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Today was probably one of the slower days that we have had since last Thursday. We woke up and just piddled through the morning. The next thing we know it is Noon so we figured we should go exploring before the rain settled in.
We found out from the waiter at the Mexican place last night that Ithaca has 4 seasons. They are: winter, still winter, almost out of winter and construction season.
This week the temperatures are supposed to be lows in the high 40's and highs in the low 70's. I'm not complaining. We packed clothes for this type of weather. Well, all except Timmy. He's the one that wears shorts year round.
Post Office When Jeff and I went on our honeymoon (15 years ago) we were on a tour in the Bahamas that took us to Hell. It is actually a place in the Bahamas where you can send a postcard and it is postmarked Hell.
Ever since then I have sent postcards to people when we go on big trips. When we went on our overseas trip the boys got to choose a few friends that they would like
to add to the list.
Since we are on another big trip we are sending friends postcards from New York, Ithaca and Canada. I wasn't able to find a post office in New York, NY so we stopped by the post office here in Ithaca.
I have gotten smarter over the years. I now use labels instead of handwriting addresses. A little hint told to me by my mother. She's so smart!
So, first set of postcards have been sent off.
Taughannock Falls There are 11 falls in the general area that we are in. The first falls we decided to visit was Taughannock Falls.
Taughannock Crrek plunges over a spectular 215 foot (65.5 m) waterfall, then flows through a deep gorge before joining Cayuga Lake.
We (accidentally) started at the overlook portion of the falls. At the overlook point there is a ranger station and the ranger there pointed us in the right direction.
If we wanted to walk down to the lower portion of the falls it would be a three mile hike there and back. Since the rain was coming in we decided to drive the car
down to the lower level of the falls. If the weather was better we would have walked because we really didn't have plans for the day and it looks like a nicely shaded walk.
We drive to the lower Falls and we easily found the trailhead.
As you start waking the 3/4 mile trail you come up on the first small waterfall. Due to the recent rain the water is flowing fast and furious. It is a beautiful site. We all comment how that water is probably so cold and if you were to step in that stream the force of the water would probably be so strong. The sound of a waterfall is always so calming.
As you walk down the trail you see trees growing out of the sides of the rock and the path is covered like a canopy. I bet in the summer is it still cool under the trees and the cold water flowing beside the path.
The walk is very flat and listening to the water flow is relaxing. We pass a few people but for the most part we have the trail to ourselves. We did pass some Mennonites.
I didn't realize Mennonites and Amish were in this area but the more we explore the more we see there is a very unique mix of people in this area.
We get to the base of the Falls and we were lucky enough to run into a family that took a family picture for us.
When you are standing next to the viewing area you can feel the breeze from the falls and you can feel some of the spray. The force of the water coming down is very strong.
If you look at the picture of Jeff and the boys heading towards the bridge to get back to the main trail you will see a little opening. That is where the overlook is. You can see a few little heads poking through the trees.
We walked back to the parking lot and headed to find something to eat.
Hosmer Winery When we left the Falls we took a right and headed back to Ithaca to find some thing to eat. Well, we thought we were headed to Ithaca but turns out we were about 15 miles in the wrong
direction.
Well, we kind of thought we might be going the wrong way because we weren't seeing any of the landmarks we saw on the way up. I guess we were just enjoying to view of the lake and seeing all wineries.
We finally got back Sprint coverage and we figured out we were going to wrong way.
We turned around and decided that we would like to try one of the wineries and we saw a sign for brick oven pizza. We pulled into the the winery as the rain started and the people that greeted us told us that the restaurant just closed due to the weather.
Jeff and I had never been to a winery before so we asked the people how the wine tastings worked. To say they were friendly would be an incorrect description. Keep in mind we were the only people in the winery so it wasn't like they had other people to tend to. We tried to get information out of this but pulling teeth might have been easier. Jeff and I looked at each other and said it's time to move along.
We decided to try one
more winery. We drive into the Hosmer Winery. As soon as we walked in the door we were greeted with a friendly smile. Jeff and I looked at each other with a 'that's better' look.
The lady explained how the tasting worked and laid a paper in front of us with a dry erase marker and placed two wine glasses in front of us.
For $5 we get to pick out 5 wines to taste and we get a free sample of the wine of the month which was a Gruner Veltliner. We chose a Sparkling Wine, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Sweet Riesling and Sangria. After tasting all the wines we chose to buy the Riesling to enjoy in the evening while watching a movie at the apartment.
The experience at the Hosmer Winery was very friendly and inviting. I think you could have stayed there for hours and they would have answered any question you had and probably taken you on a tour. You can tell this winery was very family oriented. They even gave the boys popsicles while Jeff and I tasted the wines.
On of the ladies recommended that we try the restaurant
Glenwood Pines which is on the way into Ithaca. She said is it kid friendly and the boys could play games while we waited on the food. Heck yeah! That's our kid of place.
Glenwood Pines The restaurant was about two miles outside of Ithaca. It looked like a dive bar on the edge of a cliff. When Jeff parked the car he parked it about4 feet from the parking block because he was scared it might roll down the hill. Ha! We are obviously not locals because other folk just pulled on up. Brakes have got to be good in this town!
When we walked in there was a pool table and some arcade games. The boys picked what they wanted off the menu and headed over to play a game of pool.
The atmosphere was very relaxing and we could have stayed there as long as we wanted. As we were waiting on our food this one older gentleman walked in and ordered pineapple upside down cake. That's all. I think he was a local because they acted like they knew him. At the bar they were people lined up in the
stools just talking like they were all old friends. So, pretty sure this was a local dive.
As we at there more and more people came so I think we beat the rush hour.
We all enjoyed our food and said that we were going to come back before we left Ithaca. Jeff wanted to try the Split Pea soup and I think the boys need a rematch in pool.
International Society of Double Bassist Convention The whole reason that we are in Ithaca is so that Kirby can attend the International Society of Double Bassist Youth program. The 'opening ceremonies' began at 7pm so we found our seats just before the ceremonies began.
We really do not know anything about all the 'big names' in the Double Bass world so we really felt out of place but Kirby seemed to take it all in.
They announced the winners of the competitions they had earlier in the day and then the keynote speaker began his address. The keynote speaker was the founder Gary Karr. He gave us the history of the organization and we learned a lot of the evolution of the
bass in the orchestra family as we know it today. It was very interesting.
At the end of the speech we headed home to call it a day.
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The saga with the television continues. It shuts off every 6 minutes and then turns itself back on in about 10 minutes. I did get to watch my Bravo shows because the time off and back on was timed with the commercials. He, He.
Tomorrow we drop Kirby off at camp. Me, Jeff and Timmy will go explore another waterfall and a different winery.
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Katie Roisen
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So glad you had a great time :)
Cheers from Hosmer Winery! It made our day to read your blog post and we are thrilled you found your time at Hosmer fun and relaxing, we are proud to have hosted your first wine tasting :) Hope to you again and safe travels!