A college town steeped in history, nature - Buffalo News
ITHACA—“Ithaca is Gorges,” read the bumper sticker on the Mini-Cooper in front of us as we drove along Cayuga Street into the heart of town. A city of about 30,000, Ithaca’s population doubles when Cornell University and Ithaca College are in session. The result is a small city with an obvious appreciation and respect for intellect, for art, for the environment, and for the natural beauty that envelops it, all with a hint of a hippie vibe humming just beneath the surface.We set our sights first on Ithaca Falls, the crown jewel of the milelong Fall Creek gorge. We entered at Lake Street between East Falls and Lincoln and walked along the creek bed where sunlight danced across the flowing water and shimmered along the rocks. Parents watched their kids chuck stones across the creek; young couples stole kisses on the bank’s edge; older couples walked gingerly, holding each other by the elbow: a perfect Norman Rockwell slice of Americana. We spotted the falls farther up stream. The water that rushed over the top looked like bundles of silken silver thread spooling over and over upon itself, infusing the air with a fine mist and an echoing roar.