Christmas Gift Ideas You Can Only Find in Binghamton

What do you get the person who has everything? There'll be no shortage of gaming systems, Apple products, and tube socks purchased this season in anticipation for Christmas day.

But, let's suppose you wanted to do something unique this year. Maybe you wanted to get something that has a local flair; something that can only be found in or close to Binghamton. Well, we thought that might be a cool idea. I posed the question to your favorite radio jocks: 'What do you think is the best local christmas gift idea?'

Here's what they've come up with (so far):

Spiedie Marinade Gift Basket from Salamida's or Lupo's

The Spiedie is the basically the official delicious mascot of Binghamton. However, you can't just whip spiedies together on the fly without the proper ingredients. That's why a spiedie gift basket is the perfect gift for the foodie in your life. There's plenty of places to get delicious spiedie marinade and cuts in Binghamton. But, the two above came recommended. You can go directly to spiedie.com to get Salamida's pioneering sauces. Grab some State Fair Spiedie Sauce starting at $2.95. Or, head over to spiedies.com to get some Lupo's Original Endicott Style Spiedie Marinade for $3.49. Or combine a bunch of items from spiedie vendors around the area and get ready for a scrumptious holiday season. Remember - Spiediefest is just a handful of months away - get your palettes ready!

Gourmet Coffee from Tom's on Main St.

Your definitely not limited to coffee when you stop in at Tom's. They do offer a ton of gourmet coffee with flavors ranging from Bananas Foster to Snickerdoodle. You can go to their website to purchase coffee, but I've been told it's important to physically go. In addition to coffee that's Binghamton exclusive, Tom's has an array of cool gifts that you can always recall came from The Parlor City.

Fancy Nuts from M & D-R Nuts on Court St.

A station favorite (hey Sergei!), Holly Wood makes a point to drag co-workers to the local nut store every Friday (Not that anyone kicks and screams). You can get tins full of every conceivable nut - roasted on site. It's a throw-back concept that you don't find much anymore. Besides the usual suspects of fancy cashews, almonds, macadamias, etc. available, they also have chocolate covered varieties and a wide selection of confections. Holidays are a big time for giant tins of nuts and popcorn. The benefit of buying in Binghamton instead of shipping from a national company is that the nuts will be store-fresh and they taste exponentially better for it!

Custom Picture Frame from A Frame Shoppe on Water St.

This one comes from John, who's on-air with our sister station 98.1 The Hawk. John thinks a local custom frame could be a lifelong memento. In fact, 'framing a wedding invite could be a keepsake for life. People love that, but rarely think of it.' You can build a shadowbox to frame a favorite christmas ornament to boot! Their site's presently down for some reason, but the gift of local art (like all art) likely varies in price. If you have a loved one in mind that needs a frame, it might be worth a look.

Big Wally's Farmer's Market Products

Full disclosure: Big Wally is on-air over at our favorite classic rock station 99.1 The Whale. Fuller disclosure: I have tried Big Wally's salsa and it is awesome. I placed an order for a Christmas gift for me. That said, you're not limited to a single vendor. Any time you can choose fresh, local produce and food products, the better off your body and mood will be! It's an excellent idea to seek out local food in Binghamton and put it to frequent good use, preemptively breaking New Year's resolutions before you make them. *This entry will be amended with information on where to buy. Stay tuned.

Binghamton Mets or Binghamton Senators Tickets

Besides supporting local food, local sports are always a great gift! We love both the B-Mets and B-Sens and it's always great to see a city get behind its teams. B-Sens tickets will set you back about $20 a piece and can be purchased at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena or online at the official B-Sens site. B-Mets ticket prices aren't listed, but when they are, you'll be able to buy those online and at the stadium as well.

A Maple Gift Basket from Baker's in Bainbridge

A really cool advantage of living amongst mountains and forestation is that nature can produce some pretty sweet stuff. Case in point: Maple syrup. Can they stop you from eating it on everything? We'll find out. Until then, I'm going to continue enjoying maple syrup carrots, maple syrup chicken soup, and maple syrup mashed potatoes. If you, too, want to feast on a bevy of maple goodness, you can get homegrown NY maple syrup in the Southern Tier. One recommended place to check out is Baker's in Bainbridge. It's a bit of drive, but well worth it for maple enthusiasts. Or you can buy online. Aside from actual syrup and maple products, you can also watch the process of tapping on certain days, an added bonus.