One of the less common things that Buffalo has is traffic circles. This was a fact I remembered much to my chagrin while looking for an appartment here in the city. For years my boyfriend and I have refered to Gates Circle as the "wheel of death." Life takes us down many roads we didn't plan on, and moving back to WNY was one of them for me. However, I've decided to embrace life in Buffalo, and part of that is making my peace with the traffic circles. The first step in doing so was the discovery that what we have in Buffalo is properly refered to as a "round about." Who knew? How fancy and New Englandy, or maybe even Old Englandy. Step two is of course exploring the decorative middle of each round about and planting a letterbox there.
This series takes you through some lovely residential neighborhoods that you might not otherwise be driving through here in the city. The whole circuit is about 6 1/2 miles. It's a lovely bike ride if you live near by or would like to park once and bike around the circuit.
A few notes on the rules of round abouts: 1)always go to the right around the round about. This seems obvious, but my honey just saw someone go the wrong way this week, good thing no one was there to hit them! 2)a vehicle entering the round about must always yield to vehicles already in the round about. In otherwords, wait your turn and enter when it's clear. Once in, drive with impunity until you get to your street to exit. When exitting, make sure no one is trying to squeeze around you in the outer lane.
ClueGates Circle--'Round About Townintersection of Delaware Ave, Lafayette Ave, and Chapin Pkwy
Stand at the SW entrance to Gates Circle on the paved path, looking towards the fountain. Look underneath the front edge of the curb that runs along the left side of this path. Now that you have it, why not enjoy the fountain from one of those lovely stone benches as you stamp in?
I saw a whole lot of these within Gates Circle last summer, apparently about to start a ride.
Soldiers Circle--'Round About the Houseintersection of Bird St, Bidwell Pkwy, Chapin Pkwy, and Lincoln Pkwy
Find 250* from the inner flower bed, and take a seat on the stone wall surrounding the flower bed at this point. Straight ahead of you is a tree, also within the round about, and beyond that is the median of Bidwell Parkway, with a really cool sculpture of people flowing up into birds. It's called Birds Excited Into Flight by Larry Griffis, 1981. Thanks Jolly Pumpkins! (I have no idea why it wasn't erected on Bird Street instead!) Now reach into the flower bed just behind you, between the wall and the box hedge. Remove a masking chunk of concrete to find the box.
'Round about my house you'll find my house rabbit Rusty. He spends his time hopping around the appartment, up onto different pieces of furniture, and tearing from room to room, sometimes performing a binky. Like any houserabbit, he is litter trained, so keeping his cage door open at all times is no problem! For more on houserabbits, check out
http://www.rabbit.orgColonial Circle--'Round About the Kitchenintersection of Bidwell Pkwy, Lafayette Ave, and Richmond Ave
Once in this circle, check out the statue of General Bidwell. (Were you expecting to see Msr. Lafayette, too?) Look to General Bidwell's right. There's a black bench facing General Bidwell. Why not have a seat and enjoy the statue? Hey, what's that black canister sticking to the underside of the bench?
This is my favorite thing to make 'round about the kitchen.
Ferry Circle--'Round and 'Round and 'Roundintersection of Richmond Ave, and West Ferry St
This round about has the benches outside of it at each street corner. Head to the corner with the church on it. Take a seat on the left end of the north facing bench so that you're facing the little flower bed for that corner. Reach under the bench with your left hand.
This would be the Canadian made folding Lendrum.
Symphony Circle--'Round About the Symphonyintersection of Richmond Ave and Porter Ave/North St
Unfortunately the first box I hid inside the circle went missing--think I underestimated the grounds crew! So head to the corner in front of Kleinhans. There's a crescent path with a couple of benches on it that runs behind the flower beds and joins up with the sidewalk on either side. You want the crescent/sidewalk junction on Chopin's left. (That would be Verdi's right.) Look underneath the lamppost closest to you for a little black box containing a member of the Orchestra.
What a lovely instrument!
Niagara Square--'Round About the Squareintersection of Niagara St, Delaware Ave, Court St, and Perkins Dr
With the Central Monolith to your back, look SW at the path heading out towards Delaware Ave. Look underneath the lamppost in the grass to the left of this path.
Yes, this one isn't a circle, it's a square. The stamp image isn't anything particularly circular either. (Did you notice the theme?) But who could resist? Buffalo City Hall is a stunning piece of architecture, and not just for Buffalo. It's pictured on architecture websites from around the country and the world, and I know of at least one art exhibit of photographs of this building. Call ahead for a tour while you're in the area.
* * * Please re-hide each box exactly as you found it and make sure everything is securely inside before sealing all four sides of the box. Please replace all camoflauge material covering the box so it cannot be seen. These are urban boxes in busy locations, and there are lots of muggles around, so please take extra care in keeping them safe. Some of the boxes are hitchhiker friendly, some are too small for HH's. * * *
One final note: you will notice that although several of the circles contain benches, implying that pedestrians are welcome to enter them, only Niagara Square has any sort of cross walks or cross lights to get you safely into it's middle. Please BE CAREFUL entering each of these circles. Drivers will not be expecting you to run into the center of the circle, so exercise all due caution when you do. Please hold your children's hands and look all ways before crossing into the circle. And of course watch for pedestrians (boxers?) when driving through each circle on your way to the next.
