Escape To Central New York - The 2012 Edition

As previously mentioned, the family & I just concluded a long weekend's worth of vacation up central New York.  It was very brief, but well worth the trip and pending traffic fines (but more on that later).

Our getaway started on Friday afternoon...I had taken off work and with the car properly packed and the dog dropped off for boarding, we headed from our home outside of Philadelphia, up to Ithaca, NY.  We weren't staying in Ithaca, but wanted to do something before we checked into our hotel in nearby Cortland...so we went waterfalling.  (Is that a verb?)

First stop was Robert H. Treman State Park...where there are several waterfalls and hippies camping.  We hiked in about 3 or so miles from the one parking area.  We saw a few falls on the way, but never quite made it to Lucifer Falls, which was a little further in.  It was getting late and we felt it time to backtrack to the car before it got too dark.

After that, we made a quick stop at Buttermilk Falls.  This one was an easy stop, it's literally 50 yards off the road, practically a roadside attraction and very little walking necessary!

After that we literally went across the street and made pigs of ourselves ate dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings.  It happens.  From there, over to the hotel...

Our accomodations were at the Hope Lake Lodge at Greek Peak.  It's a really nice hotel, quite fancy with all new everything and even little kitchens in each room.  It was the same place we stayed and enjoyed last year.  The plan for Saturday was to sleep in a bit, and then I was going to go fishing in the late morning while K.C. & Lilly went to the indoor waterpark at the hotel...to convene around 3PM to clean up and then head to town for dinner.

So on Saturday while they did this...

I headed over to the West Branch of the Tioughnioga River and did this...

Fishing was an absolute blast.  The river runs right through town and alongside a shopping center that houses the Cortland Line factory store so I didn't only fish, but I also stopped in and picked up some trinkets before heading back to the hotel.  A nice close to a perfect afternoon on the water.

Once reassembled and showered at the hotel, we piled back into the car and went to have dinner at one of our favorite places, the Hollywood Restaurant (a joint that knows how to feed you)...

With full bellies, we closed out the night, and effectively our little vacation back at the hotel.  K.C. goofed around on the internet, Lilly stayed up way past her bedtime, and I watched both Kansas State & Oregon lose their respective football games.  Notre Dame #1...really?

Sunday was the end.  We had breakfast at the hotel, packed up our stuff and headed back to Pennsylvania.  The drive back was comfortable enough...until I got busted for speeding somewhere around Binghamton, NY.  Oh well, I guess the out of state plates and a rear window full of fly fishing stickers will make you an easy target, just ask The River Damsel.  While unhappy to get a ticket, I do gratefully thank the officer for not putting the total screws to me...as he kindly rounded down on the MPH...if you know what I mean.

Anyway, it was a very successful (albeit brief) mission to central New York.  With two years in a row under our belts, this just might become an annual thing.  Well, as long as Groupon keeps on sending discount hotel fares our way.  That said, if we do decide to head North again, K.C. is definitely doing the driving.