Taughannock Falls Camping

Memorial Day weekend came around again, which means we hooked up the camper and hit the road for the Finger Lakes. This year we landed at spot 32 in Taughannock Falls. The first night promised to be rainy and cold so we headed right to Atlas Bowl for some old-fashioned bowling and some food. The atmosphere of this retro/hipster bowling alley was totally rad and the bowling was super fun! There were no electronic scoreboards and no gutters on our lane. The little one used a ramp instead and nobody cared much about their score. The food, from a diverse menu, took awhile and was good to some and so-so to others. All in all we had a great time and the kids wanted to go back the next night.

The next day my little one was up with the birds and so was I. I held out for awhile than woke up reinforcements and headed back to the little town of Trumansburg, NY for some coffee and some early morning pics. Main Street is just the way I like them, small with historic buildings housing shops and restaurants and more. Even the Masonic Lodge is in a classic looking building that began as the Trembly House Hotel in 1871. The historic homes and streets are lined with beautiful gardens and wildflowers. Between the bowling and the small town charm, another visit to Trumansburg may be in order, maybe on a Wednesday evening when the Farmer's Market is in town.

After a day of doing campy things, hiking to the overlook along the trail at the back of our site, my daughter showing everyone the nest of baby birds at the bathroom, playing lacrosse, spending time at the playground and just chilling in our camp chairs, we headed into Ithaca for a look-see. We wandered around Ithaca Commons and in and out of a few little shops. The kids checked out the playground and some puppies for sale. The landscaping here was also beautiful and as we walked farther on there were great murals, homes and an ivy covered old high school turned into a mall. We walked and walked with ice cream in mind and, finally, landed at Purity Ice Cream-yum! The line was long but moved fast and all of ice creams were worth the walk.

The rest of our weekend we spent exploring Taughannock Falls State Park. What a great park. The playground is huge, there is a great big field, picnic tables, a marina, a concession stand with all sorts of treats and worms and, the main attraction, Taughannock Falls. These falls are the tallest waterfall this side of the Rockies and walking through the gorge to get to them is a perfect way to spend a nice spring day. The kids waded in and out of the shallow water and we all marveled at how deep this gorge is. We tried to figure out just what cliffside spot was site 32 but that proved to be a bit to tricky. This campground was smaller than some state parks but the park itself had plenty to offer, the bathrooms seemed fairly new and were clean, there was a spigot at just about every other spot and everything in the park was a reasonable hike away. This spot was a great home base to explore the beauty of this area of the Finger Lakes.