On the second day of our trip we visited several spots around Ithaca. We started off the morning with Ithaca Falls, a scenic waterfall smack dab in civilization. It appears this area gets a lot of use (no surprise given how accessible it is), so an early morning visit was nice. There were a few fisherman and geese and that was it. We enjoyed the falls for awhile then headed to Steamboat Landing for Ithaca Farmers Market. We bought our tickets for the 11 am boat cruise on Cayuga Lake with Ithaca Boat Tours. On Saturdays and Sundays they have a one hour narrated cruise that leaves from the dock at the farmers market (walk up, no reservations). I was glad we did the first tour at 11; when we returned there was a long line waiting for the next one. We had time before our tour to browse through the market and pick up some goodies. Everything looked great! I enjoyed some momos (Nepalese dumplings) and strawberry-rhubarb pie. The one hour tour on Cayuga Lake was enjoyable. It was a pretty ride and I liked learning information about the lake and area. Norah was thrilled she got to help the captain steer the boat.

In the afternoon Steve dropped off Norah and I at the Cayuga Nature Center. The center is small, but was nice for a few hours. They had some native and exotic animals, exhibits, and a kids room with various activities (Norah enjoyed organizing ALL the stuffed animals for a party). Outside we walked through the butterfly garden (not enclosed with butterflies, but a garden with plants and bushes to attract butterflies) and climbed through the six story tree house.

In the meantime Steve was trying to figure out if there was a way we could access the eastern shore of the lake to look for fossils (mentioned on our boat tour). This is how we ended up at the Edwards Lake Cliffs Preserve, accessed at the end of Teeter Road. No dice on the fossils, but we had a nice walk on the trails there. One trail ended at a stream and top of a waterfall (looked pretty, but no good way to get a full on view of the fall in the gorge) and another ended at the cliffs overlooking the lake. We were pleasantly surprised to find some snails along the trail and it became a game to count them. We counted over 70! We finished our day with dinner at Fat Jack's BBQ and revisiting the falls at Robert Treman State Park.