<p>Just returned from several wonderful days visiting Finger Lakes wineries, hiking in 3 state parks, eating in excellent, reasonably priced restaurants, and enjoying the relaxed Ithaca vibe. Cornell and Ithaca students are indeed fortunate to being able to enjoy this beautiful area.</p>
<p>I agree 100%! 
and I can’t even take advantage of the wineries yet…</p>
<p>The most awesome original post ever.</p>
<p>Finger Lakes wineries produce some surprisingly good wine, particularly Riesling.</p>
<p>This is a beautiful and unique area. It shouldn’t be held against the two schools as it is sometimes done.</p>
<p>The 20th annual GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance also took place last weekend, in nearby Trumansburg.</p>
<p>Where did you stay? I need to pick up D1 from Summer Progam in 2 weeks and have found B&Bs are cheaper than hotel rooms, but can’t decide which one would be best.</p>
<p>The problem with the finger lakes region is that while it is certainly beautiful, and there are tons of things to do at first, it becomes boring after you have lived there for a few years. There is always stuff to do outside, like hiking and kayaking, but if you are looking for other more social activities you won’t find many. </p>
<p>The finger lakes are roughly 4-5 hours from any city worth visiting, so none are within a distance that would make day or even weekend trips worthwhile.</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong, I love this area, but having lived here for 19 years I can say that unless you are very creative you will get bored fast. Many people get caught up in the beauty of the finger lakes and places such as Ithaca, but once students fall into the daily grind of college, the beautiful scenery may begin to fade away and seem nothing more than usual.</p>
<p>Bottom Line: Pick Cornell University because it is a great school and not because of how beautfiul the area is.</p>
<p>nj’11mom, I stayed at La Tourelle in Ithaca, which borders Buttermilk State Park, and has beautiful views of the countryside.</p>
<p>“… having lived here for 19 years I can say that unless you are very creative you will get bored fast.”</p>
<p>“Fast” is relative. College students are not there for 19 years, they are usually there for four. During that time the extent of their interaction beyond the campus area, with greater Ithaca and the Finger Lakes region, varies considerably, but typically it is quite limited. The exposure level borders on trivial for those without a car.</p>
<p>I can see someone living there full time for 19 years becoming bored with it, but the way most college students interact with the area it needn’t be much of a problem for them. </p>
<p>It certainly wasn’t for me. I liked Ithaca a lot when I attended (once I got a car and could actually experience it). I still go up occasionally and enjoy my visits each time.
Those visits are certainly different than living there full time. But college students are not necessarily really living there full time either, in the same way you were, their experience is typically more centered on the area of the campus. For many of them, the way they use it, the area is plenty sufficient. Many spend little time away from the campus area altogether during their four years (their loss IMO).</p>
<p>I do not agree that the beautiful scenery becomes irrelevant as a student. I recall many days that the mere act of walking to class became inspiring, due to the natural beauty I was walking through. Again, maybe a constant dose over 19 years might be diffferent, since then you’d barely know anything else.
But for the preponderance of students who lived their 19 years elsewhere which did not look like this, and go back to same on breaks, they won’t necessarily get that numb to it so fast. I certainly never did.</p>
<p>
not only surprisingly good, but in many cases superb. Herman J. Weimer is one of my personal favorites, as is Dr. Konstantin Frank. For under $20, their Rieslings can compete very favorably with the best coming from the Mosel in Germany or the ones coming from Alsace in France. And I say that as one who has tasted many, many great wines (and I’m looking to take exams from the Court of Master Sommeliers in the next few months!)
+1. One of my friends even maintains an apartment rental in Ithaca even though he lives in NYC. This makes visits easy.
+1. I always enjoyed my morning walks to campus - walking past Eddy Gate, crossing a gorge, grabbing a coffee and the Daily Sun at the Law School, walking past the clocktower, then entering the beautiful arts quad and getting a peek at Cayuga as I walked in the classroom. Now, I rush to work as fast as I can and there isn’t much I particularly enjoy about my morning commute.</p>