Wonderful Breakfast, Corning Glass, and Cleveland

We started our morning with a delicious breakfast prepared by the innkeeper, Lynette. First, a creative fruit plate of baked plum with mascarpone cheese. For the main course, there were two choices. One was corn pancakes with pecan butter, the other a home-made "Miller McMuffin" with baked english muffins, baked eggs, ham, etc. Breakfast was served outside in the patio (gorgeous sunny summer morning), and we shared a table with Beth & Jason, a couple that is in town to be married tomorrow (Sunday), and her parents, Bill and Jackie. Naturally they were very excited, a bit stressed, and allowed us to share in their discussions of what is left to be taken care of.

With a long day ahead of us (we hadto get to Cleveland by 5pm to meet our friends, Sylvia and Thomas), we left the inn and drove around downtown Ithaca for a little longer to pick up sandwiches (for lunch) and to see two of the local waterfalls.

Our drive took us through the town of Corning, NY, named after the large glass manufacturer. The "Corning Glass Museum" provided a perfect mid-morning break in our journey! It was a really modern building, with a special exhibit on glass flowers. Apparently, the techniques of making intricate tiny glass details were designed to be substitutes for living animals and plants, and they served as museum exhibits and teaching aids for professors of natural history. The Blaschkas, two brothers from Czech Republic, created models of more than 1,500 species of invertebrates and plants for various universities.

The intricacy of the glassworks can be seen in some of the pictures. The plants on display, which included the leaves, the roots, and even the little microscopic hairs on the leaves, were reconstructed for authentic academic reproduction. In the orchid example below, the display case was titled, "Is it real?" It was really impossible to tell.

After a quick lunch at the picnic benches outside of the museum, we headed for Cleveland. We arrived at Slyvia & Thomas' house around 5 p.m. and were warmly welcomed to their new home. Since they were attending a baseball game that night, Keith and I drove around their neighborhood and had dinner at a very modern, swanky looking outdoor mall called Eton Village. The decor, flower pots, and outdoor seating patios reminded us of Santana Row in San Jose, and we were a little surprised that there was such a place! The name of the restaurant we ate at was called Paladar, which served Latin American fusion food, such as salmon ceviche, pulled pork, and a lot of seafood dishes. We were able to catch a relaxing dinner outside and enjoy the warm and comfortable summer Cleveland evening!