As a gateway city to Niagara Falls, home of “Toy Town USA,” and the place where the American Arts & Crafts movement AND the American delicacy known as Buffalo Wings originated, Buffalo is right to define itself as a city of surprises. It has a thriving performing arts scene, with 22 professional theater companies and some wonderful annual events including the summer series at Artpark and the free outdoor event Shakespeare in Delaware Park. Though it doesn’t have the flower-child reputation of Woodstock, Buffalo is a diverse and accepting city where students and artists, people of color and those of diverse sexual orientations equally cooperate and contribute to the culture. Two touristy must-dos: Visit the Teddy Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site, where TR was sworn in as President in 1901; and plan a trip over Labor Day Weekend for the National Buffalo Wing Festival.