Empire Escapade

This tour showcases the iconic sites and hidden gems from Niagara Falls to NY City. Each day you discover at least one incredible site that alone could anchor a tour.  From the world’s largest  5&10, to a Jell-O Gallery and the site of the 1969 Woodstock concert. Plus the Baseball Hall of Fame, Harriet Tubman, FDR, West Point, and Lucille Ball.  And finally NY City! There really is that much to see and do. Try it all, or let us create more limited discoveries.

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New York State Highlights

Day 1

Go directly into the center of the swirling mist. See the raging currents. Hear the deafening thunder. And feel the refreshing mist of 600,000 gallons of water falling before your eyes every second. Experience it all aboard the legendary Maid of the Mist. 

Dinner tonight is at Top of the Falls Restaurant – famous for its panoramic waterfall views offering modern American cuisine.

Day 2

On your way to the  Finger Lakes, stop in East Aurora.  This small village is home to the Roycroft Campus and Vidlers Five and Dime.

The Roycroft Campus is the best preserved and most complete complex of buildings remaining in the United States of the “guilds” that evolved as centers of craftsmanship and philosophy during the late 19th century. Also, the Roycroft Campus is where the Arts and Craft Movement began. Vidler’s Five and Dime is the largest 5 & 10 Variety Store in the world! With over 75,000 items spread through 4 buildings on 2 floors, this is an experience you can only find here.

Continue to Leroy NY, the birthplace of Jell-O, to visit the Jell-O Museum – a fun visit to an eclectic collection.

Your next stop is the Genesee Country Village – the largest living history museum in New York State – featuring costumed interpreters in restored historic buildings, breathing life into an authentic 19th-Century Country Village.

Tonight, enjoy a wine tasting and dinner at Belhurst Castle, circa 1880,  along Lake Seneca – one of the most romantic places in New York State. Their restaurant, Edgar’s Steakhouse, has an incomparable atmosphere on the shores of Seneca Lake.

Day 3

Meet your local guide for a full day tour beginning in Seneca Falls to visit the “It’s a Wonderful Life Museum.” Frank Capra used Seneca Falls as the inspiration for Bedford Falls, and the town has embraced that image ever since.

Upstate NY was also the center of the suffrage movement in the US, and this small village by the lake houses the Women’s Rights Hall of Fame, an American institution showcasing great women.

Continue to Auburn to visit Willard Memorial Chapel – a National Historic Landmark. This is the only complete Tiffany chapel in the world. Enjoy a tour followed by a 20-minute concert on the 1891 Steere & Turner Organ.

The next stop is at the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park, South Street, to see the home of the woman known as “the Moses of her people” where she lived from 1857 to her death in 1893. This is a truly engaging tour!

Dinner this evening is at Springside Inn at their Oak & Vine Restaurant overlooking Owasco Lake.

Day 4

On your way to the Hudson Valley, you will stop in Cooperstown to visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. This museum brings the history of our national pastime to life. Nestled in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains at the bottom of Lake Otsego, the town is a picturesque village for those who don’t want to spend time in the museum.

Travel through the Catskill Mountains to Middleburgh for a truly unique stop at the Dr. Best House and Medical Museum. This Victorian home and medical office captures the elegance of the turn of the century. Serving a small-town American community from 1884 to 1991, the Dr. Best collection echoes reminders of a quickly changing era. Enjoy the “state-of-the-art medical” equipment from the late 1800’s.

Evening dinner is at the Ship to Shore Restaurant – an American Bistro with a taste of old-style New York steakhouse (they have delicious seafood as well).

Day 5

All that is within me cries out to go back to my home on the Hudson River” – FDR

Travel to Hyde Park to visit the FDR Museum and Library.  Overlooking the Hudson River, the home and library make a wonderful morning of exploration of our only 3-term president. It is also the only place in the United States where a President was born, maintained a lifelong connection, and lies buried.

This afternoon you will enjoy clear views of the historic Hudson River lighthouses, waterfront mansions, and other notable sites on a narrated sightseeing cruise. You’ll see some of the region’s most unique and fascinating locations on the Hudson River waterfront!

The Walkway over the Hudson is the world’s longest elevated pedestrian walkway offering breathtaking, unobstructed 360-degree views up and down the Hudson River and surrounding scenic valley from 212 feet above the Hudson River. Don’t worry – the walk is gentle.

Dinner this evening at the Ice House Restaurant along the Hudson River – offering premiere waterfront dining with breathtaking views of the Mid-Hudson Bridge.

Day 6

Today, you will depart for NYC. On your way, you will visit the US Military Academy at West Point – the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River, this tour is steep in history and majesty, along with great views.

If you’re traveling to NYC, you have to enjoy a Broadway show!  Orchestras seating to a matinee will be reserved.

Dinner tonight is at Carmine’s – a delicious Italian restaurant serving wonderful food family-style in a lively environment. No one ever leaves hungry!

Walk through Times Square ablaze with lights to Rockefeller Center.  The Top of the Rock is the 70^th floor outdoor observation deck above Rockefeller Center. The evening views are stunning with amazing unobstructed views of the Empire State Building and midtown Manhattan.

Day 7

Get ready for a full day with a city tour of Lower Manhattan.

When you arrive at the World Trade Center, your guide will describe the area’s dramatic renaissance since 9/11 and the events of that fateful day. You will have time at the National 9/11 Memorial as well as admission to the National 9/11 Museum.

Continue on a one-hour narrated New York Harbor Cruise which sails next to the Statue of Liberty and offers amazing views of the NY skyline.

In Greenwich Village, you will stop at Rocco’s, a family owned Italian bakery that has been a staple of this neighborhood for generations.  Everyone will have coffee and a pastry with time to stroll the quaint cobble-stoned streets lined with unique shops.

End today’s touring up at Central Park for a classic NY experience – a Central Park carriage ride!

Dinner tonight is on your own with tons of options!

Day 8

You will travel today to the southern foothills of the Catskill Mountains to Bethel Woods, the site of the Woodstock Concert in 1969.  The museum here is vibrant, with interactive exhibits that represent the entire era of the 1960’s.  The iconic concert, Haight-Ashbury, Vietnam War,  protests – including a VW bus, it’s all here!

Continue to Ithaca at the bottom of Lake Cayuga, one of the 11 Finger Lakes. Stop at Six Mile Creek Winery for a wine tasting and great views.

Dinner this evening is at Za Za’s Cucina.

Day 9

Discover Cayuga Lake on a cruise that leaves from Ithaca.  Here, you will enjoy a casual sightseeing cruise past pastoral scenery dotted with wineries and farms and quaint lakeside villages.

Then it is time to understand why Ithaca is “Gorges.” At the Taughannock Falls State Park Overlook, view the 215-foot waterfalls with great photo ops! Today you will pass other waterfalls and gorges, so keep your cameras at the ready!

Ithaca is also described as “10 square miles surrounded by reality!”  As the home of Cornell University, this small city houses educators and students from nearly every country on earth and gives it a distinct character. You will also visit Cornell campus.

Knapp Winery, located along the Cayuga Wine Trail, has been producing vinifera wines with robust and distinctive character for thirty-five years. Home to some of the Cayuga Wine trail’s oldest red vinifera vineyards – a great tasting is in store.

Dinner is on the Commons – an outdoor pedestrian mall in the center of town. You will have dinner here on your own with many delicious options.

Day 10

Today you depart for home, but not before visiting the Corning Museum of Glass. The museum cares for and displays the world’s best collection of art and historical glass. When you visit, you’ll see more than 3,500 years of history displayed in the Glass Collection Galleries, from the glass portrait of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh to contemporary sculpture made in glass.  The new Contemporary Art and Design section will amaze. In addition, this year’s studio will feature a new ‘make your own Glass experience’ for groups – a small Tiffany-type mosaic suncatcher which is made by fusing glass pieces together.

Your final NY State visit is the Lucille Ball/ Desi Arnaz Museum and Comedy Center. Here you will visit the Lucille museum, where you will see priceless costumes, awards, photographs and other vintage memorabilia. There is the Desilu studios (an exact replication) devoted to the “I Love Lucy” TV series which houses a replica of their NYC apartment.

Dinner this evening is in the Tropicana Room at the Lucy-Desi Museum while your favorite episodes play on the large screen.

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