Anyone who has spotted the tagline for this upstate New York city on its classic green bumper sticker already knows: Ithaca is ‘gorges.’ Its landscape is lined with narrow cascading waterways that spill over steep hills, a sight rendered even more dramatic during frigid winter months when icicles and blocks of ice embellish rock formations. However, there’s more to Ithaca than its natural beauty, encompassing both its culture and culinary scene.
Local Food to Make a Farmer Proud
The lush fields surrounding Ithaca house roughly 60 farms, bolstering the city’s appetite for local fare. The Ithaca Farmers Market, a cooperative of 150 vendors, has been active since the 1970s and is headquartered in a picturesque covered pavilion on the Cayuga Lake waterfront. There, Amish farmers market fresh produce, dairies sell proprietary cheeses, and the international menu of prepared foods ranges from dim sum and tacos to Persian rice and ramen. Unlike some posher farmers markets, the attitude towards produce here is playful, not precious. An annual Rutabaga Curl Championship marking the last outdoor market day of winter encourages participants to hurl root vegetables, accompanied by the Vociferous Cruciferous chorus.
Local vegetables surely inspired the founders of Moosewood Restaurant, a veteran natural foods eatery in downtown Ithaca. Celebrated nationwide as a pioneering vegetarian force, it has launched 14 bestselling cookbooks. First opened in 1973, Moosewood is still nestled in its original location in The Dewitt Mall, a repurposed historic schoolhouse, serving a casual seasonal menu and kid-friendly eats.
For those more interested in brews than stews, Ithaca boasts some fine local taprooms. Ithaca Beer Co, located just outside town, taps five fresh barrels every week. Diners can enjoy dishes made with produce from the brewery’s on-site farm, and there’s an outdoor patio when the weather is warm enough. In Ithaca’s West End District, the recently opened Liquid State Brewing Company serves a range of microbrews on tap and invites drinkers to order in from nearby restaurants.
Ithaca is Art
Ithaca’s walls have received new coats of colorful paint recently. Thanks to the support of the Ithaca Public Art Commission, the city’s number of public murals has ballooned from 15 to 153 in just nine years. Many of the murals highlight diverse communities and convey messages of social justice. To spot them all, you can use the Ithaca Mural Map as your guide.
During colder months, viewing art indoors is advisable. Head to the Herbert F Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University to admire both the Brutalist building designed by starchitect IM Pei and its encyclopedic permanent collection, which ranges from African sculptures to modern and contemporary paintings.
For performing arts enthusiasts, the State Theatre is an ornate and nearly century-old performance hall. Once an auto garage, it now hosts stand-up comedians, musicals, and ballet performances. Two doors down, you can find The Watershed, a neighborhood bar serving local brews and snacks. Notably, the Ithaca College School of Music offers free classical music performances almost daily, showcasing the talents of its faculty and students.
A Quirky Collection of Festivals
Ithaca finds numerous reasons to celebrate, hosting a different festival almost every month. The longest-running and most colorful of these is the Ithaca Festival Parade, which has marched every June since 1977 and now boasts more than 2000 flamboyant participants. Some participants parade for a cause, while others participate just for fun, including anything from school buses wallpapered with aluminum foil to unicycle gangs and jesters on stilts.
In September, Porchfest takes over the verandas of Ithaca’s Victorian houses, featuring amateur musicians showcasing various styles of music. The following month, visitors are invited inside the studios of up to 40 of Ithaca’s creatives during the Greater Ithaca Art Trail’s two Open Studio Weekends, showcasing fine arts and crafts.
As temperatures cool, the pedestrian-friendly Ithaca Commons district hosts a three-day Ithaca Ice Festival, featuring professional ice carvers transforming frozen blocks into intricate sculptures. Among the frosted attractions is an ice bar, serving chilled beers and hot cocoa.
Hiking and Camping Ithaca’s Gorges
Ithaca’s slogan encapsulates its allure: Ithaca is gorges. No visit would be complete without at least a glimpse of its natural assets, whether on a trail snaking through downtown or at a state park on the southwest outskirts of Ithaca. The Cascadilla Gorge trail is short, at just over a mile, but its convenience makes it a local favorite, connecting downtown Ithaca to the Cornell campus while featuring six scenic waterfalls and two footbridges.
For more ambitious hikers, heading to Buttermilk Falls State Park is advisable. Named for the frothy water flowing down Buttermilk Creek, the park offers campgrounds, picnic areas, and modestly priced wooden cabins, as well as a popular swimming hole open during summer months.
