This time there really was a shake shack in an unlikely spot – the I-90 rest stop in Angola, NY. About 20 years ago I thought I’d found a shake shack outside Kansas City. But when we got to Overland Park we found a snack shack. Oh well. (My family has teased me about this ever since.)
I’m sure the KC plaza has the real deal now! And so does the rest stop literally over the NY state thruway in Angola. The burgers were great, as always, but the small outdoor eating area could have used some shade or umbrellas or a little fake grass. Millie took shelter under the picnic table, while we sweltered in the summer sun.
We waited until we crossed the Ohio line to get gas and were rewarded with $2.96 per gallon gas and a shady (!) fenced in dog park. Thank you Love’s!
How I never made it to Ithaca Falls, part of Fall Creek Gorge, during 50-some years of visiting Ithaca I don’t know but two days ago, our friends suggested it in lieu of hiking up Cascadilla falls gorge on a muggy July day. Great option! We parked just south of Cornell’s campus and took an east short walk to the huge falls. I needed one more gorge visit before we left and this was perfect.
I’ve always had trouble remembering which falls belongs to which of the two gorges that run through campus. Ithaca falls is part of Fall creek Gorge, just below the Stewart Avenue bridge which is below the suspension bridge and then Beebe lake to Forest Home. (Next trip: check out the rimtrail!) The second gorge, Cascadilla, connects downtown to collegetown.
From AI:
In essence:
Fall Creek Gorge is larger, with a more expansive feel and multiple waterfalls, including the impressive Ithaca Falls.
Cascadilla Gorge is a more intimate experience, with a well-defined trail that allows for a closer look at the creek and its waterfalls as it winds through the gorge.
We did a quick spin around the IthacaFarmers market’s semi- open air pavilion, picking up some sugar snaps and trying to resist the heirloom tomatoes (since we’re driving home right now). Yes, the rough gravel parking lot has been replaced by pavement, losing some hippie scruffiness and gaining some boho practicality.
For our final (and third) visit this trip to Cream at the Top, our favorite ice cream stand, miraculously carved into a cornfield in Lansing, we shifted from our favorite hard ice cream flavors (white lightening, queen of hearts, grasshopper pie, Michigan pothole, Rush hour) to soft serve chocolate dipped in chocolate. Big decision and good call. It was so creamy I could swear it was frozen custard. We’ll be back.
What a tricky name to spell and province but Skaneateles is as pretty as I remember from our last visit here, some 25 years ago. I forgot it’s only a 50 minute drive from “the cottage” (our friends’ place in Lansing/king Ferry).
We had fried fish but also a shrimp po boy and lobster roll at Doug’s fish fry, a local haunt with a much-appreciated picnic area perfect for our dog (and us) with picnic tables and umbrellas for shade in a enclosed picnic area with a green lawn bordered by pretty flowers.
The village feels much more well-heeled and touristy than Ithaca, with well preserved old buildings all my Main street and upscale gift shops and a pretty old inn overlooking Skaneateles Lake. The lakefront park is charming, as I remembered, with a dock where an old fashioned cruise boat takes visitors out onto the narrow finger lake. There happened to be a vintage boat show, with shiny wood boats as old as the early 1900s.
We did a loop drive, coming up the west side of owasca lake and returning by driving along the east side, both pretty routes through emerald green farm fields, narrow rollercoaster roads up and down the hills, past worn farmhouses, dairy farms, and small old towns.
Our near-annual trip to Ithaca (thank you Myra and Mike) has produced a few discoveries to share:
The parking is free at state parks here for people age 62 and over. Alas I did not discover this until age 66 (now) and have dutifully shelled out $10 at parks including our favorite, Treman which has a gorgeous trail hugging a gorge.
The money shot at Upper Treman
A ranger also told us that when we use the pay machine (in lieu of a ranger) we can scan our license with our birthdate to get free parking.
Tuesdays at Taughanock is a summer music series on the patio of the charming inn at Taughanock falls, which I first went to for dinner with my parents as a kid. (When it was as the Taughanock farms inn.) It sits high above Cayuga waters (not as high as Cornell to the east). $20 gets you a large burger, chips and a beer or glass of wine, plus the music, in this case a low-key performance by singer Annie Burns, of Burns sisters fame (a popular local group we last saw maybe 20 years ago.)
I love a good gorge and this part of the world (the Finger Lakes) is full of them. In and around Ithaca, my favorite is to walk from upper to lower Treman, much of it along stone paths, steps and bridges along the gorge, with water crashing down on mossy-stones, through the sun-dappled forest.
Taughannock Falls
The light, sun, breeze, sound is dazzling and reminds me of my parents who love/loved these gorges too. Fall Creek Gorge is also a stunner, especially as seen while crossing over the suspension bridge high above, but the views are obscured by the metal netting, a sad necessity to discourage suicidal jumpers.
Our final gorge of the trip was the big Kahuna — Taughannock Falls, which is the highest in the area and, word has it, taller than Niagara (albeit with much less volume.)
At Cascadilla
For old time’s sake, we ate nearby on the west shore of Cayuga Lake at Glenwood Pines, in a knotty pine-walled dining room with big windows looking out at the occasional white sailboat gliding through the blue water and the wooded sloping shore beyond, on Cayuga’s east shore. Excellent “pines burger” but sadly the Ithaca Times restaurant review I wrote in 1980 was no longer tacked up on the wall. It was still there about 25 years ago when we last visited., to my amusement. The kids were impressed as I recall.
Suspension bridge over Fall Creek Gorge
Next time, we’ll try to spend more time at Ithaca Falls on Lake Street below Fall Creek gorge on campus. — and hike the Risley Trail (behind Risley Hall on North Campus) to the bottom of Fall Creek.
This trip, we also missed Flat Rock, the rushing water over, yes, flat rocks, in the tiny hamlet of Forest Home, and The spectacular Watkins Glenn.
We had a rare (for this visit) rainy day, which fortunately didn’t last long but with the temperature suddenly fallish (60s, not 70s or 80s) we did some indoor activities, starting with brunch at the terrific East Shore Road House in Lansing. Local food producers, husband-and-wife operation, creative entries, cheerful service, short wait on a Saturday. Perfect.
Next stop the Cornell campus to go to the Johnson Museum, designed by IM Pei. Haven’t been there in decades.
On the arts quad
I didn’t remember the top/fifth floor with its long glass windows affording spectacular views of Cayuga Lake, the valley, Cornell campus and a classic tempestuous Ithaca sky. Another favorite was the second floor outdoor deck with a long, sloping, zero-gravity wood bench where we laid down and looked up at the ceiling dotted with flashing little lights, like stars in the night sky – an LED art installation.
Watching the stars (installation)
We walked around the campus, across the suspension bridge high above Fall Creek Gorge. We saw lots of unfamiliar new modern buildings on campus in addition to the old favorites — The Straight (student Union), Goldwin Smith Hall, McGraw Hall (history). Final on campus stop: the dairy barn (which isn’t a barn any more) for Cornell ice cream! Perfect.
East Shore Road House
Yesterday was lunch outdoors at the edge of a cornfield at Ithaca Beer Co. where I had a “Cornell chicken” sandwich…apparently Cornell chicken is a thing (cider vinegar and an egg are main ingredients) and I found the recipe on Epicurious. The day before was sandwiches from Ithaca bakery, grocery shopping at Green Star Market, and a quick stroll around the Ithaca Commons downtown (which sadly has little to offer.) we also had good pizza at Salt Point Brewery in South Lansing, which closes pretty early (9 pm) on a Saturday night, at least by Chicago standards.
At Johnson Museum
And of course, a highlight was another late afternoon swim at “the lake.” Millie our pup is a fan of the water too.
Gorgeous weather, perfect for a Finger Lakes food and drink crawl, starting with Apples and Moore which was as miserly as I remembered, with no samples to determine if you wanted to buy a huge bag of apples – the only option available in the shop. (Also, dog-unfriendly. Theyallowed out of the car despite the ample grounds.)
But we learned that if we picked our own, we could sample a few varieties. Our favorites weren’t readily available. (It’s too early for the fabulous snapdragon apple Idiscovered two years ago. It’s available in late September.) We did enjoy some delicous apple cider donuts and the glorious view of orchards dotted with red apples and the lake valley in the distance.
Finger Lakes Cider House
Next stop: Two Goats Brewery, on the east side Seneca Lake, which has a phenomenal view of the lake and valley beyond. We had roast beef sandwiches with mayo and horseradish on a chewy roll, and Golden Crush hazy IPA. then onto my favorite spot – Finger Lakes Cider House which is between the two lakes in another gorgeous spot, with a cut flower operation, a good gift shop, excellent food, friendly and dog-welcoming staff. We had a house flight cider, with our favs: honeyoye and fruit of the bloom.And a cheese board of Lively Run Cheeses, also local (and a place we’ve visited on the crawl in the past.)
At Two Goats
Last stop, Trumansburg, a quick stop at our favorite shop Sundrees and then on to the Wednesday night farmers market, which is refreshingly low-key and counter culture.(Word has it the Ithaca Farmers Market has become too popular, leading to weekend traffic jams.) In T-burg, a bluegrass band played inside a red-topped wooden gazebo, while a food truck sold mean-looking fried chicken, and other vendors sold exotic garlic varieties, fancy slices of cake, excellent focaccia, late season tomatoes and basil.
We took a roundabout way to Ithaca so we could drive through the college town of New Paltz, which still has the alternative and outdoorsy vibe I remember, then on through the mountains past the grounds of the Mohonk resort, and into the Catskills where the big Borscht Belt resorts have been replaced by small orthodox Jewish temples, businesses, a camp.
Breakfast at the lake
For old times sake, we stopped for lunch at the Roscoe Dinner, getting a tuna on rye and Greek salad with anchovies, good Greek olives and grape leaves, which we ate at a picnic table at an adjacent ice cream shop (owned by the diner) that had a dog treat for Millie. The drive here was beautiful especially as we got closer to Lansing, NY and Cayuga Lake where our friends Myra and Mike’s little slice of heaven is located, a sweet cottage high above Cayuga’s waters. We arrived just in time for a late afternoon swim and happy hour on the dock. Oh happy day.
To my surprise we drove right into the ChautauquaInstitution, the famous educational/ cultural retreat in the western NY town of, yes, Chautauqua, on our drive back to Chicago from Ithaca. Years ago we got as far as the firmly shut outer gate, when passing through the area during in the peak 9-week summer season for tourists and visitors. Back then, we had to pay to get through the gate and enter the enclave, so we didn’t. From the confusing information on various Chautauqua websites (the town tourism website (https://www.tourchautauqua.com/trip-ideas/a-visit-to-the-chautauqua-institution was clearer than the institution’s website), a “Gate Pass/fee” ($30) is required to enter the grounds during the summer. Except Sundays when it’s free at least until 2 pm. In spring, fall and winter, all drive-in gates are open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, no passes/fees required
Still almost everything was shut down …or felt shut down …on the crisp Fall day when we dropped by for about an hour. The sign on the post office said “Closed until June 2023.” Apparently some events are offered beyond during the summer season, and some residents live there year-round.
It was fun to be able to drive through and gawk at the pretty gingerbready cottages and stately buildings that host lectures, concerts and dance performances. We also found a table in the almost deserted village green that worked well for a picnic. (And yes, sadly, this is the place where author Salman Rushdie was stabbed by a madman last summer.)
Not Chautauqua….this is Lake George (Adirondacks)
Over the Pennsylvania border in Ohio, we found cheaper gas, as promised: $3.49 at the Love’s station in Conneaut, Ohio vs $3.89 in Chautauqua and $3.79 in Erie. Love’s also has a dog park.
Apple fest 2022 filled the Ithaca Commons with strollers eating apple crisp, tasting various apple varieties with assistance from Cornell pomologists and browsing at craft booths. We learned that the snapdragon apples we discovered last year didn’t make it this year…bad weather conditions but I did buy a few Shizuka apples with a Mutsu- like taste. I also found Cornell orchards apples at the P&C Fresh near the ag school but it had nowhere near the selection of varieties that used to be sold at Cornell’s pomology department when I was a student (class of 81.) Greenstar Market downtown had Mutsus, but P & C did not.
We walked into a new place on the commons during apple fest called the Yellow Deli that was (somewhat oddly) offering free samples of their delicious fare (Rueben sandwiches, chili, cheesecake drinks. But I happened to hear a woman who walked past us say “too bad they are an anti-Semitic cult.” We googled and could not find anything about anti-semitism but plenty about the cult. Apparently there are yellow delis across the US and in foreign counties and they’ve been labeled a cult. Bit of a bummer but good to know.
At Cornell’s arboretum (formerly the plantations)Cascadilla Falls
Onto the next attraction, an exhibit of gorgeous quilts by local talents held at a local community college in nearby Cortland, Tompkins Cortland Community College, aka TC3.
I forgot to mention last night’s excitement.$2.98 a gallon gas in Homer NY. We thought our eyes were deceiving us. We haven’t seen prices like that in years. And in nearby Ithaca, the price is $3.69 to 3.79.
TakeBetsywithyou 