ithaca trip pt 3

23 April 2025

Sunday was the last full day of my trip. The rain had stopped the night before; the forecast looked clear, so this was going to be our birdwatching and waterfalls day. Foolishly, I had looked at the forecast and thought bringing only a hoodie with me would be enough, because the high for Sunday was expected to be 55 F. I don't know how I completely missed that the projected low--as in, how it would feel first thing in the morning, when we tend to go birdwatching--would be 35 F. Luckily my brother owns several jackets and was nice enough to loan me one for our outing.

First thing first, we needed breakfast, which meant we needed to go to Ithaca Bakery. I have to shoutout this business in particular because, as a vegetarian, breakfast can be a grim proposition. I appreciate that they have an entire list of veg-friendly breakfast sandwiches, not just one dried-out egg-and-cheese. And the cat-themed art installation was an added bonus.

Cat #13: The Meower, by Samarra Khaja (2024)

We went to the Lab of Ornithology to walk one of their outdoor trails for birdwatching. It was very cold, but also quiet and peaceful. The environment on that particular loop was swampy, which allowed for some very cool early-spring flora to begin popping up, most of which I had not seen before. We also saw a lot of birds, some of which I was able to ID on my own, but most of which I needed my brother to verify, since he's basically a walking field-guide. We saw/heard about 40 species, including a few hawks, several different woodpeckers, some ruby-crowned and golden-crowned kinglets, a palm warbler, and a yellow-rumped warbler. My favorites were the red-winged blackbirds, who were completely unfazed by how close we got to them and had some of the weirdest calls. I also saw (and heard!) a raven flying overhead, which just made my heart happy. And all that in just under 2 hours!

Next was Buttermilk Falls, a waterfall I had actually been to before, many years ago. Of course, my brother didn't want to go just so I could see the waterfall--he also wanted to look for some fossils or imprints in the chunks of shale falling out of the cliffside, like the fossil-fiend he is. Unfortunately, the trail was still closed for the winter, so we didn't stick around too long, just walked up one short path to get beside the falls and comb through some shale. It was also much colder that close to the falls, so I wasn't complainging when my brother was finally done and wanted to move on to the next waterfall.

Buttermilk Falls

Taughannock falls was our next stop, a bit of a drive to the other side of the lake. My knee had started giving me trouble from the all the walking we had done that weekend; thankfully, a long hike wasn't on the agenda, just a quick stop to check out the waterfall with our binoculars and we see what was around. I got a bit of a surprise from a peregrine falcon flying by while I was looking at swallows all the way by the bottom of the falls--my focus was so zoomed-in all saw was an enormous black eye whizz by, which made me jump. It was pretty funny.

Taughannock Falls

We went back to the house and I took a long nap until dinner. My brother's wife made us reservations at Moosewood the day before, and I was buzzing with excitement on the drive back into the city. I'm the sort of person to take a trip somewhere just to eat good food, so this was honestly a highlight of my trip. We were there a bit early, but we were still seated right away. It was Easter, but the dining room wasn't too full yet when we arrived. I ordered the pasta al confit di porro, since cheesy-leek-y carbs were calling to me, and the farm flor cider. I cannot express how perfect that meal was--creamy, cheesy, perfectly balanced pasta that tricks you into thinking you're not getting full when you really are. I wasn't trying to "pair" my cider (which was also delicious, btw) with my pasta, but they were absolutely perfect together. I got the almond cake for dessert, which was also excellent--the perfect amount of cake with strawberries and cream. I left full and happy, and our way home we made one final detour to drive through the arboreturm on Cornell's campus, which was beautiful in the sunset.

The angel moose above our table at dinner.

I woke up on Monday before 6 and went home, ready to get the 5 hour drive over with. After the excitement on Friday, this trip was wonderfully uneventful and quick. All in all, I had a great time, and I'm looking forward to my next visit, whenever that is.

Baby Grandpa, happy I was home.