Tourism is now key to this area and people come from all over to visit the Women’s Rights National Historical Park, which includes the site of the first Women’s Rights Convention, the Elizabeth Cady Stanton House, local wineries, and just the incredible scenery of Central New York!

There are always events going on like the Painting with Nature Series or musical tributes. Today, the Seneca County Chamber of Commerce is offering the Defensive Drivers Course for $35 to be paid in advance. Be in your seat at 4:30 sharp and spots are limited to the first 20 paid applicants!

So, come and enjoy the beautiful outdoors and celebrate Seneca Falls and its history!

We got to the tree farm, were handed a saw and started marching on our way. There were fat trees, skinny trees, huge trees and Charlie brown trees. It took the three of us a while to agree on the perfect tree for our room. After all it had to smell like a Christmas tree. It had to be nice and fat. It had to be able to fit in our dorm. It had to have a straight stem for the stree stand. And it had to say- Christmas is here!

When the tree was chosen, the sawing began. It took three strong girls and about ten minutes of hard labor sawing back and forth before it fell. After all my life simply going and picking out a tree that was already cut down, this was an interesting experience. I got my pants, jacket and hands filthy laying in the mud sawing my tree down. But there’s something about going outside and cutting the tree down yourself that makes somehow more yours.

My tree is now beautifully decorated in my room, and the sweet smell of pine overwhelms me every time the door swings open.

Outdoor Seasonal Activities in the Ithaca Area on Dipity.

With the perfect tree should come the perfect tree choosing experience as well! Ithaca has many places to not only choose your own tree, but to cut it down yourself. Me and my friends are planning on going to the Mary Christmas Tree Farm. Their prices are cheap and they have sleigh rides and gingerbread houses baked goods. Getting out in the cold snowy air and cutting your own tree down seems like quite the adventure. Why not pick your own and get the satisfaction of knowing you did the dirty work to get it into your house? Well hopefully I  can tell you more about it this week when I cut my own!

Hope you didn’t miss the horse drawn carriage rides sponsored by Erhart Propane! There were also musical performances and a show by Hilby the German Juggle Boy! Santa traveled all the way from the North Pole to visit during the tree lighting ceremony Friday night too! Vendors provided a variety of food, art, and crafts!

Hope you started your Holiday season right!

In the spirit of the Holiday season, this may be a fun event especially if someone you know is turning 21 or if they have any Birthday in December. A lot of Ithaca College students have raved about the wine trails their friends take them on once they turn 21. The Cayuga Wine Trail is decorated and ready for the Holiday season, so if you want to get a classy, and festive holiday activity in before finals week hits, check out their trail and their special holiday deal!

It will be the largest ice sculpture exhibit in the Central New York area with over 30 sculptures that range from three to seven feet tall! There will be an interactive ice village throughout the Ithaca Commons too!

The sculptors will be carving in the Commons Dec. 4^th-5^th and the unveiling ceremony will take place on Dec. 6^th with an Ice Sculpture Walk on Dec. 7^th. You can vote for the best sculpture on Dec. 12^th during the Ice Sculpture Carving competition and watch as they are created right in front of you!

Let us know what your favorite is!

So if you missed those shooting stars, you have another shot before it gets wayyy too cold to wish upon one!

I texted a few of my friends who were already outside and they said it was amazing and the sky was full of “shooting stars”. So, I threw on some underarmour and my glasses and was out the door to meet up with Carolyn. She saw at least one as did the other people we were with, but I wasn’t so lucky. So, we moved to a hill behind Towers, expecting to get a great view. The night was beautiful and I was excited to see what it had in store for me… until a huge cloud came over the sky and defeated the purpose of why I got up in the first place.

I don’t regret waking up for something like this, but having a cloud come and ruin what was supposed to be the greatest meteor shower of my lifetime was not the best feeling. I didn’t even see one!

Maybe next time.

Buttermilk falls is about a ten minute drive, left out of IC. You start at the bottom of the falls and when you look up you can see the water running from all different crevices of the mountain. On the side of the road trail on the right there’s a gorge trail sign that indicates you can climb up the falls to the right and go back down a trail to the left. Me and my three friends climbed up and up and up, countless stairs-stopping at different points to look down at the new perspective we had now that we were higher up.

As we walked our layers came off in the 65 degree weather, and people passing by all seemed pleasant, possibly at the beautiful weather or the mini weekend excursion with their little kids or their significant other.

There was one spot where we stopped to put our toes in the water, close to the top, and as expected in November, the water was very cold. But the cool part was that in this one spot you could write your name in on the bottom of the falls in the moss. Being careful not to slip me and my friends all dipped our toes in and scribbled our names into the falls.

The way back down was tougher than the way up unexpectedly because there were no stairs on the right side. If you go in the autumn make sure you don’t slip on the leaves on the steep trail down!

I highly recommend going to buttermilk falls if you have an hour and a half to spare! The sights are beautiful, you’ll get your dose of exercise climbing your way to the top and you’re so close there’s no reason not to!  Although I’m swamped with work today and have a lot to do, if I would have added up all of the time I procrastinated otherwise, it would have came out to be the hour and a half I spent at the falls. So take a break from the hustle and bustle for a second and go enjoy a beautiful day at Buttermilk Falls!