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The Finger Lakes is a destination you do not want to miss in the fall season. Enjoy beautiful scenery, appreciate the region’s local attractions, and experience excellent food and drink.
Departure Information:
8:00 AM – Elite Coach Parking Lot – 1685 W Main St, Ephrata
(please park along the tree line, left of the building, in the back-parking area)
8:45 AM – Lancaster Shopping Center – 1515 Lititz Pike, Lancaster
(please park in the lot that is along the Oregon Pike side of the old A.C. Moore building)
Return Information:
5:15 PM (Approx.) – Lancaster Shopping Center
6:00 PM (Approx.) – Elite Coach
Itinerary, inclusions, timing, and pricing subject to change without notice.
Day 1: Tuesday, September 19
We travel to Lake Cayuga (Kew-Ga as the locals say) and Ithaca, stopping for lunch on your own en route. We meet our local guide at Cornell Campus. Cornell sits on a hilltop overlooking the 40-mile-long, 400-foot-deep Cayuga Lake, the longest of the Finger Lakes of central New York State. Two sides of the campus are bound by gorges, cut during the last 12,000 years. Creeks and waterfalls fill the gorges, and no matter where you are on campus, you are never far from the sight and sound of falling water. Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the Cornell campus is the seamless interconnection of nature and the built environment. This afternoon we will discover the magic of Cornell with a walking and driving tour.
Dinner is included tonight at a nearby restaurant.
Day 2: Wednesday, September 2
We begin the day with breakfast at our hotel and then meet our local guide for a full day of touring.
We travel to Auburn to visit Willard Memorial Chapel – a National Historic Landmark. The chapel is the only complete Tiffany chapel in the world. Following the tour, we will enjoy a 20-minute concert on the 1891 Steere & Turner Organ.
The next stop is at the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park, South Street, to see the home of the woman known as “the Moses of her people,” where she lived from 1857 to her death in 1893.
Next, we’ll stop at a hydroponic strawberry field along the Auburn Sweet Treat Trail. A variety of refreshments will be served, including iced tea with raspberry lemonade and ice water infused with strawberries, as well as a platter of assorted cookies. You will leave with a complimentary jar of strawberry jam and can pick up more jams, raw honey, and other artisan products and souvenirs from the gift shop.
Next, we depart for Seneca Falls. Our guide will give us an orientation tour of this historic town, including the Women’s Rights National Historical Park, the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and the iconic “It’s A Wonderful Life” Museum. Movie director Frank Capra used Seneca Falls as inspiration for the imaginary town of Bedford Falls in the classic 1946 movie.
Lunch is on your own in Seneca Falls, with several restaurants to choose from along Fall Street.
This afternoon we travel along the west side of Cayuga Lake to the Cayuga Ridge Winery. We will enjoy a wine tasting at one of the oldest wineries in the Finger Lakes. Savor award-winning wines under the glow of their gothic church lights in a rustic barn.
Then we head to Taughannock Falls State Park, stopping at the Overlook to see the 215-foot-high grandest of falls; they are higher than Niagara Falls!
Dinner this evening at Coltivare – the culinary center of downtown Ithaca and the farm-to-table restaurant of Tompkins Cortland Community College. Enjoy a special meal tonight with a wine presentation by an experienced Sommelier.
Day 3: Thursday, September 21
We have breakfast at the hotel this morning before departing to Watkins Glen.
We enjoy a lovely 1-hour sightseeing cruise on Seneca Lake. The narrated cruise is a casual sightseeing cruise past pastoral scenery dotted with wineries, farms, and quaint lakeside villages.
Experience a taste of life on a 19th-century farm estate when we visit Rose Hill Mansion. This elegant Greek Revival house, built in 1839, was the center of a busy and productive farm by the mid-century. Enjoy the magnificent view of Seneca Lake from the front porch and the vista of nearby farmlands.
Lunch will be on your own this afternoon.
Then we continue to Muranda Cheese Company and sample the goodness of all-natural raw milk and cheese. This dairy farm and creamery produces a variety of flavorful and bold cheeses using raw milk from grass-fed, locally-raised Holstein cows. We will get to sample some of these creations and be able to purchase specialties and artisanal foods.
This evening we will visit one of the many wineries on the Seneca Wine Trail and have a delicious dinner along the lake!
Day 4: Friday, September 22
We have breakfast and check out of our hotel.
On our way home, we will stop at the Corning Museum of Glass. This iconic museum not only gives you a glimpse at the amazing history of glass but shows a fantastic art collection of glass. There will be live demonstrations and a special treat – we will get to make our own piece of glass and bring it home during a Sandblasting Glass workshop.
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