Everybody Knows Ithaca is Gorgeous

Kappa, Cornell University

Cornell University is a campus so rich in history that I was very excited to explore the area! Though it is the youngest of the Ivy League schools, Cornell has been a prestigious institution of higher education for many years and is celebrating it's 150th birthday this year. AEPhi at Cornell is the chapter of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is the second female Supreme Court Justice, and the first Jewish female justice. I am proud to call her a sister and was excited to see that the Kappa Chapter received mail from her office!

I also have a little family history at Cornell. My mother's older cousin attended Cornell in the early 50s and he used to always talk about it when I was little. As an undergraduate, he joined Phi Kappa Psi and the Cornell Men's Glee Club. I was excited to finally visit Ithaca after hearing about it for so long. Below is his fraternity's chapter house!

Alpha Chapter house of Sigma Delta Tau (left) and Delta Chi (right)

Fraternities at Cornell are nearly as old as the university itself. In 1868, three years after the university was founded, three fraternities established chapters on campus. For about the next 50 years, many fraternities and sororities came to Cornell. A majority of the fraternities on campus originally founded their Cornell chapters in the late 1800s and by 1920, most of the current Panhellenic sororities had chartered at Cornell as well. Many of the organizations on campus are single-letter chapters of their National organization because of how old Greek life is on campus. Another great piece of the fraternity and sorority history there is that three National organizations were founded at Cornell University. Campus is home to the Alpha chapter of Delta Chi (1890), Alpha Phi Alpha (1906), and Sigma Delta Tau (1917). Today there are over 50 fraternity and sororities at Cornell, over 40 of which are housed on or around campus, and a third of undergraduates are affiliated.

Because the ladies were so busy being studious and taking lots of exams, I had plenty of free time to explore the campus area. Being greeky, I started off with a tour through the fraternity and sorority neighborhoods on North Campus and West Campus. So many chapters have great, big, beautiful houses.

On my way around I had to cross a number of different bridges, which led over the various gorges that cut through the area. To the left is a picture I took of Ithaca Falls from one of the bridges I walked. Below is the view from the other side of that same bridge. "Ithaca is gorges" is probably the most cliche thing ever said about the city but it is so true. Every view was amazing and prettier than the last.

It was quite the workout to walk around campus so much because of how hilly it was. But I made it to the far, opposite end to check out Cornell Orchards.

Early October weather is the perfect fall weather. Despite the little bit of rain, it was so beautiful all week. It was chilly enough to wear my favorite sweaters, but bright and sunny with beautiful leaves everywhere. It is my favorite part of fall and wish it would last forever!

I also made it over to the Cornell Dairy Bar, which is located in one of the food science buildings way over on the east side of campus. The set up was a little different than what I was expecting (based on the UConn Dairy Bar) but they had great espresso chip ice cream! And because it was 65 degrees, which is practically shorts weather in October, I decided to eat my ice cream outside. That's how you know I'm really from the Northeast. 

By far, my favorite spot and the place I spent most of my time was Collegetown Bagel. Collegetown is a neighborhood that borders the southern edge of Cornell, where lots of students rent houses and apartments. There are also lots of restaurants and little places to shop. Collegetown Bagel, or CTB, is right on the very edge of campus, as you can see from my picture below. I loved looking out at the cute seating area and being able to see the Cornell Law buildings in the distance. The combination of great food, good people watching and a nice spot to get work done made CTB so amazing.

View from Collegetown Bagel

Every morning I made my way to CTB for breakfast or brunch. I'm embarrassed to say that means I went four day in a row, but the menu is just so large and everything looked amazing. Talia had given me suggestions for what to order but when I stood in front of the menu I was so overwhelmed by the choices. Even on the fourth day, I had to take a few minutes to look at everything on the wall and decide what to try.

Each morning I grabbed a bagel and coffee and I'd find a spot to sit doing work for hours. I loved the iced coffee but I made sure to try a different bagel each day. Of the things I tried, all four were amazing, but my two favorites are shown below. The top one is the Nutella and bananas, which I chose to put on an apple cinnamon bagel. The one below is tuna salad with lettuce and tomato on their famous rosemary and salt bagel. Both were incredible, as were the lox and the pumpkin bagel I also tried.

I am so happy I finally got to experience Cornell University! I had such a great time eating and exploring! Now I'm off on the rest of my Upstate tour!


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