Upstate New York Travels

Later that evening, we walked along the railing that looks over the Falls. Huge multi-colored lights lit up the falling water, which only emphasized the rush of the river and the height of the spray that filled the air when the water went over. We could look right across the Falls to the other side, where Canada had a great high-rise town and fancy hotels. But the water was the star. It’s rapid rushing push toward the drop was unexpected. The force at which it fell over-powering, and the sheer amount of water is almost unfathomable. Then at 10:00 p.m., there is a fireworks display over the Falls. Amazing pictures of the falls and a review are here.

The next morning, we had planned to go on the Maid in the Mist, a boat that one can board and get very close to the bottom of the falls. However, the morning brought wind, rain and cold, so we opted not to go. However, we were still left with an awe-inspiring experience.

After two days of staring at this immense sight, we needed to get back on the road and did so. We were headed for Ithaca where Cornel University is located. My husband had been accepted to Cornel when he was applying to colleges, but opted for UCLA instead. He wanted to see how the campus now looked. We drove around the university hillside, which was packed with walking students. It is a top private school that was founded in 1865, and presently has more than 25,000 students, over 1,700 professors and 50 Nobel Laureates. It rained on and off so we did not get out and walk.

Then we headed to the Corning Museum of Glass. Over 50,000 objects representing more than 3,500 years of history are on display. We wandered through room after room for over two hours, amazed and astounded at the immensity of the collection and the diversity of the works. Nearly a hundred pictures were taken, so I couldn’t possibly share them all. Here is one of the interior, but you will want to read the review with a lot more pictures, here.

An hour away, we arrived in Ithaca, where we settled in at the Argos Inn. We had room 102, The Peacock Room. A review of this B&B can be found, here. Then later we went to dinner at Coltivare, and a review of this restaurant can be found, here.

The next morning we went out for breakfast to a quirky place in Ithaca’s walking plaza, to the Waffle Frolic. I didn’t write a review for this small place, but the choice for waffles was extensive. My husband ended up with a simple eggs and bacon with flattened waffle toast and I had the caramel apple waffle with apple butter, walnuts and caramel sauce.

Then it was just over two hours to our next destination, to Secret Caverns.

The website for this place is a kick, obviously run by hippies with a sense of humor. And I use that term with love and affection, since I am from that generation. First of all, one is encouraged to touch the flow stones and rock along the walk. They also had some great hand-painted signs on their website, and a large fun gift shop. We didn’t wait long before we were led by Mat on a forty-five minute tour down into the cave, which at the end revealed a 100-foot waterfall. You can read more about this great place and see more pictures, on my review, here.

After going down and climbing back up its 103 steps, we had gained an appetite and headed on, finding the Bull’s Head Inn to eat, in Cobleskill. I also did not write a review for this restaurant, which was completely empty but for us when there. The menu was not exciting, but they did offer cream soda, which I enjoyed.

Our place for the night was the Mill Pond Inn & Tavern.

We arrived an hour before sunset, which is why the picture above has low light. The property sits on the site of a historic mill with a pond and woodland, still there to enjoy. The room was very nice and the bed super comfortable. It was a lovely setting with the pond being about 150-200 feet wide, Adirondack chairs were nestled in pairs, and a few canoes lay upside down at the edge of the pond. A review is here.

The next morning we were on the road again, passing through a wide farming area. Further on, we headed back to Olana, ready for our one-hour electric car tour of the 26-acres of the property. It turned out to be a cold tour in the open vehicle, but very informative. We saw wonderful vistas, an old farm where the ice house used to be, the gardens, and lots of people were walking the property with their dogs. This part of our Olana tour is included in the first review, which can be found here.