For you it may be the idea of
Atlantis,
I was always drawn to the idea of the
Amazon woman,
Whatever it is out there that gives you a sense escape, I am here to tell you now - you need look no futher! Better than fantasy - the beautiful future already exists! You need only to head North (or South) on Rt. 81 and get off in
Ithaca, NY.
Today for DEFY MONDAY- we say MOVE! Or at least visit this beautiful Upstate NY retreat.
The people! The food! The parks! The COFFEE! I will talk about it all, now, in no particular order.
We were brought to this fabulous weekend destination in order to attend AWESOME Amy's AWESOME Graduation Party, which was being held at
Taughannock State Park. Have you heard the phrase "Ithaca Is Gorges"?
Well, let me tell you, not only are there state parks:
Taughannok,
Treman and
Buttermilk (all sporting their own special waterfall attractions), there is also the
Wildflower Preserve at Six Mile Creek, the
East Hill Reacreation Way, the
Cascadilla Creek Gorge,
Ithaca Falls, and the network of
Finer Lakes Trails - ALL in Ithaca! The best part, many of these are a stone's throw away (okay, like a two or three block walk) from some of the best coffe on the planet! These trail heads are RIGHT IN TOWN.
THE COFFEE!
Okay, so we are going to handle this one like this:
See that Rhino there? We're going to call that "Gimme!". And those Egyption Plovers perched on his back, one's named "The Shop", and another "Manndible Cafe". The primo source for coffee in Ithaca is
Gimme! Coffee. Gimmee! Coffee, The Shop, and Manndible Cafe exist in a
symbiotic relationship, in the same way these Plovers and Rhino do! These birds eat the insects off of the backs of buffaloes, giraffes, and rhinos. They have even been observed taking the leeches from the open mouths of crocodiles! (brave!) The Plovers sustain themselves on these bugs from the Rhino, while in turn providing the Rhino with better health. So, you get it? The Gimme!, The Shop, Manndible Cafe thing? Gimme! not only brews coffee, it also roasts, so in addition to its own shops around town, Gimme! supplies beans to
The Shop and
Manndible Cafe.
And,
drum roll please,
this leads us to The People!
Because who is the roaster at
Gimme! Coffee? Why Colleen is of course!
Gimme! is great because not only do they take an "obsessive approach to sourcing, roasting and preparing artisan coffee", they also put a lot of their energy towards community-building, historic preservation, and sustainability.
They are sending Colleen to South American later this month for bean research and to visit the farms from which they buy their own beans.
And who owns
The Shop? Why, its Phoebe Aceto and Jon Proton!
The Shop is new in town, working to serve not only great coffee and teas, but also to provide a space for art shows and live music perfomances. Plus they do tattoos! You heard me right! This is a fully functional coffee shop and tattoo parlor! Get Phoebe to make you a kick-ass single-cup, get Phoebe to give you a kick-ass tattoo? It's true, while you're here you can do both.
Another connection - Phoebe used to work for Gimme! You can read more about that,
here.
managed by my most wonderfully creative friend: Aniela!
Manndible Cafe is located across the way from Mann Library on Cornell University's campus. This cade has all the old innards of the now closed
Juna's Cafe located on the
Ithaca Commons, where owners Kathleen and Pam were nice enough to give me my first (and best) coffee job. Not only did I have my first espresso and first tofu sandwhich, its where I first met Aniela and Colleen. A golden age indeed.
The
Manndible Cafe, the only one of the three with both a breakfast and a lunch menu, on top of a comprehensive coffee and smoothie list, is a great choice for fresh food and pretty smiles. DO try their tofu scramble wrap!
So its all about the coffee then? Yeah, I guess so - but look what all this caffeine created: a great network, of wonderful people, in a beautiful city - a great place to go to a graduation party with a drink
Ithaca Beer. (yes, there is
local beer too!)
All this, and I didn't even get started on the arts! I'll give you this link anyway, to
Comet Skateboards, a sustainable skateboard company, for which my friend Kaya has just started doing their screen-printing, even rocking a few of his own board designs.
Ithaca - gorgeous indeed! Inside and out. So DEFY MONDAY - get in your car, and drive.
****And on a side note: while at the graduation party, we met Sean and Adam, of
Hamlet Organic Garden, a CSA located in Long Island. They invited us to their Strawberry Festival/Summer Solstice Celebration coming up in June! Stay tuned for the post!
Now we wanna know - where are you going to escape to this summer?
(photo source)
(photo source) 
(photo source) .jpg)
(photo source) 
(photo source)
(photo source)
(photo source)
(photo source) 
