Newbies to Ithaca

Hi all.

My husband and I and my 13 y.o. daughter will be staying a week in the Ithaca area in June.

My husband is attending the GFA (i.e. Classical Guitar) convention.

My daughter and I know little to nothing about the area, which makes this a fun adventure!

I%26#39;ve noticed there are several lakes in the area.

Is the water swimmable in June? Are there rentals in the area on the lake? Any suggestions on where to find these?

We will be getting a rental car so that we can shuttle my husband to Ithaca college for the day while we ';sightsee.';

Any suggestions?

We love nature, a bit of shopping, and we open to any/all adventures/day trips.

Thanks so much!!

Newbies to Ithaca

Ithaca is beautiful. I lived there for a couple of years and (although I%26#39;m still close) wish I had taken more advantage of all it has to offer. Check out this website:

http://visitithaca.com/lodging/search.cfm

Great State parks, great restaurants . There%26#39;s a lake cruise, Sapsucker woods ... a new palentology museum etc. etc....

The area is well known for its wine trail and the number of wineries have grown.

Newbies to Ithaca

Corning museum of glass............

Someone will surely mention that one.

http://www.cmog.org/

approx. 1hr from Ithaca.

We have family in Trumansburg (just north of Ithaca) and travel there often. We LOVE this city. Our brother in law owns Hickey%26#39;s Music (amazing music store...he%26#39;s a bassoon player by trade). Our favorite place to swim is Robert Treman State Park. Imagine swimming in a crystal clear pool at the foot of amazing waterfalls you can actually climb on! Complete with diving boards and a lifeguard! Buttermilk Falls State Park also offers swimming. Taughanick Falls (check my spelling please) is the best waterfall around. In fact, it%26#39;s taller than Niagara Falls and is the highest waterfall east of the Mississippi. It%26#39;s also a state park. Don%26#39;t miss hiking into the spectacular falls chasm from the shores of Cayuga Lake! Green Star Co-op Market (downtown) has great natural/organic foods. Wegman%26#39;s supermarket is simply the only place to consider shopping for food and everything else you can imagine. Ithaca Bagels...great. I would keep an eye on Craigslist for possible rentals on Cayuga Lake, or in The Ithaca Journal online. The Commons is a nice pedestrian only shopping area downtown and has some nice boutiques, shops and galleries.

Enjoy this wonderful town!

Don%26#39;t miss hiking/swimming at Robert Treman ... be warned that the water may be fairly cold.

Also, if you go to Taughannock Falls, be sure to check out the gorge behind the falls (either by hiking the rim trail from the bottom or starting from the overlook).

Other recommendations not already mrntioned:

The Ithaca Fsrmers Market (weekends)

Cayuga Nature Center, Ithaca Science Center, Muaeum of the Earth

Ithaca Falls

Cascadilla Faiis and other falls in/around immediate vicinity of Cornell campus

Cornell Plantations (if you enjoy gardens)

Watkins Glen (approx. 30 minutes west) - this is really a must see if you can swing it.

Also, try to bundle multiple state park visits within the same day if possible as there is a daily admission fee to the parks; pay once and your admission is good for any parks you visit on that day.

Well,we%26#39;ve just booked our flights for an unbelivably low fare of $197 pp from Nashville directly in to Ithaca!

We%26#39;ve also paid for our reservations to the GFA conference.

I%26#39;ve been looking at rentals and I%26#39;m leaning towards a small cottage on the lake for the three of us.

If anyone has any recommendations, please let me know.

Also, if anyone has any recommendations on car rentals for a week, that would be helpful.

Thank you for all of the suggestions. I%26#39;ll begin to plan our itinerary soon.

After viewing a ton of photos, I think I%26#39;m going to be hooked on Ithaca!

I%26#39;m thinking we need to do a tour of Cornell too. My daughter is a straight A student, and although she%26#39;s turning 13 next month, it%26#39;s never too soon to start looking for at colleges!

Thanks again to everyone!!