Travel Adventures in Upstate New York, Part 7: Seneca Falls and Ithaca, New York

This is my seventh post about our travel through upstate New York. I recommend reading the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth posts from the trip before this one. Because I blog about educational travel, I received admission tickets and other benefits for some of the places we visited during our trip. Other places are free for everyone; we paid full price for the rest. This has no bearing on my reviews. If you see any gaps in my narrative, it is because I didn't love a particular attraction, restaurant, or hotel enough to recommend it, regardless of how much I paid or didn't pay.

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Seneca Falls and Ithaca, New York

We left Rochester early on Monday, September 8 and drove about an hour to Seneca Falls. We were there to see the Women's Rights National Historic Park. 

 

The location is, as the sign says, where the first convention for women's rights was held in 1848. 

  

The statues in the Visitor Center lobby represent the 300+ activists who participated in the first Women’s Rights Convention. The sculpture includes twenty people. Of them, nine are specific people (Mary Ann and Thomas M’Clintock, Lucretia and James Mott, Jane and Richard Hunt, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frederick Douglass, Martha Wright) and eleven represent the rest of the participants who attended the Convention.

I recognized Frederick Douglass right away. I think I would have recognized him anyway, but it definitely helped that I'd seen a statue of him the previous day. 

The museum features exhibits about the Conference itself, as well as the struggle for women's rights through the years. 

  

The Declaration of Sentiments is engraved onto a large fountain outside. We loved reading it as the water flowed over the words. 

Next door is the Wesleyan Chapel where it all took place. 

We enjoyed our time at Women's Rights NHP. We very much would have liked to visit the nearby Women's Hall of Fame while we were in Seneca Falls, but it isn't open on Sundays or Mondays. I tried to shift our schedule to be there on a day it would be open; unfortunately, doing so would have meant missing even more things in other locations on days they were closed. I understand that museums and other attractions can't necessarily be open 7 days a week. That's fine, as long as the information is clearly stated on the website, which is was for the Women's Hall of Fame. (Thank you.) 

It can be challenging to convey tone in writing, but I let me come out and say that I am furious about three different locations (none in Seneca Falls) we'd planned to visit during our time in New York that changed their hours without updating their websites. I plan our trips down to the smallest detail. If off-season hours differ from summer hours, it shouldn't be a secret. If there are seasons at all, it shouldn't be a secret. I understand that an outdoor attraction in the Buffalo area, for example, might close during the winter. Fine! Say that. (And mention that "winter" apparently lasts from September 2 to May 29.) If you have an indoor museum, I'm not going to assume it closes for 9 months due to weather. If it does, fine - say that! Are visitors supposed to magically know somehow?! I was so mad about this... and I still am. 

OK, rant over. 

Our next destination was Ithaca, about an hour's drive from Seneca Falls. Along the way, we made a short stop at Cayuga Lake State Park to enjoy the beautiful scenery. 

Dipping a finger in a Finger Lake. 

Once we got to Ithaca, we had lunch at the outstanding (and incredibly popular) Ithaca Bakery. The menu was enormous and everything we tried was fantastic. 

I was really tempted to buy these bread-themed earrings at the bakery. If they'd been studs, I would have. I find hook earrings uncomfortable.  

Next stop: Ithaca Falls. This is what you can see from the road. 

But definitely take the short walk to the Falls...

... as they're stunning. 

Next up, Cornell University. We were taking a campus tour, but we had a lot of time before it started. We took advantage of the time to visit the Cornell Botanic Gardens, which is not part of the tour. The Cornell campus is absolutely gorgeous. (That's both true and a joke - there are two gorges that run directly through the campus.)

This is the trail we took to get to the Botanic Gardens. That's a lake to the left. So pretty and peaceful. 

The gardens are stunning and well-worth a visit. 

I love this artwork. 

Unfortunately, the Welcome Center at the botanic gardens was closed because it was a Monday. 

Incidentally, both of these are current (9/30/25) screenshots from their website. My guess is that the Welcome Center is open Tues-Sun 10:00-5:00 during the summer and Tues-Sat 11:00-4:00 during the winter, but seriously? Sigh. 

Next up was our Cornell campus tour. A guide can make or break a tour and, unfortunately, we did not get a good guide. 👎

Our guide may have gotten a thumbs-way-down, but downtown Ithaca gets a big thumbs up. It's filled with art, walkable streets, fun restaurants, and cute shops. I love college towns. 

Ew. I hate eels. 

Downtown Ithaca is also home to the Sagan Planet Walk. This was the third planet walk we've done (the others were in California and Missouri). I don't think there's any better way to understand the scale of the solar system than doing a planet walk.

    

Know what else is in downtown Ithaca? Moosewood! 

This iconic, award-winning restaurant was revolutionary when it opened in 1973. The emphasis was then, and is now, on natural foods and farm-to-table cooking. 

The food was outstanding. I'd happily eat there again and again. 

We said a reluctant goodbye to Ithaca. I'd love to return someday. But we had a new city to explore the next day. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.