Ok, the title is a twist on a very corny and overused pun, but that's because it is true. We have always heard that "Ithaca is Gorges", and wanted to spend some time in the Finger Lakes region. Since it was early fall and nearing the peak of the foliage season, and also the best time in our family schedule to "get away" to celebrate 30 years of wedded bliss.
We spent some time finding an apartment to rent on the NW edge of Ithaca through AirBNB. On our drive to our destination, we took the winding and scenic path through Central PA as Glenn is always want to do, and found a nice lunch spot in the center of Bloomsburg. To get is in the mood to see falls and the like, we stopped at
Rickets Glen State Park. It was as beautiful as we remembered.
When we arrived in Ithaca, after finding our lodging, we headed toward downtown and the pedestrian mall. Ever since we were gifted a cookbook from the
Moosewood Restaurant, we thought it would be great place to eat some time. Even though we knew it had changed hands over the years, we found the food to be true to the vegetarian tradition and yet very tasty. We recommend it, but we have heard it can get busy.
 |
| Robert Treman State Park |
Falls at Taughannock State Park
The next day based on recommendations from workers at the local outdoor shop, we headed to
Robert Treman State Park. We hiked a 4.5 mile loop made up of the Gorge Trail on the way upstream and the Rim trail on the way back. We enjoyed the beautiful twists, turns and falls of Enfield Creek as it cascaded through the gorge it cut in the surrounding plateau. The horizontal strata of the bedrock created unique and somewhat uniform formations where the rock had been worn away. In the afternoon we toured a few of the local vineyards. Although we are not wine experts, it was interesting hearing people talk about the many varieties of grapes and the wine that was made from them. We wanted to find a tour where they talked about raising the fruit, and the full production process from harvest to the table, but were not able to. On the way back we stopped by
Taughannock State Park, to view the very large waterfall.
 |
| Watkins Glen State Park |
Our next days touring took us to
Watkins Glen for a morning hike. We both had been here during our childhood, and had distant memories of that visit. We were not sure how it could top yesterday's hike. However, we were pleasantly surprised, as the gorges were deeper, the falls and water features were even more spectacular and the walk built to allow visitors to experience the gorge by walking through it, were amazing. The only downside was the volume of visitors that meant we constantly had to maneuver around people on the narrow paths. Our afternoon destination was
Hammondsport at the base of Keuka Lake. It seemed like a small rural town with some historic charm, and we were correct. However it started raining when we arrived, a cold rain. It has a town square with a gazebo, and an old commercial district surrounding the square with plenty of old storefronts restored and functioning as antique shops and restaurants. There was a fall festival in the square. After lunch we took a walk through the festival, but the rain chased us into antique shops. We really enjoyed our short visit, despite the wet weather.
Sunday came too quick, since that meant we were heading home. Before we left town, we drove around the Cornell Campus, with it's ivy league charm. We found the FR Newman Arboretum at
Cornell Plantations and enjoyed a very nice walk among the variety of trees, flower gardens and other landscape features. The sun was finally out, and the trees were about 1 week before peak color, so we enjoyed the nice mix of emerging fall colors and waning greens.
