Day 6 (8/1): Empire State of Mind
AUBURN NY - Today was our slow day, as we only had to cover 30 miles to the west, as the crow flies.
So instead we headed south to Ithaca, home of Cornell University. Given the geological history of the area, there are several gorges sprinkled throughout campus and the city, prompting the unofficial city motto: “Ithaca is gorges.”
Chad picked out lunch today: MIX. The soundtrack was pure big-band (which Chad wouldn’t have picked) with Sinatra and Bublé belting out the standards while we chowed down on our meals.
It was then on up to Seneca Falls, driving up the west shoreline of Lake Cayuga, one of the Finger Lakes. (For trivial purposes only, Keuka Lake is the “middle” Finger Lake: 6th of 11.)
For a town of 6,600, Seneca Falls is full of sights to see. We stopped in at the Women’s Rights National Historical Park, the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and the It’s A Wonderful Life Museum. (While not filmed here, the town inspired the story and setting.)
With the time ticking away, we were only able to drive by Harriet Tubman National Historic Park in Auburn before checking in to the hotel. Afterward, it was across the street to the home of the person who sold Harriet Tubman her house: Lincoln-era Secretary of State William Seward.
We got there 20 minutes into the last tour of the day, but our guide Alexis was still pedal-to-the-metal with information for the hour we were there. (Despite speaking at a Millennial clip, she was still amazed that other guides could get their spiels out in an hour or less: “My shortest was probably 70-75 minutes, and even then, I thought I was going to pass out from lack of air.”)
It was starting to rain as we exited the house/museum, so I directed Chad to our restaurant for the evening - Mesa Grande Taqueria (check out their commercials on YouTube) - a couple blocks away while I got the car from the hotel. Little did I know that it is town policy to park diagonally in reverse; you can’t pull in to a spot. (Not that I got a ticket, but I had to loop the block a couple of times to find a spot on my side of the street.)
After dinner it was straight on to Falcon Park, home of the Auburn Doubledays, named for the presumed founder of baseball, Abner Doubledays. They were playing our Black Bears, so tonight we had an actual rooting interest.
Unfortunately, seated on the alcohol patio to charge my phone, I was next to a couple of local sales reps from Bell’s Beer, who supplies the Doubledays. They weren’t loud and obnoxious; just one of them. (The young woman seemed befuddled by the rules.) It gave me immense pleasure to watch the Bears steal the game with four runs in the final two innings to beat Auburn 5-4.
So instead we headed south to Ithaca, home of Cornell University. Given the geological history of the area, there are several gorges sprinkled throughout campus and the city, prompting the unofficial city motto: “Ithaca is gorges.”
Chad picked out lunch today: MIX. The soundtrack was pure big-band (which Chad wouldn’t have picked) with Sinatra and Bublé belting out the standards while we chowed down on our meals.
It was then on up to Seneca Falls, driving up the west shoreline of Lake Cayuga, one of the Finger Lakes. (For trivial purposes only, Keuka Lake is the “middle” Finger Lake: 6th of 11.)
For a town of 6,600, Seneca Falls is full of sights to see. We stopped in at the Women’s Rights National Historical Park, the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and the It’s A Wonderful Life Museum. (While not filmed here, the town inspired the story and setting.)
With the time ticking away, we were only able to drive by Harriet Tubman National Historic Park in Auburn before checking in to the hotel. Afterward, it was across the street to the home of the person who sold Harriet Tubman her house: Lincoln-era Secretary of State William Seward.
We got there 20 minutes into the last tour of the day, but our guide Alexis was still pedal-to-the-metal with information for the hour we were there. (Despite speaking at a Millennial clip, she was still amazed that other guides could get their spiels out in an hour or less: “My shortest was probably 70-75 minutes, and even then, I thought I was going to pass out from lack of air.”)
It was starting to rain as we exited the house/museum, so I directed Chad to our restaurant for the evening - Mesa Grande Taqueria (check out their commercials on YouTube) - a couple blocks away while I got the car from the hotel. Little did I know that it is town policy to park diagonally in reverse; you can’t pull in to a spot. (Not that I got a ticket, but I had to loop the block a couple of times to find a spot on my side of the street.)
After dinner it was straight on to Falcon Park, home of the Auburn Doubledays, named for the presumed founder of baseball, Abner Doubledays. They were playing our Black Bears, so tonight we had an actual rooting interest.
Unfortunately, seated on the alcohol patio to charge my phone, I was next to a couple of local sales reps from Bell’s Beer, who supplies the Doubledays. They weren’t loud and obnoxious; just one of them. (The young woman seemed befuddled by the rules.) It gave me immense pleasure to watch the Bears steal the game with four runs in the final two innings to beat Auburn 5-4.