Author: Caroline

Hamilton fans know it as the house where Alexander Hamilton got married, but for nerds who specialize in obscure presidential trivia, it’s where Millard Fillmore married his second wife. We stopped by the Schuyler mansion in Albany, N.Y., which was built in 1761 for Philip Schuyler, a Revolutionary War general, U.S. senator — and father-in-law…

Final Sno Top fix. Goodbye 315!  

Short but thrilling hike to Tinker Falls in Tully, where you can CAREFULLY walk around to the back of the waterfall. It is a long ways down. Children for scale.

We caught the last day of the Renaissance Festival — it was fun and FUNNY. I didn’t know what to expect (we’d never been before) but tons of visitors get dressed up too. Set in year 1585, in a small English village that’s has gone all out for the Queen’s visit. Live performances all day…

Educational field trip to Harriet Tubman’s house in Auburn, N.Y. She lived to 91, and would have been 201 years old this year.

The kids got to play with sparklers and pop-its, their first time!

Playing around with long shutter speeds in the Pacific Science Center’s laser dome. Since it’s pitch black in there, this is literally writing with light.

Stewart Park is pretty great , and totally worth the drive to Ithaca. It has: A new accessible play fort, with ramps up wide enough for a wheelchair The funniest drinking fountain ever A spray park!Old school metal playground equipment Swinging benches facing beautiful Cayuga Lake Grills for picnics Carousel in the park, $1 a ride…

Our first stop is always the Dairy Bar, where you can buy ice cream, cheese and yogurt sourced from the smartest cows (Cornell’s resident herd). The Cornell botanic garden is a pretty place to walk off all that ice cream!

The Carl Sagan Planet Walk is a 1 to 5 billion scale model of the solar system. Start at the Sun in The Commons and end with Pluto 0.75 miles away at the Sciencenter.  The first four planets (the ones made of rock and metal) follow the sun in quick succession. The gas giants are…