Absolutely must visit the Dinosaur BBQ Express, downtown.  Having moved from Syracuse to Boston, I've missed their excellent BBQ Sauces that were becoming available in stores locally for years.  Now, they're even available here as well!  That shows something and Syracuse was its birthplace! Also, the site for the future "DestiNY USA" largest mall in America will be built on to what is currently the Carosel Mall.  Located right off 81 and 690. Downtown is also home to Armory Square. Different variety of bars all centrally located. Check that out as well. Just outside of the city you can visit what was part of the Erie Canal.  In towns like Camillus there's shops and history museums for it as well.  If your into Museums, Syrcause also has the Museum of Science & Technology which also holds an iMAX theatre.  Pretty fun stuff.  Its not an exceptionally large City but has large city feel to it.  You don't have to worry about places being so crowded that you're suddenly grinding on complete strangers while trying to just walk around. The weather is tricky due to Lake Effect snow/rain.  The seasons seem to be the following:  Blizzard, Rain, Summer, Rain, Blizzard.  With Summer having its fair share of rain as well.  So don't forget your coats.