Gorges and vegetarian fare in upstate New York

January 25, 2009|Saul Austerlitz, Globe Correspondent

ITHACA, N.Y. - Visiting this city in winter seems crazy. Miserable weather has scared off countless students from attending college here and rendered the tourist trade a mostly summertime affair. My wife and I trekked northward, seeking to triumph over the elements.

Setting up camp in the well-located Hilton Garden Inn Ithaca on downtown's Seneca Street, we set out to discover ways to beat the sleet. But with relatively mild weather, we had caught something of a break.

"Ithaca is Gorges," local T-shirts proclaim, and no visit to Ithaca is complete without seeing the gorges and waterfalls that dot the area. We began with an early morning walk to Ithaca Falls at the foot of Lake Street, between downtown and the Cornell University campus. The rough-hewn stone walls, towering hundreds of feet above us, formed a natural arena in which to view the waterfall. The stream pours down with such force that it bounces off the rocks, creating a spray visitors can feel from dozens of feet away. (The Triphammer Foot Bridge on campus offers another glimpse, with foamy, greenish-white water surging downhill, occasionally soaking passersby.)

We hiked up Buffalo Street, which runs parallel to Seneca, making the arduous ascent to Collegetown, an area well stocked with bars and inexpensive restaurants, and the Cornell campus. A climb to the top of McGraw Tower on a weekend morning offered two treats: a brief concert by a student chimemaster gifted at getting 100-year-old bells to play "Hey Jude" and the Cornell fight song, and afterward, a short scramble up to the lookout post, where the entire campus, and the city beyond, unfold. Dark-blue Cayuga Lake swirled to the south, and the snowy campus appeared untouched by humanity at this hour.

Having enjoyed the performance, we decided to create songs of our own on the musical steps adjacent to the tower. Skipping stones along the otherwise-normal looking steps creates tones akin to a xylophone's. Believing that every exposure to the elements, however brief, should be amply rewarded with heat and comfort, we retreated to nearby Uris Library, which offered views of the city from the Cocktail Lounge study area and the A.D. White Library.

We popped into Sage Chapel, whose man-made splendors include heavy brass fixtures, a dazzlingly colorful rose window, and medieval-style frescoes and inscriptions - all unexpected on the mostly Gothic campus. The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, designed by I.M. Pei, also presented dramatically framed views of Ithaca. The couch on the fifth floor, where the best views can be found, faces wraparound windows, and away from the collection of Asian art. The museum is splendid in a low-key way, with Tiffany vases and samurai swords joined by Giacomettis, Picassos, and Rauschenbergs.