When I originally planned my weekend trip to Ithaca, I thought only of waterfalls surging through wild gorges. But when I got there, I also found country markets, cosmopolitan restaurants, fine art and enough to do in Tompkins County alone to keep me busy for weeks.

The Finger Lakes region consists of 11 finger-shaped lakes on the western branch of upstate New York. Ithaca is on the southern-tip of Cayuga Lake, the longest of the 11. The area boasts four seasons of activity including lake sports, hiking, gorge swimming, skiing and over 70 local wineries.

First stop: Buttermilk Falls Bed & Breakfast. On Friday evening, after six hours of driving, my sister, Barbara, and I pulled onto a small, tree-lined country road that led to the inn and a long gravel driveway. After startling some shrub-eating deer in the backyard, Barbara and I went up to the main house to meet the innkeeper, Margie Rumsey. Margie got us settled in a spacious, yet unpretentious, room in the adjacent carriage house and then proceeded to show us local restaurant menus in the comfortable living room. Barbara spotted the elegantly named Pangea and was tempted by a menu of "precontinental cuisine," and Margie promptly made us a last minute reservation.

It took us a while to find the restaurant; there's a sign on Madison St. but not on Third. After driving down the three-block street several times, thinking we were crazy to be looking for a full-service restaurant on a residential road, we finally caught a glimmer of the sign on Madison St. The smiling hostess recognized us immediately, "oh, Margie just called to make sure you got here."

We sat down to a meal of roasted artichoke hearts filled with herbed mascarpone cheese and a hearty mushroom ragout with freshly toasted bread. To finish off our light dinner we enjoyed a "lemon napolean" or, rather, triangles of pastry surrounded by sweet lemon custard.

Breakfast the next day was yet another culinary treat—Margie made an apple, sausage and egg pudding, hot oatmeal and crumb cake. Fresh fruit, coffee and tea were also on hand. Stepping outside the inn's front door, we had a clear view of Buttermilk Falls and the start of miles of hiking trails. At the bottom of the gigantic falls lies an incredible swimming hole, which opens in the summer. We spent the rest of the morning climbing stairs and following Buttermilk Creek through the gorge's narrow passages, trying to work off a delicious breakfast.

We'd already experienced fine dining, a country breakfast and some beautiful hiking, our next stop gave us a sense of Ithaca's appealing downtown. At the Ithaca Bakery, all of Ithaca seems to gather on Saturday morning to enjoy bagels, sandwiches and coffee with a local paper. Barbara had the "Lindsay", a biali topped with sliced turkey, mushrooms and melted muenster cheese, and I sampled some of their salads and pastries.

Bellies full, we motored over to the Edgewood Place Bed & Breakfast. Margie was just raving about this newly opened inn. "Every room has a different theme, and the bathrooms are all different—they're just incredible." Driving up the hill to Cornell University, Barbara and I kept our eyes peeled for Stewart Avenue and Edgewood Place, where the B&B was located. Turning down the tiny lane, it was hard to believe that there was room here for such an elegant inn right on the edge of Cascadilla Gorge. This elegant eclectic, colonial-revival house was designed by Clinton C. Vivian and built for the Morse family in 1905, but somehow dates and architects don't do justice to this lovely home, shaded by ancient evergreens and hugged by flowering bushes.

David Warren, one of the innkeepers, greeted us at the door, and we were instantly charmed by the house's warm oak floors and American chestnut trim. Deerdra, the inn mascot and a very sensitive dog, even surrendered her spot by a big, leaf-filled picture window to come and say hello. We followed David to our room, the "bird" room, which was truly exquisite. Misti Wilcox, the other innkeeper and would-be professional decorator, had commissioned local artist and iron smith, Durand Van Doren, to re-create the wrought iron headboards she had discovered in a French decorating magazine. Birds perched amidst the iron curls of the headboard and also adorned Van Doren's open frame wardrobe and a matching sink stand, complete with wrought iron fixtures and an elegant Toto basin. In the bathroom, a combination shower and tub was intricately tiled in pale shades, and the deep tub reminded me of a Japanese bath. The room also included all those special touches you love to see in a bed and breakfast, including flowered wallpaper, a summer porch, down comforters and handmade soaps, made by 17th Century Suds, in scents like Patchouli Tangerine and Lavender Rose.

It was a drizzly afternoon, so Barbara and I  decided to just relax. Misti made Barbara a fresh pot of herbal tea for her sniffles, and while I toured the house, Barbara took advantage of that deep tub. I got a chance to see the other rooms and each one was more stunning than the next. The "Persian" room features hand painted Italian silk fabrics and contemporary Indian prints of romantic garden scenes. In the bathroom, a large stained glass window, created by glass artist Jake Grasiano, picks up the organic themes of the painted silk and provides light and privacy for a huge shower stall covered in waves of small blue and turquoise tiles. The other two rooms—the "Red" room and the study—respectively feature a large hot tub, framed by mirrors and colorful tiles, and a private meditation fountain (which can be turned off).

The entire house is a virtual art gallery. In every room and along the halls, artwork is displayed, and there's quite a range: from Bente Starke King's careful and precise botanical drawings to Mnetha Warren's edgy decorative furniture and conceptual works, not to mention, Valencian artist, Antonio Ferri's surreal Arcadian visions and some nineteenth-century Japanese prints. Many local artists are featured, and a stop at the inn is like traveling the entire Greater Ithaca Art Trail in just a few hours.

After my tour, I quietly knocked on the bathroom door and found Barbara up to her shoulders in steaming hot water. Later that evening, we took a two-block walk up the hill to Cornell and had a tough choice to make for dinner: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai or vegan? The next morning we came downstairs to the sounds of a pan sizzling. As I started munching on some fresh pistachio-cranberry biscotti, Misti said, "Wait, wait, I'm making you a traditional Brazilian breakfast. Save the biscotti for later." Misti spent a number of years there as an art dealer and for this morning had cooked up scrambled eggs, amazing jalapeno grits and sauteed bananas. A little less adventurous, Barbara had hot cereal and some translucent, blush-colored raspberries, which Misti had scouted out at Ithaca's Farmers' Market earlier that morning. We were both pretty full by the time we said our goodbyes and headed off to the farmers' market ourselves.

By the time we arrived there, around noon, the action was already winding down, but there were still plenty of merchants selling their goods. We walked by stalls of pumpkins, cider, fresh fruit and vegetables, wines from local vineyards, honey labeled by the season, crafts and jewelry and plenty of snacks. My absolute favorite was Wendy Ives' line of elegant handcrafted soaps—17th Century Suds—the same soaps featured at Edgewood Place B&B. The soaps are incredibly fragrant, from the seasonal clove spice to a luxurious bar made with real French chocolate. I had a great time talking to her and learning more about her growing line of lip balms, bath salts, lotions and masks. Of the more than thirty scents for sale, I narrowed my own choices down to six (it wasn't easy). Hauling our new treasures—honey, jewelry, soap and some beautiful wood pieces—back to the car, we headed off for the last stop of our trip—Robert Treman State Park.

Robert Treman State Park is off Route 13, just five miles south of Ithaca. We parked at the head of Enfield Glen Gorge, and took the path to the right. Clambering up wide easy trails, we could hear a lot of noise but couldn't see the gorge or the creek. When we reached a steep set of stairs descending into the gorge, Barbara just shook her head and said, "no way." I urged her on, and when we reached a landing, we caught a view of the valley, covered in green, gold and orange treetops. Finally, we caught a glimpse of what was making all that noise—the 115-foot Lucifer Falls. Crossing a bridge and coming back up the other side of the gorge, we had a continuous view of the falls. As we hugged the cliff wall, we ascended past the main attraction only to find more falls, stone bridges and naturally carved pools. Back in the parking lot, a last minute trip to the ladies room yeilded yet another waterfall, discovered alongside the facilities.

The drive home was quiet as we listened to some jazz and sat back with our own thoughts. In just two and a half days, we had hiked two state parks, seen downtown Ithaca, strolled a farmers' market, toured an art gallery, eaten ethnic cuisine, had a sophisticated dinner at Pangea and still found time for a relaxing afternoon just sipping hot tea.      — Elizabeth Funk