Our 6-hour drive from coastal Rhode Island to Ithaca in upstate New York was a traversing across contrasting geographical features and cultural landscapes within a short amount of time. We started out at the low-lying shores of Aquidneck Island, driving past harbors cradling sail boats, and kept going up to higher altitudes towards New York State. The way gradually became narrower as we drove since the path winds around the mountain ranges of upstate New York until we reached Ithaca. On the way through Massachusetts and then into New York, the landscape changed from a coastal, seaside scenery into undulating farmland to a mountainous view. Once we were in upstate New York, we started seeing broken farming equipment and abandoned barns scattered along the highway just as we would when driving through rural Kentucky. That brought to my mind what David’s secretary Hope Wayne, who is originally from upstate New York, once told him. She said that the culture in upstate New York is quite similar to that in South Central Kentucky.

Lying on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York, the college town of Ithaca is named after the Greek island of Ithaca and is home to Cornell University. Cornell University is regularly ranked as one of the best research institutions in the world and this area is known for its natural beauty and its numerous waterfalls. I first learned about Ithaca through a Bill Bryson’s travelogue book in which he raves about Ithaca’s college-town charm and beautiful landscape. David knew that I had always wanted to visit this place someday, and we also needed to check out Cornell University for Jacob’s college consideration. Consequently, we ended up staying in Hotel Ithaca, which is a historic hotel located right in the heart of downtown, for three nights to attend Cornell University’s admission information session, to go on a campus tour and to explore this area.

Cornell University

This is the first synthesizer invented by a Cornell University’s alum.

Land of waterfall

Ithaca and the surrounding land within a mere surface area of 10 miles have a total of 150 waterfalls carved out by glaciers millions of years ago. While there, we tried to take our boys to see as many waterfalls as possible without wearing ourselves out. James even went swimming in one of them.

All in all, not a wasted journey at all even though we ended up not liking Ithaca as much as we had thought we would. We found the area too unkempt and dilapidated, the lake polluted, and the summer mountain air somewhat stifling. It was surprising to me that the air there didn’t feel fresher considering all the mist coming from the waterfalls and the sheer elevation. We also found Ithaca University too liberal in their outlook for our taste. The Ithaca Bill Bryson described fondly in his travelogue must have been going through some sort of cultural and environmental decline long before we arrived last summer. Nevertheless, the visit to Cornell Botanic Gardens is an experience I treasure and would love to repeat.

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