Adventures

We spent Wednesday afternoon at Letchworth Park in upstate New York. It’s called “The Grand Canyon of the East,” and it definitely feels like it. Bigger than the parks around Ithaca, and with much deeper canyons, it really does having some beautifully dramatic views. Sydney and I hiked for a couple of hours and climbed back into the car with our legs all tingly from the stair- and hill-climbing. Sydney was wise to burn off some of the energy I’d been building up over the past week when I was sick. He was curiously quiet for awhile during our walk, but we managed to find something to argue about on the way back that carried us back up the trail to our car in half the time it took us to hike in!

He then took me to a really lovely B&B where the lady overwhelmed us with 10 minutes of non-stop talking that included mention of the inn’s history, Ghirardelli-chocolate-chip cookies, several lovely sitting rooms, tea, coffee, water, six acres of loveliness, and details about the new deck attached to our room. By the end Sydney was overwhelmed and I was ecstatic. So nice! Our stay also included a hearty breakfast, which we appreciated, and she made reservations for us for dinner at a local place that we really liked.  I loved staying at a place where you actually talk to people and enjoy the comforts of a really lovely home. Sydney loved staying where there was a really comfortable bed. We were both quite happy.

This morning after breakfast we waddled out to the car (seriously, breakfast was filling), and headed up to Rochester to check out their public market. That was really interesting. Unlike Ithaca, vendors yell and chant, produce often has stickers showing it’s from California, and everything’s dirt-cheap. As one who can easily walk out of our farmer’s market having shelled out some cash, the idea of buying a basket of tomatoes for a dollar was overwhelming. Sydney and I really can’t figure out how they can afford to sell stuff that cheaply. We also don’t know why you’d buy Hamburger Helper at a public market. But anyway . . .

We then headed to the Kodak house in Rochester to look at an Ansel Adams exhibit there. Sydney’s been a long-time fan of his photography, and we have one of his prints hanging in our house. We haven’t been to any art exhibit in a long time, and in addition the house itself (mansion, beautiful grounds) is worth seeing. I think our plans for “a small house” were, ahem, modified by sights of the Kodak founder’s sweeping staircase, 11-foot ceilings, and amazing woodwork. Oops.

Rather than do more hiking, we decided to top things off with a hefty dinner at our favorite place in Ithaca: Thai Cuisine. It’s really great Thai food, and it’s something that we somehow can’t seem to replicate at home. Now we’re full, happy, and home. So lovely to have two days away, two days of exploration, and two days of great food!

Erin