiting the chronology - a listing of all of the articles ever posted here in chronological order - and clicking through to the ones you find interesting. Most popular blogs have a similar feature.

85. Work for a political campaign. Really involved in politics? There are a lot of ways you can work for a campaign from your own home whenever you have the spare time (like during a money free weekend). One great way to do it is to get involved with a phone bank - basically, you call up people to provide information about your candidate of choice. You can do this using the free weekend minutes on your cell phone or by using software provided by the campaign. Just contact the campaign you’re interested in helping.

86. Clean out a closet. We’ve all got spaces in our living areas that accumulate junk, and it’s often a small psychological burden - we dread going in there and digging for something we need. Well, get rid of that burden - clean out a closet in your home. Find out all the stuff that’s in there and get rid of the unimportant items. Not only might you find some interesting things, you’ll feel a lot better about your organization when you’re done.

87. Play Frisbee at the park. Just get a friend (or a pet) and dig that old frisbee out of your closet, then head out to an open field and toss it around. It’s a lot of fun, a great excuse to run around and stretch and jump, and it doesn’t cost a dime.

88. Take a long, soaking bath. Just fill up a tub with warm water, strip down, get in, and relax. I like to do this with a bottle of wine, and I’ve even read a book while doing it. Just stretch out and soak for a while and your stress will melt away - it feels fantastic!

89. Play Desktop Tower Defense … or some other great free online game. There are tons of deeply engrossing and completely free games to play online - Desktop Tower Defense just happens to be one of my favorites. Try Peggle for a very simple action puzzle game, or any of the mountains of free games available at Yahoo! Games, Kongregate, and PopCap.

90. Visit a magazine room. Most libraries have a “magazine room” where you can read all of the latest issues of many popular newspapers and magazines for free. Just grab a few, settle in a comfy chair, and read. Don’t like the library environment? You can usually do the same thing at most bookstores.

91. Attend a dress rehearsal. Many performance groups have dress rehearsals that are open to the public if you call in advance, particularly if you have young children. Give the theater a ring and ask if there are open dress rehearsals for a particular show and then enjoy the show for free! It’s a great way to give your kids a taste of theater without any cost.

92. Attend a free community class. Many institutions and stores offer free classes on the weekends on all sorts of topics. Stop by a local food store and catch a free cooking class, or a hardware store to learn about a home repair topic. Got kids? Try something like the Home Depot Kids Workshop, where they offer free how-to clinics for kids ages five to twelve - these can be a lot of fun (I’ve seen them ongoing when stopping by a Home Depot on a Saturday morning).

93. Donate some unwanted things to charity. If you’ve gone through your stuff but don’t want to have a yard sale, consider giving the stuff to charity. Not only will you have a clean house, you’ll have the good feeling of knowing your items are going to be used by someone who actually needs them, plus you’ll have a pile of receipts to use for tax deductions next April.

94. Discover new music that you like. Download last.fm. It’s a program that allows you to enter the name of your favorite musical artist and generates a radio station for you that plays songs similar to that artist. The songs are selected based on the enormous last.fm database, which collects information on what people listen to in iTunes and sorts it in different ways, finding songs by other artists that are popular among fans of a particular group. Give it a whirl - you’ll be surprised at the good music you’ll find for free.

95. Build a cardboard castle. This is a great one if you have kids. Stop by an appliance store and ask if they have any extra appliance boxes you can get, then flatten them and load up your vehicle. Get home, then use them as pieces in building a giant cardboard castle in your living room or in your back yard. Cut out doors and windows, and attach them together to make rooms. This can be a great afternoon of fun for free!

96. Dig an old video game console out of the closet and play some of your favorites. A lot of families have old video game consoles in the closet - an ancient PlayStation or Super Nintendo, long forgotten about, with a controller and a few games. Dig out that old console and hook it up to a television, then relive some of the memories of the games you used to play for hours. I did this not too long ago and found myself replaying a good chunk of Final Fantasy IX.

97. Do some amateur stargazing. Go outside on a clear evening, preferably away from city lights, and look up at the sky. Use some handy star maps to know what you’re looking at. Spread out some blankets on the ground, lay flat on your back, stare upwards, and realize how magnificent the universe is around you.

98. Go on a hike or a long walk. Go to the local hiking or walking trails and just take off. Let yourself get absorbed into nature and simply enjoy the journey. Go at your own speed - this is for your own personal enjoyment, after all.

99. Take a stab at writing poetry (or other forms of creative writing). The basics of poetry are easier than you might think - just try writing down what’s on your mind. Whatever you’re thinking about, just write it down. That can provide the basics of any poem. Then, just read through the stuff you’ve written down, choose the words that seem beautiful to you, and assemble them until the whole work means something. This can be a deeply enlightening and personal experience, actually, and one that really stirs the creative juices.

100. Go on a bike ride. If you’ve got a bicycle and a helmet in your garage or closet, you already have everything you need for some good exercise and some good fun. Head outside and bike away. Almost every town and every state park around here has an extensive array of bike trails, so you can almost always find somewhere new and interesting to ride, plus it’ll help get you into shape really quick.

By:
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/07/17/100-things-to-do-during-a-money-free-weekend/

If the season begins the day you pick up this paper, and if the good weather holds into September—as it often does in these parts—then we figure summer lasts about 100 days. Bracketed by changeable spring weather and bleak winter, those days are luxuries to be well and carefully spent.

Task-oriented as always, we here at AV reached out to friends and colleagues, and deep into the archive of our own summer idylls, to assemble for you 100 things you must do in summer.

They’re presented in no particular order. You’d do well to cross of a dozen before autumn. You’d do even better to make a list of your own and pursue it assiduously.

1. Eat ice cream every day. Make a circuit of the many parlors Buffalo has to offer: Sweet Tooth, Dolci, Anderson’s Custard, Fowler’s, Sweet Jenny’s, Condrell’s, Charlap’s, Parkside Chocolates, the Hatch, Rascals. See how many flavors you can order without repeating.

2. Say thank you to the Bubble Man of Allen Street. Next time you’re on the corner of Elmwood and Allen and find yourself surrounded by bubbles, take the time to thank the source. Charles Incorvaia has been entertaining passersby for more than five years from his lofty perch above Jim’s Steakout. How to thank him? Here’s one idea: He gets his coffee at Tasso, that charming shoebox of a coffeehouse just up the block on Elmwood. Stop in, give the barista two bucks and say you’d like to buy a coffee for the Bubble Man when he comes in next. Think of it as an endowment.

3. Drink from a fruit jar at Earl’s. Yes, Earl’s is back, and it makes a great destination for anyone traveling near Route 16 in Chaffee. Have a delicious piece of pie and savor the second coming of this classic greasy spoon, and see if you can convince Earl to reinstate his great summer bluegrass concert series.

4. Wear a seersucker suit. There’s no need to be weighed down this summer if you want to look sharp. Invest in a seersucker suit from one of Buffalo’s wonderful men’s shops; they’re generally less than $150. You’ll feel breezy, sophisticated, and suave from the moment you walk out the door. You might channel an E. M. Foster’s character from a A Room With a View on a promenade about Rome, or a New Orleans lawyer drinking cocktails on the veranda.

5. Turn off your TV. You don’t need that noise. Sit on a porch with friends instead.

6. Throw away your papers. Fall behind on the news; it’ll be waiting for you in September, when the presidential election hits high gear. Read a book or two instead—you know, those things they sell at Rust Belt, and Talking Leaves, and Second Reader.

7. Head out to the country. The best place to watch the Perseid meteor showers—the peak day is August 12 this year—is away from city lights. The Boston Hills are nice. So is Strykersville, and the Strykersville Pub has the best grilled cheese sandwich in Western New York.

8. Build yourself a home. Volunteer just one day to Habitat for Humanity this summer. Or, if you’re more a tearer-down than a builder-up, to Buffalo ReUse.

9. Dig a little garden. A visit to Urban Roots, the nation’s first cooperative garden center, will get you started. If you haven’t visited the shop at 428 Rhode Island Street (362-8982 / urbanroots.org), then maybe your visit visit ought to be on June 21, when Urban Roots celebrates its first year in business with activities all day and a recpetion in the evening.

10. Eat a lot of peaches. All right, peaches don’t come in until August. But Native Offerings (nativeofferings.com), an organic CSA outside Ellicottville, should be producing strawberries and raspberries now. (I prefer fruit and vegetables from the Southern Tier, on account of the industrial pollution in Niagara County.) Cherries will be coming in July. You can volunteer your labor there for a day in exchange for produce.

11. Try to find Jesus (but not on your own). Maybe tent revivals are making a comeback, maybe they never went anywhere. But there are modern-day Elmer Gantrys everywhere. Hamburg’s Old Time Baptist Church just pulled up stakes at Fontana Grove in West Seneca, but they’re pitching the tent again on Gowanda Road in Hamburg, August 17-22. Get some of that old-time religion. Alternately, keep an eye peeled for lawn fetes at Catholic churches, like the one this weekend (June 6) at St. Joseph’s in Batavia.

12. Visit every Olmsted Park. There are seven of these national treasures in total: Cazenovia, Delaware, the Front, Martin Luther King, Jr., Riverside, South, and Parkways. Take a walk, have a picnic, play hide-and-go-seek. If you’re feeling particularly generous, you can even help to improve them by volunteering or donating. Visit buffaloolmstedparks.org for details.

13. Watch a sunset at the Front. Enjoy double the sunset as you observe the stunning reflection over Lake Erie and the Niagara River. Imagine the Peace Bridge plaza somewhere else entirely.

14. Visit the Butterfly Conservatory at Niagara on the Lake. Grab your most colorful shirt and drive to Niagara Falls on a rainy day. Walking through the simulated jungle atmosphere, don’t be surprised if some of the 2,000 butterflies in the conservatory decide to use your shoulder, arm, or head as a quick perch. Visit niagaraparks.com for details.

15. Send the kids to summer camp. Depending on what your youngsters are interested in and how much time you would like to spend with them, there’s a smorgasbord of options for you to choose from. Camp Weona, a YMCA camp, provides the typical bug juice and campfire songs sleep-away experience. Camp weona (campweona.org) been operating for 111 years. But you could also opt for a day camp such as Mount St. Mary Daycare, which send kids on a field trip every day.

16. Spend at least one morning with the Women in Black. The war continues.

17. Spend a day at Niagara Falls, including Maid of the Mist and Goat and Three Sisters Islands.Really appreciate it. Don’t just lean on the railing or look through the binoculars that cost 50 cents. Visit the history rich Goat and Three Sisters Islands and learn about their fascinating Native American history. Get up close and very personal with the falls through the drenching Maid of the Mist, a sure-fire way to cool off in hot weather.
Appreciate the world wonder in our backyard.

18. Eat ots of soft shell crab, oysters, mussels, clams. Be shellfish! The patio at Merlin’s on Elmwood or MT Pockets on Hertel are fun, both to see people and to eat seafood.

19. Go to a drive-in movie. This is high on my list of things you can do in Western New York that you can’t do in a lot of other parts of the country. The ones closest to the city of Buffalo have disappeared over the years as the real estate became too valuable; the recently deceased Buffalo Drive-In on Union Road lasted as long as it did because the location—across the street from a cemetery—was deemed undesirable for any other use. But there are still four of them in the area—the Transit in Lockport (21 miles from the city), the Sunset in Middlesport (30 miles), the Delevan in Delevan (45 miles), and the Silver Lake in Perry (54 miles). They’re all in great shape, with new (multiple) screens and radio sound, and show the latest hit movies. They thrive exactly because the economy is otherwise so lousy: not only are the ticket prices substantially lower, but you get two movies for the price of one. It’s a family deal that can’t be beat. And it’s the only place left outside of your living room where you can watch a movie and smoke, as well as enjoying whatever else you happen to bring in your cooler. For more info check out www.drive-ins.com.

20. Don’t miss the Erie County Fair. Or whatever they like to call it nowadays. Every year you say you’ll go, but you let those two weeks slide by. Don’t. It’s August 6-17, and each day promises something more exciting than the next. Watch the pig races, ride the ferris wheel, gnaw some signature salt-water taffy, caramel apples, or fried dough. Buy something from the crafts tent, and round the evening off with a visit to the grandstand for some good old American talent. Or, at the very least, the Ultimate Bus Demolition Derby on August 16.

21. Go to the Museum of Science Star Lights party. It’s on June 7. It’s on the roof. They have telescopes for stargazing, and the museum needs the money.

22. Go to a Bisons game, using the Metrorail, just for the food. God knows the team’s not inspiring this year. But it’s still a pleasant (and relatively cheap) entertainment.

23. Explore Letchworth State Park. Gas prices preclude a cross-country drive to the Grand Canyon this summer, but there’s always Letchworth and its natural wonders. Walk, hike, camp, kayak, hot-air balloon, horseback ride, or enjoy a wonderful dinner at the Glen Iris Inn.

24. Take a boat ride through the canal locks in Lockport. During summer hours (June 17-September 1), boats leave from 210 Market Street at 10am, noon, 3pm, and 5:30pm every day. It’s recommended that you reserve ahead to ensure your spot on a cruise. Call 433-6155 for details.

25. Build an awesome float for next year’s Mardi Gras parade. Do it while the weather’s nice, instead of freezing your ass off in the garage in February.

26. Sundowners at Root Five. You may or may not love the live music. The food’s good but hardly groundbreaking. But for our money, Root Five (627-555 / rootfive.com) in Hamburg has better lakeside views than any restaurant on Erie’s western shores. Everything tastes better on a patio like this.

27. Take a Taste of Everywhere. A Taste of Buffalo, A Taste of Ellicottville, a Taste of Wherever. Surely there are more; why not tour the region’s celebrations of gluttony the way baseball fans tour ballparks? This year’s Taste of Buffalo (July 12-13) will once again be promoting healthy choices for eating. Feel free to eat to your heart’s content without feeling guilty or too full to turn down all the delicious options that await you. For a small-town vibe, try the Taste of Ellicottville, which falls on the same day (August 9) as the Psychic Fair at Holiday Valley’s Clubhouse Chalet.

28. Walk through the Alabama Swamps. Don some khaki and pretend you’re on safari. The Alabama Swamps, more than 20,000 acres of swamps, marshes, and forests, includes the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge and the Tonawanda and Oak Creek Wildlife Management Areas. They’re just north of Akron. Hike along the hundreds of trails, canoe Oak Orchard Creek, fish for bass and pike, or simply spend a day observing the amazing species of birds and other wildlife that call this area home.

29. Take a picnic and a kite to Fort Niagara State Park. After your informative tour of old Fort Niagara evokes memories of school field trips, spread a blanket and lay out your lunch. Take advantage of the refreshing breeze coming off Lake Ontario to test your kite-flying skills.

30. Start a water balloon fight.

31. Take a kid—yours, anybody’s—to Bubblefest at the Museum of Science. For one whole day (July 26), your kids can have a blast doing everything having to do with bubbles! Make big bubbles, small bubbles, bubbles inside of bubbles, and so much more. Admission is $1 for members and $8 and under for everybody else. For details, visit sciencebuff.org.

32. Go to Squeaky Wheel’s Animation Festival in Day’s Park. Squeaky Wheel’s Fifth Annual Outdoor Animation Festival takes place on June 26 at 9pm in Day’s Park. The festival features a series of animated shorts from all around the world, including Russia, the Netherlands, and the United States. For more information, visit squeaky.org.

33. Grow tomatoes in your backyard. Come August, can them. Consult your local greenhouse or gardening book before digging up your garden. Tomatoes come in many different varieties, each suited to different climates and tastes. With research, you can finally find your tomato soul mate.

34. Grow cucumbers. Come August, make pickles.

35. Visit Rock City Park, south of Olean. Bring comfortable hiking shoes and wander along trails dwarfed by gigantic boulders several stories high at this ancient outcropping—believed to have been a Seneca Indian “fort” at one time, Rock City is a genuine americana tourist destination, complete with gift shop, sure to rival any gargantuan ball of string. rockcitypark.com.

36. Or Panama Rocks. Walk along solid history and take a hike along the 300-million-year-old Panama Rocks. With self-guided tours and a trail map, visitors are encouraged to take as long as they like as they snake through the many rocky corridors, caves, and deep dens. Open through October 20, 10am-5pm, there’s a whole lot of time to have memorable adventures. Tickets are $6 and under; for more information, visit panamarocks.com.

37. Or Zoar Valley. On an inner tube. Ah Zoar Valley—sure, you can hike it. Or you can paddle. But the finest way to see Zoar Valley is to drift with the current on an inner tube. For more info, visit zoarvalley.org—and check to make sure the water’s high enough.

38. Visit the Darwin Martin House and Graycliff, both in the same weekend. The city life, the country life…ah, well, the blueblood life. Humble yourself before the magnificent architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. Each of these swanky houses has its own special attractions and marvels; both will stir imagination of the days when the city’s elite contracted au courant architects like Wright to design their summer and winter palaces. For more info, visit darwinmartinhouse.org and graycliff.bfn.org.

39. Go to every Thursday in the Square concert. You don’t have to stay if you don’t like the music. Just admire the crowd and the public space.

40. Go see both productions of Shakespeare in Delaware Park. Twice. You’ll enjoy them more on second viewing, and you’ll improve your picnic-packing with practice.

41. Join in Juneteenth. Buffalo’s Juneteenth celebration—which marks the Emancipation Proclamation—is the third largest in the country, which is sensible, given the city’s rich African-American history. This year’s celebration, June14-15 in Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, is the 33rd since BUILD began organizing it in 1976. If you read Artvoice, odds are good you don’t get to the East Side often enough. This is a good reason.

42. Plant a tree. Anywhere you can.

43. Eat the entire Italian Festival. Let’s not pretend it’s about the bocce competition or the Miss Italian Festival pageant or the live music or the ride. All of these are fine. But it’s about the food. Buffalo’s Italian Festival takes over Hertel Avenue July 17-20. Wear loose pants. For more information, visit buffaloitalianfestival.com.

44. Watch a sunset from the Cargill elevators down by the Buffalo River. Warning: You’re probably trespassing.

45. Pack a picnic basket with cocktails. You’ll need enough for two drinks for each person in your party. Add some snacks. Find a place to sit and watch the sunset—preferably someplace you need to walk a ways to get to. Repeat at least once a week as long as the weather is nice.

46. Make ice cream.

47. Make homemade lemonade. Or sun tea.

48. Go to a potluck dinner at Nickel City Housing Co-op. Every Wednesday night at 7pm, the old Granger Mansion at the corner of Allen and Elmwood opens it doors to anybody—anybody—who wants to share a meal with its residents. Can’t make it this Wednesday? You’re invited again next Wednesday. And the Wednesday after that. How can you keep saying no? More information about Buffalo’s two housing cooperatives can be found at nickelcitycoop.org. Bring a dish to pass. (Maybe some homemade ice cream. Or a pitcher of homemade lemonade.)

49. Spend a night, or the whole weekend, at the Great Blue Heron Festival. It’s far and away the most laid-back and picturesque outdoor music festival of the summer. Even with thousands of music lovers camped in the woods, the Great Blue Heron has maintained a homey, intimate feel through all its 16, going on 17, years. Donna the Buffalo remains the house band, and the lineup this year includes the Avett Brothers, Entrain, and Big Leg Emma. Get thee to Sherman, New York, July 4-6. Bring the kids if you have them; leave the dog at home. More information at www.greatblueheron.com.

50. Collect fossils at Penn Dixie. It’s not just the trilobites. Penn Dixie is a beautiful place. For more info, go to penndixie.org.

51. Go to the Hellenic Festival. It’s this weekend, June 6-8, at the Hellenic Orthodox Church of the Annunciation, 146 West Utica Street. Admission is just two bucks. For more information visit buffalohellenicfestival.org.

52. Don’t miss the Pride Center’s Summer in the City party at LaSalle Park. It’s on August 24, a perfectly raucous closeout to summer.

53. Brush Up Buffalo. Who doesn’t like to feel of a paintbrush in their hand? At the Brush Up Buffalo event on June 14, hundreds of volunteers join together to repaint some of the older houses around Buffalo which are badly in need of repair. Get out of the house, meet new people, and improve your beloved city. For more info, visit brushupbuffalo.org.

54. Take a ride down to Griffis Sculpture Park. Turn to page 16 to learn why.

55. Get your fortune told by the vending machine lady on Clifton Hill in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Remember the movie Big? Take your chances with a prediction from a genuine mechanical psychic. Don’t turn up your nose at the other kitsch like wax museums, souvenir shops, and the museum dedicated to the greatest daredevil of all time, Evel Knievel, who jumped into eternity just last year. Visit www.evelknievelmuseum.com. There are also great views of a waterfall from over there, we’re told.

56. Go to a Seneca Pow Wow. There’a a pow wow in Irving July 11-13, and another in Salamanca July 18-20. If you go to the Hellenic and Italian festivals, to Juneteenth and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, you ought to round out those experiences with this cultural celebration. Visit senecapowwow.org for detail.

57. Have your fortune told at Lilydale. Don’t be nervous. Visit www.lilydaleassembly.com for information about special events at the lakeside community of Spiritualists.

58. Visit the Sonnenberg Gardens. Green thumbs aren’t the only ones who’ll appreciate the beautiful Sonnenberg estate. The mansion offers free guided tours throughout most of the day, but the real destination is not the mansion, but what lies behind it. Each magnificent garden has its own theme and all are meticulously maintained. More information can be found at sonnenberg.org.

59. Rent a boat at Hoyt Lake. Although some details are still up in the air at press time, we’re told by the Olmsted Parks Conservancy that the popular boat rentals on Hoyt Lake (across from the Albright-Knox) will resume again this summer by the end of June. Anyone who had the pleasure of using them when they were briefly re-introduced a few years back knows that rowing around the lake combines a fun workout with a unique perspective on one of the city’s most picturesque locations. Visit buffaloolmstedparks.org for more info.

60. Take a picnic to Knox Farm State Park in East Aurora. If you’re lucky, there will be a polo match afoot. Follow up with a visit to Vidler’s variety store on Main Street.

61. Jump from a high place into a body of water. Liability issues preclude our advising where to do this. (But if you should find yourself on Centerline Road…)

62. Camp out in your own yard. Why not cut the emissions you’d release if you were to drive out to the country, and instead set up stakes right near your own bathroom and fridge? This is also great for families who want a spur-of-the-moment adventure. Marshmallows toast just fine over a hibachi, and ghost stories are easier on younger kids when they know all their stuffed animals are in their own bed, just up the stairs. Twenty-somethings take note: Passing out on the front lawn down the street from Mr. Goodbar does not qualify as “camping.”

63. Go see a movie in the meadow. Make it a picnic and settle down on the grass by the Parkside Lodge to enjoy a film under the stars. Pick your date: July 12 features hometown favorite The Natural; July 19 The Golden Compass; July 26 The Water Horse. Showtime is 9pm.

64. Go to ArtPark. There are plenty of events to choose from—concerts, musicals, etc.—as well as classes for kids. We think it’s best just to take a walk here on a sunny day. Check out artpark.net for information.

65. Mosey over to the Gerry Rodeo. Put on your chaps, don your cowboy hat, and hold on tight at the annual Gerry Rodeo, August 6-10, there’ll be non-stop bull and buck riding, barrel racing, steer roping, and much more. Visit gerryrodeo.org for more information.

66. Organize a block party.

67. Take in Toronto’s Buskerfest. Face-painters, stilt-walkers, musicians, fire-breathers, sword-swallowers, to name only a few. This Toronto festival of street performers benefits research on epilepsy and takes place August 21-24. More information can be found at torontobuskerfest.com.

68. March in the Pride Parade. It’s open to anybody. Following the parade, which includes over 40 groups, organizations and floats, will be the larger-than-life celebration in Bidwell Park. Tons of food, music, and entertainment will be available for this all-day event on June 8th. For more information, visit www.pride-buffalo.org.

69. Take a summer class at Squeaky Wheel. Squeaky Wheel offers a wide array of classes and workshops over the summer for both adults and children—filmmaking, screenwriting, introductions to computer editing and design programs, and more. For more information, visit squeaky.org.

70. Go fishing. But don’t eat the fish from Erie or Ontario. It’s not a great idea.

71. Ride your bike over the Peace Bridge and along the Niagara Parkway, a.k.a. “the scenic route,” all the way up to Niagara Falls. Don’t forget to have your papers in order. That means driver’s license plus birth certificate, or, if you want to go whole hog…

72. Get a passport, or renew your old one. The innocent days of kids going by the boatload or busload up to Crystal Beach ended with the Department of Homeland Security, so capitulate. Sure, it’s one more invasion of privacy but at least you’ll have these materials on hand if you have to flee the country when the clampdown hits.

If you still don’t want to cough up for a passport, a nifty, plastic, wallet-sized birth certificate can be obtained at Buffalo City Hall. But only if you were born in Buffalo.

73. Paint a landscape. Come on! How hard can it be? Explore your inner Bob Ross as you sit at your easel contemplating any one of the fabulous vistas our region offers. True, there are those who tell us that if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing well. We firmly believe that if something is worth doing, then it’s just worth doing—even badly.

74. Visit the Sugar Shack on Route 5 in Westfield. Pancake breakfasts are served every Sunday morning from 7am until 2pm (!) giving you plenty of time to roll out of bed and get on the road. Leave a couple hours to take the scenic Seaway Trail down the lake Erie shore to Barcelona, peek at the cool old lighthouse, then double back to Vinewood Acres Sugar Shack for a stack of flapjacks smothered in real maple syrup, made on the premises.

75. Join the tai chi group in Day’s Park. Or, if sunup is too early for you and tai chi is too disciplined, invent your own martial art to practice in public. No one will know you’re a fraud.

76. Spend a day in Ellicottville. The funky little ski resort town can be a lot of fun long after the snow has melted. Check out the festivals and events at ellicottvilleny.com. If you think you’re enough of a patriot, make it your Fourth of July destination, which coincides with the Ellicottville Rodeo. Yee-haw!

77. Go kayaking or rafting. While the Niagara River and Lakes Erie and Ontario are the busiest spots for boaters around here, Western New York also offers some great creeks that will send you winding through unpopulated gorges cutting through primeval forests. Plan ahead with info available at www.enchantedmountains.info/what_to_do/rafting-kayaking.asp.

78. Swim in Lake Erie and Lake Ontario on the same day. If you can work in Lake Chautauqua or a waterfall in between, so much the better.

79. Go to North Tonawanda, drink at the Dockside, yell “Whoo” at passing boats, hit the local bars. This can, but does not have to, coincide with Canalfest (July 13-20).

80. Travel the Erie Canal. True, this year the tolls are back in place along the historic waterway, but they aren’t exhorbitant. You can explore this living piece of American history in anything from a canoe to an overnight tour boat. Visit www.nyscanals.gov/ to plan your trip. Check out all 57 locks and 16 lift bridges from Albany to Buffalo. Then ask yourself: How were they able to build such an incredible waterway in only eight years, while we can’t even decide what kind of bridge to build, and where to build it, over the course of 11? If you’re afraid of the water, why not bike along the pathways on the banks, originally trod by faithful mules?

81. Go on a Sunday Night Bike Ride. Booze and bikes and bombing trails. Riders meet at the Bend on Allen Street, load up with beer, pick a destination, and go. Be prepared to stay up late.

82. Take an eco-tour with Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper. Hike, bike, or paddle along the creeks, rivers and lakefront that give our region its identity. Learn about threats to these irreplacable resources while you’re at it. Visit bnriverkeeper.org to register.

83. Volunteer. Want to make a difference? Well, did you know that Western New York has the highest per-capita ratio of not-for-profit organizations in the country? There are literally thousands of ways you can help these groups provide important services in our community. Whatever your skills, they can be directed to where they’ll do the most good by visiting volunteersolutions.org, a service of the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County.

84. Watch fireworks from the rooftop of a downtown building. If you don’t know someone with a key, then you’ll have to be creative. Maybe break some laws. You’ve got lots of chances—the Bisons put on a display every Friday home game. Then there the Fourth of July and the Friendship Festival on June 28-30.

85. Whittle something. It’s a good idea to carry a pocketknife in the summer anyway, in case you should need to steal some peony blossoms from a neighbor’s garden. That knife has other uses, however: try whittling. Make a personal totem.

86. Visit the places where Buffalo 66 was filmed. This is apparently a popular request among visiting artists to Soundlab, especially the Japanese. Ah, konnichiwa! Of course, and don’t ask us why we know this, the big attraction associated with this movie seems to be the strip bar out by the Ford plant on Route 5 in Woodlawn. Virtually anywhere you look you’ll see examples of the Buffalo upper/lower doubles, gas stations, and motels you see in the movie, but if that’s not edgy enough for your hip tourist friends, why not take them out to the Gowanda Correctional Facility, where the prison scenes were filmed?

87. For one week, shop only at local farmer’s markets. The Elmwood-Bidwell Market will do, but trek out to Clinton-Bailey as well.

88. Walk the pier at the foot of West Ferry. If you’re brave, swim with the neighborhood kids in the Black Rock Canal.

89. Take some friends down to the CPO Club, while you still can. Hopefully, by the time you take this bit of advice, the club will have renewed its liquor license.

90. Go sailing, or take sailing lessons at Seven Seas Sailing Center. If nothing else, watch the sailboat races on Wednesday nights. It’s a great big lake. Find out more about Seven Seas at sevenseassailing.com.

91. Volunteer at Buffalo Blue Bicycle on a Thursday night. If only for the free beer. Learn more at buffalobluebicycle.org.

92. Watch rowers from the steps of the Frank Lloyd Wright boathouse. When’s the last time you were in that kind of physical shape? Were you ever?

93. Make time for a few rounds of golf—Frisbee golf, that is. Why get bogged down with expensive equipment and long lines at the tee when the same concept can be enjoyed with a simple plastic disk? While you can find actual Frisbee golf courses at Evangola State Park and Joseph Davis State Park in the town of Porter, we prefer guerilla disk golf, in which players ad lib holes as they wander through parks, neighborhoods, and college campuses. For an added challenge, try using glow-in-the-dark Frisbees at night.

94. Drink on patios that face the sun. Summer is too short to spend it in the shadows.

95. Bring champagne to parties this summer. It’s classy, it doesn’t have to be expensive, and folks will love you for it.

96. Pick your own berries. There are plenty of places to do this in Western New York—too many to list, in fact. Visit pickyourown.org for a guide ot pick-your-own farms in the region (or wherever you happen to be this summer).

97. Follow the Seaway Trail. Given the price of gas, this is an expensive proposition—unless you ride a motorcycle. But if you can swing it, and you’ve never done it, this is a great road trip with lots of charming stops along the way. Read about the route at seawaytrail.com.

98. Buy something besides food at an art festival. Take your time. Get something you like. Don’t be taken in by this year’s fad. Buy local. The Allentown Art Festival (and, better yet, Allen West) is June 14-15; the Elmwood Festival of the Arts is August 23-24; the Lewiston Arts Festival is August 8-9.

99. Seek out small carnivals. In church parking lots and village parks. If you stumble across one, ask one of the ride operators where they’re going next.

100. Save up for your winter heating bills.

By:

http://artvoice.com/issues/v7n23/one_hundred_things