TakeBetsywithyou

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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 I discovered 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.

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.)

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.