Corning Glass Museum

The Corning Glass Museum is at the outer limits of what can be considered a local Rochester attraction, since the time you'll spend there is roughly equal to the time spent driving to and from. The only time I've been there was about 10 years ago on a drive in a blizzard from NJ to Rochester when we were visiting Charlie's parents here, and even then, we only made it into the extensive gift shop. But my friend Mary Beth, who was visiting from NYC for the weekend, had already been to the Susan B. Anthony House twice, and the George Eastman House. She wanted something she couldn't see a bigger version of in her home town. So even though you'd never visit NYC and take a day trip to Philadelphia, she wanted to go to Corning. And it was on my list, so off we went.

We arrived just before noon, so decided to fortify ourselves first with a tasty bite in the cafe. Then we made our way through the contemporary glass, and there were quite a few pieces we wouldn't have minded having, including the glass beehives (Mary Beth was dubious about my hearing the buzzing of bees coming from the cassette tapes, but my hearing for annoying sounds is better than most...), and a really fun teacup.

The collection of historical glass is overwhelming, and amazing that so many of these delicate pieces even survived all these years (I break so many glasses just washing them!). It was fun to see the array of old wine bottles, all different shapes and sizes, and some leaning slightly, because they obviously were blown by hand. And the cases of paperweights – just paperweights! There were also the obligatory displays of Steuben and Tiffany and Lalique. Many of the cases displayed items three or four deep, so we really needed to take our time to take it all in.

It was a welcome relief to sit for the 25-minute glassblowing demonstration. A young woman expertly blew a fluted vase, while her companion narrated the process, and occasionally helped, when an additional rod or hand was required. Having taken several lessons, I know how difficult it is to gather the glass, to keep the heavy rod constantly turning to fight gravity, and to remember to hold the rod on the part that isn't blistering hot... This girl did it with such ease, and with an audience! Unfortunately, they didn't take questions – I would have liked to know what they did with the pieces they blew – were they for sale in the gift shop?

The gift shop was a mix of items, from cheap Chinese chachkies to art glass that could just have easily been upstairs in the museum. There were a few small items from defunct Steuben, and also a few from the Taiwanese Liuligongfang (but none as pretty as the pieces Charlie brought home years ago each time he went to Asia on business...).

Naturally, we went a week before a new wing was to open. So I'll just have to find an excuse to go back, and maybe even take a glassblowing lesson as well!