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So, if you ever got the chance to visit Ithaca for say a three day trip, here's my suggestion of places to visit, things to do, and food to eat.
1. Cornell
A little bias here, but Cornell is probably one of the most beautiful campuses that I have seen. You could take a campus walking tour which leaves from Day Hall (here's the campus map) and get more explanation of the campus life and stories behind the buildings. Or you could always roam around at your own pace and take pictures without being hurried. The best way to do that is start at the area called Ho Plaza, which is a walk way stretching from near the engineering quad to the arts quad.
Things to do:
- Enter the Cornell Store to buy Cornell merchandise or books.
- The a picture of Cornell's McGraw tower or climb up the stairs to watch the chime masters play the bell and for a bird's eye view of the campus and city.
- Go to Uris Library near the Cornell Tower and visit the Andrew Dickson White's library inside Uris to see the Harry Potter like interior of the library.
- Walk to the overlook near the tower for a view of Libe Slope and a peak of Cayuga Lake.
- Walk to the Arts Quad to see Ezra Cornell and Andrew White's statues.
Places to dine:
- If you want to eat something fancy, go to Taverna Banfi, which is the Statler Hotel's restaurant, other then their entrees, they also have lunch buffet.
- Also in Statler, but the lecture classes side, not the hotel side, there is Statler's Terrace which is a cafeteria. Do get the salad, even if the line is ridiculous, it's worth it.
- Collegetown Bagel is a favorite place to go, which is located in collegetown, a short walk away from campus (well that actually depends on where you are on campus).
- When you get on collegetown, there is a wide array of restaurants you can go to, but my favorites are Rulloff's for their black and blue cheese burger, Alladin's Natural Eatery for their souvlaki, falafel pita, or cake desserts, Cafe Pacific for their sukiyaki, as well as desserts, and Miyake for their "Super Bowl".
- Old Tea House offers grrrreeat bubble tea, and has become my craving sometimes. Cafe Pacific also has bubble tea but theirs is not as good.
2. Downtown Ithaca
Ithaca downtown, also known as the Commons is a small vibrant place with unique shops and lots of vintage places. Of course there is a lack of chain shops and branded clothes, but that's the beauty of it. Strolling around at the downtown is truly pleasurable especially if you could get your hands on some second-hand clothing items at Trader K's, or second hand book at the Autumn Leaves.
If you are lucky there could be some performances and events going on. The big events at downtown include Ithaca Chili Cook-off in February where many restaurant vendors open booths for their chili tasting to win the title of best chili of the year, Ithaca Brew Fest at the start of September, and Ithaca Apple Harvest Festival usually at the end of September which is an event full of just everything that contains apple.
Finding good food is easy. My favorite places include the Mexican restaurant Viva Taqueria and Taste of Thai. And don't ever forget about Moosewood. For all the foodie out there, you probably have their cookbooks. For those who don't know, it's a famous vegetarian restaurant with varying menu everyday to adjust to the available local produce. Go there for lunch, because dinner can get a little expensive.
3. Visit Mother Nature
What is Ithaca without the gorges? The city is just surrounded by waterfalls. The tallest one is Taughannock Falls which is about a mile of hiking into the woods and on the side of Cayuga Lake. Buttermilk Falls is right on the side of Route 13. A few smaller ones are Ithaca Falls and Fall Creek Gorge. Hiking places are numerous, one of them is Robert Treman Park which also has a fall called the Lucifer falls. Most of these falls have a picnic area nearby where you can lounge around or do some barbecuing, so bring some food and drinks to eat and enjoy the scenery after you hike. You can buy some to-go food in Wegman's which costs around $7/lb if you don't feel like cooking. Wegman's is awesome, by the way, you can find everything, well, almost everything in there.
Cornell's Ornithology Lab offers free guided morning bird watching tours where you can learn to listen to different bird calls, see them flying by, and see their nests. If you come at the right time, you could see the herons and their young ones perching up at high trees. It's an interesting place to visit (for me who knows so little about birds).
For some food, Ithaca's Farmer's market is also a pleasure to visit. They open on weekends in the summer and is located at the side of Cayuga lake. So after buying some local produce, crafts, wine, or flowers (they have great flowers), go for the food and sit on the dock to enjoy them. Share some of your bread crumbs with the ducks, if you please. I love their crepes, which almost always has a waiting line, and the Cambodian food is also a clear favorite.
The Boat Yard Grill is a restaurant where you could sit outside and also enjoy Cayuga Lake. It's a bit on the pricey side, but the food is great. They do not have a reservation procedure, but you can call up before hand on the same day to tell them what time you're coming and they'll put you on a waiting list. That would reduce your waiting time.
If you happen to visit Ithaca in the winter (why would you do that??) what else can you do but ski? Greek Peak ski resort is about 20 minutes away and sometimes McDonalds has some discount coupons for beginners who would like a 1 hour lesson and access to the bunny hill.
4. Nearby Places
A little bit out of Ithaca, you could enjoy wine tasting around finger lakes area. This is a popular thing to do. For Cayuga Lake, you could go up Route 89 to find a series of wineries. Before you see the wineries, stop by a small but fantastic ice cream place called Cayuga Lake Creamery which has one of the best ice creams I have ever tasted (other than Udders in Singapore).
A must-go place while you are around here is the Corning Glass Museum at Corning which is about a 45 minutes drive away. It is an amazing museum filled with glasses from all over the world and from various time periods. They have such an incredible collection. You could also watch a glass blowing demonstration or if interested you could go for glass making classes. If you are going with somebody from around the area, or from Ithaca, go ahead and mention that to get half off admission price.
And then there's the great Niagara Falls 3 hours away from Ithaca. If you go there for a day trip and just on the US side, I would suggest that you go for the Maid of the Mist and Cave of the Winds only. The Imax movie could be interesting for some people, but definitely skip the aquarium and the science museum since they are small and just not worth the time. You'd be better off enjoying the scenery by walking around the park.
5. Few Other Things
I should mention 2 other restaurants that are my favorite which are Carriage House and Tamarind. Carriage house is great for brunch and they display some vintage items which are interesting. Tamarind is a Thai restaurant which for my personal taste is the best in Ithaca (get their pad sea ew or duck noodle). Ithaca also has a great coffee from Gimme Coffee, for those of you who are addicted to caffeine. Please don't go to Starbucks when you know that you have Gimme Coffee nearby.
For antique lovers, go to Ithaca Antique Center for some good deals and thrifty stuff.
If you are here in Mid March, join the Cornell community for Dragon Day where a dragon is paraded across campus which ends up in a procession to be burnt (if allowed) in the Arts Quad. All in the name of tradition and fun.
And of course, there is also Ithaca College to visit which has a beautiful campus.
Obviously, this list is not exhaustive, there's a lot to see and taste. Here's another city guide that I bumped into: http://www.designsponge.com/2011/03/ithaca-city-guide.html
Hope you can enjoy the city as much as I do!
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