A Weekend Back in the Old Hometown of Fairport, NY [PHOTOS]

I always look forward to visiting the small town where I grew up. Fairport, NY is a suburb of Rochester, home of the Rochester Red Wings and the Garbage Plate at Nick Tahou's Hots. 

My brother Steve's 60th birthday party called us back home this weekend, and fortunately, it was Fairport's 40th Annual Canal Days, a weekend filled with food, arts & crafts, live music, food trucks, booze, and reminiscing.

I grew up across the street from the Erie Canal, which was built back in 1825 as a shipping route between Lake Erie in the east and the Hudson River in the west. Over the last 40 years, many small towns, which have the Erie Canal running through them like Fairport, have built bicycle/walking trails along with restaurants, breweries, and pubs.

I delivered the Times Union newspaper when I was a kid, played baseball in our backyard, rode bikes with all the neighborhood kids, and regularly stopped at the neighborhood grocery store for a 5-cent fudge pop. I hung out with my best bud, Joe Sestito, and went steady with my first girlfriend, Sharon. I loved that small town, and would move back in a heartbeat, but only if I-95 and my grandson, Bradley, could come along.

Listen to Ethan Carey on the Ethan & Lou Show weekdays from 5:30-10AM on 95.1 FM. You can listen online at i95rock.com/listen-live/ or by downloading the radioPupapp for your mobile device.