“Living in Rochester for the past 20 years has been an adventure and I love it because it will always be an adventure for me. It’s a different world from where I grew up in south Texas, but at Rochester’s heart there are so many remarkable local destinations that I never get tired of visiting.

“One of my family’s favorite things to do is to take walks around town and in the summer you’ll find us strolling along the trails of various Monroe County parks, like Braddock Bay Park in Greece, the Charlotte and Irondequoit piers, or the Erie Canal paths. We look forward to driving just outside of Rochester into the country roads, getting lost or discovering a new antique shop to peruse.

“It’s easy to find something to do around Rochester, including listening to music. The past few years, I’ve been dragging my husband to as many music venues as I can and I love all the great diverse venues, like Abilene Bar & Lounge, the Bug Jar, Water Street Music Hall, and CMAC in Canandaigua.

“And when my Texas family comes up to visit, we routinely take them to the Rochester Public Market, the High Falls area, the Strong Museum of Play, the Finger Lakes area, and Letchworth State Park.

“My favorite things about Rochester:

• Summer festivals
• Village Gate Square
• Maple Weekend in March
• Pumpkin patches and apple picking in the fall
• Waterloo Bridge, Veiled Sun, Monet, at the Memorial Art Gallery“

—Jeanette Perez Colby, Greece