The day before Mom’s funeral, I made a spur of the moment trip to Ithaca. I had lunch with a former roommate at her home just north of the Cornell campus. She got takeout from the Collegetown Bagels store/restaurant near her home. This place was the usual Sunday brunch location for Julian and me when we started dating. I even ordered one of my old favorites, the Lindsay. This is a turkey and Muenster cheese sandwich served on a bialy. (For you non-New Yorkers who don’t know from bialys, read this prior post.) I stopped at a Mennonite store on my way down to Ithaca and got some oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies for our dessert.
When I started out for home, I took a route around the Cornell campus because construction is everywhere. I saw the new North Campus dormitories under construction, which have all the architectural interest of state penitentiaries. They make the post-World War II married student housing across the street look good, which takes some doing. Collegetown was even worse. Three buildings just off campus are being torn down for more soul-less, high-rent apartments. I had to detour down Seneca Street to get downtown. At least my old church is still intact. And Purity Ice Cream is still open, but only for curbside scooping – not breakfast or lunch.
Most of townie Ithaca looked similar to previous visits, although the shopping mall is hurting badly. I picked up a couple of provisions I’d forgotten to pack at the Target there and walked around a little. The pandemic is partly to blame, although I’m sure Amazon can take more credit. I didn’t check out the downtown Ithaca Commons. I hope the increase in vaccinated people can help businesses rebound, in Ithaca and elsewhere.
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