Strawberry Picking

Something more unique and fun to do with the kids/family is to take them Strawberry picking. There are two local farms that have strawberry fields where you go searching for strawberries and then pay by the basket. It is a lot of fun for the kids as well as the adults. But if you go with multiple kids than make sure that you have plans for the strawberries because your going to end up with a lot! One of the strawberry picking farms is Best by Farr Click the name for more info. Best by Farr offers Fresh vegetables, raspberries and strawberries. It is located at Val and Richard Farr 26809 Beckwith Rd Evans Mills, NY And the other local place is Backyard Farmer Fresh vegetables, herbs, berries, apples, honey, maple products, cheese, eggs Brian Sheley 12139 US Rt 11 Adams Ctr, NY

Thompson Park

Thompson Park is located with entrances off Gotham St, Academy St and Franklin St in Watertown, NY. Whats at Thompson park? The Zoo, playground, pavilions, stone stairways, Sledding areas during the winter, Watertown Golf Club, seasonal swimming, different viewpoints of the city, Exercise trails and country drives, Tennis courts, Outdoor skating area and Cross-country ski trails. Its a great place to picnic, play and just relax.

Watertown Zoo

If you have young kids than this is another fun activity that you can do. Though this is a small zoo it is still entertaining for the kids. If you think of it more like a nature walk then a zoo then you won't be to disapointed. You will find all kinds of animals like; Black bears, Bald Eagle, Bobcat, Owls, Snakes, Wolf, Turkey, Wolverine and a lot more. The address for the Watertown Zoo is New York State Zoo at Thompson Park One Thompson Park Watertown, NY 13601

Burrville Cider

Since we came in the Fall time we made it just in time for the famous Burrville Cider. This is my most favorite thing about Watertown so far. I have never had such good tasting cider! And really good tasting apples too! It is so good that at the end of the session I bought 3 gallons and froze one of them in the freezer. Just so that we could enjoy the yummy cider during the long winter. The Burrville Cider Mill address is 18176 Rt. 156/Plank Rd. Watertown, NY 13601 The Mill not only has the best cider but has yummy fresh donuts, homemade donuts and fudge too. If you are lucky enough to go to the mill on a day they are making cider than you can watch them as they wash the apples, smash the apples and make the cider. There is also an amazing waterfall that you can sit by, drink your cider and eat your fresh donuts. So nice! The sad thing is they aren't open for very long. The open on Labor day and close right before Thanksgiving! So enjoy the cider while you can!

Watertown Swim

The Watertown City School District does summer swim lessons for kids. There are two different session each include 20 classes, each class an hour long. The great thing about this program is that the classes are each day during the week. So it keeps you busy during the summer. This swim lessons are a lot cheaper and better then the others offer by the YMCA, at least that is what all my friends says.

Farmer's Market

Though Watertown is a small city there are still things to keep you busy as long as you look for them. A great and yummy thing is the Farmer's Market. Though you may think that it is a lot of local and fresh fruit and veggies, there is a lot more then just produce. You can find all kinds of yummy foods from baked goods made by the local Mennonites, freshly made Kettle corn, apple cider, crafts, face painting, hand crafted wood items and so much more. It is far from just fruits and veggies for sure! There is also local bands that play as you walk up and down the farmers market. You can have a great time outside and of course eatting some yummy food! You can go to the Watertown, New York Farmer's Market is on Wednesday from 6:30am- 3:00pm. It runs from the end of May through the beginning of October.

Watertown NY Hotels

There are many different hotels and when you have kids it really does matter which one you pick. It took us a little trial and error to find the right one for us but this is how we figured it out. We arrived in Watertown New York in September and so we knew that it would be important to find a hotel with a pool so the kids would have something to do if it was too cold, rainy or possible snowy outside. Another thing to consider is meals. We knew we needed a free breakfast because there was no way I was going to take two little kids out to breakfast each day on my own since my hubby was starting work soon. And finally clothes get dirty and you are going to need clean clothes at some point. Here are the hotels we stayed at and what each offered. Just in case one of them is full it is good to have choices. 1st. Best Western Carriage House Inn We stayed in this hotel for 1.5 weeks. It had a great breakfast, pool and very friendly staff. However it is an older building and the room looks a little old. We always had socks on when walking on the floor and didn't sit on the floor either. The wall paper was coming off but room service was great. It also had a small fridge and microwave for warming up food. 2nd Candlewood Suites We stayed in this hotel the shortest amount of time, 3-4 days because it was the most expensive. It didn't have a pool or breakfast but it did have landry service. So I was able to get all of our landry done. The rooms were nicer and bigger as well. But again not pool, or breakfast! But it does have a small kitchen area which was nice too. 3rd Comfort Inn & Suites We stayed in this hotel the longest because it ended up being cheaper and had most of what we needed. This room was the smallest out of all three we stayed in but it had a good size FREE breakfast and a pool. It was also attached to a Denny's resturant which made it very easy to go to meals if we needed to go out but didn't really what to go out. Good luck and don't forget to ask for a military discount!