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MJ19_161_things_final.indd 46 4/8/19 3:06 PM Ithaca Is . . .Sumer ! ‘161 Things’ to do when the weather’s warm—— on the Hill and beyond

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MJ19_161_things_final.indd 47 4/8/19 3:06 PM # In the mid -Nineties—inspired by the 2 number of steps in McGraw Tower —CAM published a guide to the “161 Things Every Cornell Student Should Do.” The Daily Sun later ran its own version, and we updated our original list in 2015. But as Ithaca’s year -round residents often observe, most students don’t see Cornell’s hometown in its glory: the summer, when we locals reap our karmic debt for all those frigid winter days. It’s the perfect time for alumni to return — and to use Ithaca as the base for a vacation. In that spirit, we offer a different list: 161 things to do—in Ithaca or within about an hour’s drive—if you come back this summer (with a few events in fall). Like Cornell itself, it has something for everyone.

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Outdoor 10. Take a 19. Enjoy a free up some cheese, Amusements recreational tree concert in Klarman chocolate milk, and climbing course Hall (Tuesday other Cornell- 1. Request a song at COE. evenings). made products—at to be played on the the Dairy Bar in chimes, then listen 11. Watch an 20. Go bowling at Stocking Hall. to it while lounging outdoor movie on Helen Newman Hall on the grass. the Willard Straight (closed on Sundays). 28. Enjoy a coffee terrace, hosted by at your favorite 2. Walk through the Cornell Cinema. campus café, such Botanic Gardens’ as Manndible or the arboretum; rest at 12. Go on a self- Temple of Zeus. the pond’s gazebo guided tour of and admire the campus’s many 29. Stock up on aquatic life. outdoor sculptures. apples, cider, maple syrup, and more 3. Take an official 13. Follow a at the Cornell tour of campus (and timeline of Big Orchards. see the new Tang Red history at the Welcome Center, Sesquicentennial 21. Attend a with its lovely view Commemorative free lecture in of Beebe Lake). Grove, at the top of Kennedy Hall’s Libe Slope. Call Auditorium 4. Go on a guided (Wednesday bird walk at the Lab evenings). Around of Ornithology. Indoor Collegetown Activities 22. View the Wilder Brain Collection 30. Walk up 14. Go rock in Uris Hall, whose the Cascadilla climbing at the specimens include Gorge Trail from #14 8,000-square-foot the brain of downtown; reward Lindseth Climbing infamous murderer yourself with coffee Center, one of the Edward Rulloff. and a sweet treat at # largest of its kind in Collegetown Bagels. 24 5. Rent equipment— the U.S. from canoes to 31. Have brunch backpacks to 15. Stargaze at Rulloff’s, one camping gear—from at Fuertes of Collegetown’s Cornell Outdoor Observatory on oldest eateries. Education (COE), Friday nights, 23. Read a book then enjoy the great cloud conditions in Uris Library’s outdoors. permitting. ornate A.D. White reading room. 6. Kiss your significant other 24. Savor a quiet on the Suspension moment in Sage Bridge. Chapel.

7. Enjoy a free 16. Take a week- 25. Pick up some concert on the long Cornell’s Adult Big Red swag for Arts Quad, held on University course; the whole family at 32. Shop for summer Fridays. topics this summer the Cornell Store. comfortable shoes range from gourmet at Fontana’s. 8. Stroll around cooking to the Beebe Lake. science of climate 33. Relive your change. undergrad days with 9. Marvel at the a bar-hopping tour blooms in the 17. Climb to the top of Collegetown’s Azalea Garden (on of McGraw Tower remaining watering Tower Road) and to hear (and see) a holes. Rhododendron chimes concert. Collection (at Food & Drink 34. Refresh Cornell Botanic 18. Tour the yourself with Gardens), at their Johnson Museum; 26. Sip a cocktail bubble tea at one of height May to July. after checking out at the Statler bar several spots in the the view from the (don’t forget to ask neighborhood. fifth floor, go to the about the secret sculpture court and drinks menu). 35. Grab a pizza admire the Cosmos and Greek salad light installation 27. Check out the at Souvlaki House; from the “zero latest ice cream don’t forget the

PHOTOS: PREVIOUS SPREAD, ALAMY. THIS SPREAD: ARBORETUM, MUSEUM, LAB OFFLOWERS, 0RNITHOLOGY, ROBERT OBSERVATORY, BARKER (UREL); BOWLING, BRAIN AND RULLOFF’S, AND APPLE, SHUTTERSTOCK; JASON KOSKI (UREL); SHIRT, CORNELL STORE; CLIMBING, LINDSAY FRANCE (UREL); SAGE, OFFICE OF VISUAL SERVICES gravity” bench. flavors—and pick baklava.

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MJ19_161_things_final.indd 49 4/8/19 3:06 PM Ithaca and Beyond The Great Water World 53. Hike a state Outdoors park; nearby 44. Go swimming options include 36. Take a in Cayuga Lake; Buttermilk, Treman, gentle stroll to lifeguarded areas Taughannock, Taughannock are available at Watkins Glen, and Falls (two miles such venues as Fillmore Glen. round-trip from Taughannock Falls the parking lot), State Park (on the 54. Go mountain then drive up to the western shore) and biking at Greek falls overlook for a Lansing’s Myers Peak, home to #48 spectacular view. Point (on the east). seventeen trails (and a chairlift); 37. Go on a hot air 45. Take a sailboat, rentals and lessons balloon ride; flights canoe, kayak, or are available. leave from various paddleboard onto parks in Ithaca Cayuga Lake; depending on wind various venues direction. offer rentals and/or lessons. 38. Go skydiving over the Finger 46. Spice up your Lakes from a private Farmers Market airport in Ovid. visit with a one-hour boat ride from its 39. Bring a picnic dock (Saturdays, 55. Stroll or cycle to the Flat Rock Sundays, and the Black Diamond area of Forest Thursday evenings Trail, an 8.4-mile Home, on Fall Creek in season). former rail line that just upstream of runs from Ithaca to Beebe Lake. 47. Go for a Taughannock Falls dip in a (legal) in Trumansburg. 40. Ooh and ahh at swimming hole at the Independence Lower Treman or 56. Rent a Lime Day fireworks Buttermilk Falls Bike and explore (set for July 3) state parks. Ithaca and its over Cayuga Lake; environs. viewing options 48. Take a # include Sunset paddleboard yoga 57. Explore the 40 Park, Cass Park, class on the lake. trails of the Arnot Taughannock Falls Teaching and State Park . . . and a 49. Wine and Research Forest, #45 boat on the lake. dine on the lake; a Cornell-run offerings include preserve fifteen 41. Explore wine-tasting cruises miles southwest of the farm and and self-catered Ithaca. make crafts at sunset trips. Gourdlandia, a 58. Hike part of the gourd-centric arts 50. Go scuba diving 580-mile Finger and agriculture spot in the Finger Lakes, Lakes Trail, which on West Hill. where you can view stretches from sunken fossils, Allegany State Park boats, even (in at the Pennsylvania Skaneateles Lake) border across a plane. Central New York to the Catskills. 51. Watch the action at the Finger 59. Bike along the Lakes International Erie Canal, located Dragon Boat about an hour north Festival, set for July of Ithaca; the annual 42. Visit Ithaca 13 at Taughannock Cycle the Erie Canal Falls, either by Falls State Park. event, with riders parking in the pedaling from adjacent lot or Get Some Buffalo to Albany taking an easy stroll Exercise and camping en from downtown. route, is July 7–14. 52. Rent a bike 43. Admire the at Stewart Park 60. Walk, jog, nineteenth-century and cruise Ithaca’s or cycle the 3.5- covered bridge in 5.5-mile Cayuga mile East Ithaca

Newfield. Waterfront Trail. Recreation Way. PHOTOS: YOGA, TERRY KENT/ITHACA SUP YOGA; FIREWORKS, BARBARA FRIEDMAN;GOURDS, CANOE, GOURDLANDIA; ALAMY; MOUNTAIN BIKE, GREEK PEAK; CYCLING, ERIE CANAL NHC; SWIMMING, ALAMY

MJ19_161_things_final.indd 50 4/8/19 3:06 PM #59

#47

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MJ19_161_things_final.indd 51 4/8/19 3:06 PM Race to the Finish

61. Run a 5K, such as the Ithaca Twilight (June 12), the Fillmore (July 20) in Moravia, or the Ithaca 5 & 10 (September 15), which also has a 10K option.

62. Run a trail race. Cayuga Trails (June 1) offers marathon and 50-mile distances, with a route that includes Buttermilk Falls and Treman state parks; the Finger Lakes 50s (July 6), which goes through the Finger Lakes National Forest, offers 25K, 50K, or 50 miles.

63. Compete in a triathlon. Options include the Musselman (Geneva, July 14), the Cayuga Lake (Taughannock Falls State Park, August 4), and the Finger Lakes (Canandaigua, September 8).

64. Run the Ithaca Gorges Half Marathon (June 15), described by its organizers as “fantastically fast and scenic.”

65. Cycle around Cayuga Lake—and raise funds for HIV/ AIDS prevention and services—with the annual AIDS Ride for Life, September 7.

66. Brave 5K or 10K obstacle courses along the Cayuga Waterfront and Black Diamond trails at the Tough Turtle Mud Run, September 21.

Family Fun

67. Stroll the , a scale model of the solar system stretching from the center # of the Commons 62 (the sun) to the (Pluto).

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MJ19_161_things_final.indd 52 4/8/19 3:06 PM at the legendary in Ithaca’s Dewitt Mall.

82. Sample dairy delights on the seven-stop Finger # Lakes Cheese Trail; 68 the closest one to Ithaca is Lively Run 68. Bring the 74. Encounter bugs Goat Dairy, which kids to Ithaca’s of many species offers tastings and Sciencenter for at Insectapalooza, barn tours. some hands-on hosted by Cornell’s science education, entomology 83. Have an plus a large outdoor department in upscale lunch or play structure and Comstock Hall, dinner at Simeon’s mini-golf. October 19. restaurant, the Commons stalwart 69. Learn about all that reopened # things avian at the several years ago 75 Lab of O’s Migration after being heavily Celebration, damaged by a 2014 September 15. truck crash.

70. Take a spin 75. See some 84. Graze the on the Stewart 275 species vendors for Park carousel and at Syracuse’s breakfast at the enjoy the park’s Rosamond Gifford Ithaca Farmers new inclusive Zoo (whose Market; shop for playground for healthcare is produce and crafts, kids of all physical provided by then graze for abilities, then go specialists at the lunch. watch the geese on Vet college). the lakeshore. 85. Eat brunch at For Foodies Purity Ice Cream, 71. Visit the Ithaca then chase it with Children’s Garden, 76. Have breakfast dessert. a three-acre oasis at the State Diner— near Cayuga Inlet. any time of the day.

77. Take the “Pinesburger Challenge” at the Glenwood Pines, the venerable eatery overlooking Cayuga Lake (put away four # cheeseburgers in 82 72. Navigate a under an hour, win a six-story tree house bobblehead). 86. Take a six- at the Cayuga stop, three-hour, Nature Center, 78. Go grocery downtown culinary # which also features shopping at tour with Ithaca Is 87 live animals and (in Wegmans, the Foodies. summer) a butterfly mega-market that garden. so many Cornellians 87. Gather wish had a branch strawberries, where they live. blueberries, apples, peaches, and 79. Take a scenic more at a variety drive on Route 89 of U-pick farms in to Cayuga Lake season. Creamery (lauded by USA Today as the 88. Take a cooking best ice cream in class. Venues the state), stopping include Ithaca’s at wineries there Coltivare Culinary and back. Center and Aurora Cooks!, a school run 80. Revisit the Hot by Inns of Aurora. 73. Burn off some Truck with a French energy on the bread pizza at 89. Take a “farm to giant, castle-like Shortstop Deli. fork” cycling tour wooden playground based at Atwater outside Fall Creek 81. Go vegetarian Estate Vineyards,

PHOTOS: RUNNING, STEVEN GALLOW; SCIENCENTER AND PURITY, DAVE BURBANK;FRANCE CHILDREN’S (UREL); GARDEN ZOO, MARIA AND TREE SIMMONS/ROSAMOND HOUSE, PROVIDED; GIFFORD INSECT, LINDSAY ZOO; CHEESE, ALLISON USAVAGE; U-PICK, JENNIFER KLOIBER INFANTE Elementary School. with lunch or dinner August 9–10.

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Libations Festival, which 107. Take in an old- brings more than time country fair— 90. Go tasting ninety wineries from fried dough to on the Cayuga to Watkins Glen animal exhibits to or Seneca Wine raceway, July 12–14. carnival rides—at Trail, with dozens the Trumansburg of wineries. Don’t 99. Nibble dozens Fair, August 20–25. want to drive? Book of cheeses by local a tour, which can makers, plus listen 108. Get an up- include lunch and to live music and close look at Ithaca- expert guides. shop for produce area agriculture at and crafts, at Cornell Cooperative the Finger Lakes Extension’s Open Cheese Festival in Farm Days weekend, Odessa, July 27. August 10–11.

100. Savor 109. Immerse fermented cabbage yourself in an # 111 in all its glory at the American tradition, Phelps Sauerkraut complete with Festival, August 1–4. deep-fried delights and vendors 101. Celebrate all galore, at the New things apple at York State Fair in 91. Sample local the annual Apple Syracuse, August hard ciders at the Harvest Festival 21–September 2. Finger Lakes Cider on the Commons, House in Interlaken. September 27–29. 110. Walk around Ithaca’s Fall Creek 92. Grab a brew on 102. Drop in to and Northside the Finger Lakes tasting rooms and neighborhoods Beer Trail, which enjoy pairings at while listening features some 140 local restaurants to concerts at breweries, pubs, tap during Finger in houses, and tasting Lakes Cider Week, September rooms. September 27– (date TBA). October 6. 93. Quaff beers, take a tour, and 103. Sample the eat al fresco at wares of breweries, the Ithaca Beer distilleries, and Company. cideries at the Ticket Galaxy Beer 94. Enjoy a craft Festival at Watkins cocktail with some Glen raceway, locally sourced October 26. ingredients at 111. Admire vintage Argos Inn, a lavishly Festivals autos and stroll renovated hostelry & Events the grounds at an a block east of the (General) antique car show Commons. at Sonnenberg 104. Revel in Gardens & Mansion 95. Taste small- the wonderful State Historic Park batch spirits and weirdness that is in Canandaigua, take a tour at Finger the Ithaca Festival September 21. Lakes Distilling in Parade—featuring #104 Burdett. the tutu-clad autos 112. Fly high on of the Volvo Ballet Airport Day at the Festivals & and so much more— Ithaca Tompkins Events (Food snaking through Regional Airport; & Beverage) downtown the festivities include evening of May 30. a 5K race on the 96. Choose from runway, sightseeing among more than 105. Enjoy flights, and a 200 wines at the a plethora of pancake breakfast Seneca Lake Wine performances, food (date TBA). and Food Festival vendors, and crafts in Watkins Glen, at the annual Ithaca 113. Wield your May 18. Festival, May 31– wand at Ithaca’s June 2. popular Wizarding 97. Eat shortcake, Weekend, a Harry view a parade, and 106. Groove to Potter-inspired more at the Owego the music of some event (now with a Strawberry Festival, eighty bands at generic Halloween June 14–15. the Finger Lakes theme, thanks to GrassRoots Festival, objections from 98. Taste vino on in Trumansburg, Warner Brothers) a vast scale at the July 18–21. (Camping held downtown,

#112 Finger Lakes Wine available.) October 26–27. PHOTOS: CARS, JULIE SHERWOOD; PARADE, CASEY MARTIN; PLANE, COMMUNIQUE;ALLISON WINE, USAVAGE; PORCHFEST AND BEER, PROVIDED; GRASSROOTS, DAVE BURBANK

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MJ19_161_things_final.indd 54 4/8/19 3:57 PM #106

#93

MJ19_161_things_final.indd 55 4/8/19 3:06 PM #136

Theatre 120. Enjoy a Fine Arts Music 128. Sip vino and & Film Victorian-era listen to music at classic: a Gilbert & 122. On Gallery 125. Rock out at a one of the wineries, 114. See a play Sullivan operetta Night, held the show at the State such as Treleaven or musical at the by Binghamton’s first Friday of Theatre, which and Americana, Kitchen Theatre (in Summer Savoyards. each month, take hosts major acts that host summer downtown Ithaca), This season’s show a walkable tour of from around the shows. (in is The Yeomen of Ithaca art openings. country. a former airplane # the Guard. 129. Mark the hangar near Treman 117 123. Visit artists’ 126. Bring a fiftieth anniversary Marina), or Cortland 121. View an studios on the picnic and enjoy a of Woodstock with Repertory Theatre 116. Attend an Cinemapolis, Cornell arthouse movie Greater Ithaca summer concert at a three-day music (located about a avant-garde Cinema, and Sage (and munch on Art Trail; a select Taughannock Falls festival (organized half-hour away performance at Chapel. delicious popcorn, number of artists State Park. by a co-producer of in a picturesque Ithaca’s Cherry with real butter welcome guests the original show) lakeside spot). Artspace, located 118. Take in one of and tasty toppings) the first Saturday at Watkins Glen on Cayuga Inlet. Ithaca Shakespeare at Cinemapolis, of each month, and raceway, August 115. Catch an Company’s outdoor Ithaca’s nonprofit large “open studio” 16–18. old-fashioned 117. Go retro with shows in Treman cinema just off the weekends are set drive-in movie. The a silent movie. State Marine Park; Commons. for October 5–6 130. Catch an Elmira Drive-In The Wharton Pericles, Prince and 12–13. outdoor rock (which holds double Studio Museum of Tyre and A concert at Tag’s in features) and hosts a screening Midsummer Night’s 124. Create your Big Flats. (During Auburn’s Finger at Taughannock Dream are in July. own artwork (and 127. Attend a free the Halloween Lakes Drive-In Falls State Park BYOB) at Ithaca’s concert on the season, the venue (which holds triple each August; in 119. Watch a free Wine and Design, Commons, held on transforms into features) are each October, it holds a outdoor movie in a studio located Thursday evenings Tagsylvania, a located about an celebration of silent Stewart Park (every just west of the throughout the hard-core haunted

hour from Ithaca. films with events at Friday in August). Commons. summer. house.) PHOTOS: FARM, LUKE HESS; MOVIE, MGM; POPCORN AND BASKET, SHUTTERSTOCK;LIBRARY MASTODON, OF CONGRESS; PROVIDED; SHAKESPEARE, TUBMAN, STEVE PONTON; STATE, CASEY MARTIN; GLASS, JEFFREY FOOTE

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MJ19_161_things_final.indd 56 4/8/19 3:58 PM Museums & 134. Take a guided Centers tour of the Harriet Tubman Home and 131. Tour the National Historical Corning Museum Park in Auburn. of Glass, which includes not only a vast collection but glass-blowing demonstrations and hands-on workshops.

132. Check out the Paleontological Research Institution’s , whose # highlights include 135. Learn about 118 one of the most the suffrage complete mastodon movement and skeletons ever more at the discovered. Women’s Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls.

136. Meet the rescued agricultural animals—turkeys, pigs, cows, and more—at Farm Sanctuary in 133. View the Watkins Glen collection at (co-founded by a Syracuse’s Everson Cornell alum). Museum of Art— whose dramatic 137. Visit the concrete building, Rockwell Museum, like Cornell’s a Smithsonian- Johnson, was affiliated museum designed by star of American art in architect I.M. Pei. Corning. #125

#131

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MJ19_161_things_final.indd 57 4/8/19 3:06 PM #144 #140 #138

Sports #141 138. Play a round of golf. The numerous area options include Ithaca’s nine-hole municipal course— and Cornell’s own eighteen-hole course, designed by Robert Trent Jones. # 143 139. Attend a minor 141. Learn windmill) located league baseball cartwheels, next door to one game. The Auburn handstands, and of the Northeast’s Doubledays (a more with an few remaining A&W single-A team), adult (or youth) restaurants.

Binghamton Rumble tumbling class at Ponies (AA), and Ithaca’s Circus 143. Watch a roller

Syracuse Mets Culture school. derby bout by the OSKI (UREL); (AAA) are each Other sessions that Ithaca League of about an hour’s welcome drop-ins Women Rollers at drive from Ithaca. include juggling, Cass Park rink. unicycling, and “Family Circus 144. Saddle up for Jam,” which horseback riding at includes wire one of several local walking and stables. aerial work. 145. Experience 142. Play miniature what it’s like to be golf at two venues an auto racer with 140. Get revved in nearby Cortland— Drive the Glen, up at a NASCAR, the pirate-themed which lets visitors vintage auto, Shipwreck Golf and, do laps in their own or other race just down the road, car or truck around at Watkins Glen a classic course Watkins Glen’s

International. (complete with Grand Prix circuit. PHOTOS: HORSES, PAINTED BAR STABLES; GLEN, JEFF ZELEVANSKY; GOLF, JASON K DERBY, PROVIDED; BASEBALL, SHUTTERSTOCK; CIRCUS, CHRISTOPHER MALLOY

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MJ19_161_things_final.indd 58 4/8/19 3:31 PM Lodging 154. Buy an “Ithaca Is Gorges” T-shirt 146. Reserve a (or other keepsake, cabin at Buttermilk from coffee mugs Falls or Lower to baseball caps) at Treman state parks. one of many places around town. 147. Rent a house on Cayuga 155. Explore “micro Lake; which shore retail” in Press Bay you choose depends Alley, a cluster of on your preference tiny shops located for sunrises or behind the Ithaca sunsets. Journal’s former printing facility off 148. Go “glamping” West Green Street (luxury camping) downtown. at sites such as Ithaca’s La Tourelle, Etcetera # which offers well- 148 appointed tents on 156. Drive around its grounds. Ithaca and marvel at all the recent high- 149. Stay in a rise construction yurt in a nearby downtown and in town like Newfield, Collegetown. Trumansburg, or Romulus. 157. In honor of ’s 150. Book a description of Earth guestroom on a as a “pale blue dot,” farm or at a farm- put a marble on his based B&B. grave in Ithaca’s historic Lake View Shopping Cemetery, the final resting place of 151. Browse the many prominent newly renovated Ithacans. , which features boutiques, restaurants, and an outpost of the Cornell Store.

152. Peruse high- 158 . Get a free end home décor at massage from MacKenzie-Childs’s a student at the # headquarters and Finger Lakes School 151 flagship store in of Massage. Aurora. Its wildly popular barn sale is 159. Attend (or July 18–21. participate in) the annual reading of the Declaration of Independence, held the morning of July 4 on the Homer town green.

160. Take your teen on a tour of (gasp!) another area school; options include , SUNY Cortland, 153. Go antiquing. Wells College, Local venues Binghamton include the Found University, in Ithaca multi- and Syracuse vendor market University. and Significant Elements, a 161. Pick any of the nonprofit purveyor activities from the of salvaged original “161 Things” architectural pieces, list you didn’t get to from light fixtures do when you were a

to doorknobs. student, and do it. PHOTOS: GLAMPING, ALLISON USAVAGE; COMMONS AND DOCK, CASEY MARTIN; CERAMICS, MACKENZIE-CHILDS; MARBLE, SHUTTERSTOCK

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