2 Best Sights in Corning, The Finger Lakes

One of the world's premier glass museums, the Corning Museum of Glass displays pieces ranging from contemporary glass sculpture to Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Comfort Tiffany stained-glass windows to glassware crafted by Egyptians 3,500 years ago. About 10,000 of the more than 45,000 glass objects in the museum's collection are on display at any one time. Interactive exhibits show the history, beauty, and creativity of 35 centuries of glasswork. Glassmaking demonstrations are given throughout the day and a workshop encourages you to make your own glass souvenir ($10–$30); even preschoolers may participate. In the 18,000-square-foot gift shop you can buy works from local or internationally known glass artists, from a $5 glass-bead bracelet to a $17,000 Pepi Hermann cut-crystal platter, as well as utilitarian items, like the namesake CorningWare. Also available is Steuben Glass, founded in Corning; Steuben masterpieces have been presented as gifts to foreign heads of state and are in museums around the world. The museum adjoins a glass studio, which serves as a workshop for professional gaffers and an educational center for glass students.

The museum has the largest collection of Western American art in the East. Art from the 19th and 20th centuries and American Indian artifacts and works show the people, places, and ideas of the West. Kids get to use special interactive backpacks as they go through the displays. The museum occupies an 1893 building, the old city hall, in the historic Market Street district. A Southwestern restaurant is on the premises.