The First Road Trip
A few years ago my sister, fresh from her divorce, and I decided to take our first road trip together as adults. It was the first trip we had taken just the two of us. We were headed to Lilly Dale. When we got onto the freeway we both yelled "Towanda". We just looked at each other and burst out laughing.
It’s an otherworldly community of some 250 more or less permanent residents situated above Cassadaga Lake, 60 miles south of Buffalo, New York. Most true Lily Daleans live in gingerbread Victorian cottages standing haphazardly along a maze of narrow, rough lanes laid out in the 19th century for horse-drawn carriages. The village is overshadowed by groves of century-old oaks, maples and hemlocks, under which proliferate a rich variety of mosses, ferns and fungi. A fairy-tale ambiance pervades the place, something a bit fey and toadstoolish, which is perfectly in keeping with what Lily Dale is all about.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/in-good-spirits-43969706/
Lily Dale was incorporated in 1879 as Cassadaga Lake Free Association, a camp and meeting place for Spiritualists and Freethinkers . The name was changed to The City of Light in 1903 and finally to Lily Dale Assembly in 1906. The purpose of Lily Dale was to further the science, philosophy, and religion of Spiritualism . [3]
Besides its Spiritualist activities and many entertainments such as billiards, swimming, ferris wheels, and boating, Lily Dale was known for
http://susanbanthonyfamily.com/susan-b-anthony/why-did-susan-b-frequent-lily-dale/its support of women’s rights. Marian H. Skidmore, a leader of the Spiritualist community, was a great proponent of woman suffrage. At her invitation Susan B. Anthony frequently spoke about women’s rights at Lily Dale and participated in the town’s activities.
That is just a sampling of the history. There are nature trails, park like settings and meditation areas. One of the trails is called the Fairy Trail. Along that trail visitors leave objects such as fairy figurines, fairy houses, gnomes, and other fae items. I even saw a Barbie dressed as a Fairy. There were whole little villages set up.
We walked the trails, went to a healing session, meditated and a thoroughly wonderful time. We spent the whole day there and were scheduled for the night's "Ghost Walk". We were given flashlights for the walk and we made the rounds of many of the old buildings. The history was fascinating. We saw the retreats Elizabeth Cady Stanton stayed as well as the house Susan B Anthony stayed.
The last part of the walk was optional. We could go & take the trail to Inspiration Stump or we could end our walk at the last building. We went to the stump snapping pictures as we walked. It was pitch black on the trail. We stopped at the pet cemetery where orbs appeared in our pictures (could have been flying insects). We continued on and took pictures of the wooded area on both sides of the trail. My sister took pictures of the right side - I took pictures of the left side. When we reached the stump we sat in silence, listening to all the night sounds and feeling relaxed.
Inspiration Stump is a retreat found at the end of the calm and quiet trail of the Leolyn Woods. It is not unusual to become more aware of the spiritual energies while in an open and receptive state at the Stump. You are invited to participate in the service held twice a day in the grove at no charge.
Demonstrations of mediumship are presented by the mediums giving short messages to those in the audience. These services have been held since 1898. As well as possibly receiving a message of meaning at Inspiration Stump, you may well renew your own Spiritual energies. Spiritual awareness is available to everyone.
https://the59club.blog/2019/08/25/inspiration-stump/
A few days after we returned home my sister emailed me a picture she took while we were walking toward the stump. She asked me what I saw & there in the pitch black was a face. I took the picture to my hubby & asked him what he saw & he said "what that face?" It was very weird, for when I printed the picture the face was gone - but was still on her phone. Sadly she dropped her phone into the ocean on a trip with a friend of hers & the picture is no more and I only have the printed one.
Now for our B&B adventure on that trip:
We stayed in Brookside Manor (which unfortunately is permanently closed). 
It was nice.
So in our room we had the double bed and a rollaway. We turned in and fell asleep. AT about 2 in the morning I felt someone shaking my shoulder. It happened three times and finally I asked "What?", thinking it was my sister. Lo and behold she was in her bed across the room snoring. I shook my head and got up to eat some Pecan Sandies. Read for the rest of the night. When I told her in the morning she told me that at about 1 the previous night she was awoken by a bouncing ball in the hallway & then a knock at our door - she opened the door after peering through the peephole and no one was in the hall & there was no ball. She actually got some Pecan Sandies and went back to bed.
On our way home we stopped at the Dunkirk Lighthouse - but that is a story for another day.
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That looks like such a beautiful place.
It was very peaceful. Perfect for meditation.
A much better outcome than Thelma and Louise's road trip.
Used to travel with rock bands and had interesting road trips.
We went away from the Thelma & Louise comparison because of the outcome. Now we are more Lucy & Ethel or Wilma & Betty.
I think that would be so cool.
I've heard of this place
I was supposed to go there with my best friend, but she kept cancelling on me so I took my sister instead.
I've always thought that would be a fun place to visit.
We enjoyed it. I would recommend, if you want to visit one of the mediums that live there - go onto the website and set up an appointment ahead of time. We didn't know to do that and they were all booked.
If I took a road trip with one of my sisters, only one of us would return.
The person I call my sister is actually my daughter's MIL. We go on trips all the time. Every once in awhile my sister has to put me in my place
lol
Never head of the place. The place you stayed at looked fantastic.
It sure will be nice when we can safely travel around again.
It is a small place in Western NY.
We have two trips planned this summer (both in state). The first is to one of the finger lakes, Canandaigua. We will hit the casino & racetrack, the park areas around the lake itself & hopefully Sonnenberg Gardens.
The second trip is near Tioga Downs (another casino & racetrack). We will be staying at Fainting Goat Inn, which overlooks the Susquehanna River. We will then head to Cooperstown to the Farmer's Museum.
I hear a theme there...Haha.
Sounds nice though.
Made me think of these,
Yep, fun is what we plan.
And yes - the inn where we are going has those kinds of goats & a giant pot belly pig.
Now I want to go. Fainting goats and a pig... The goats would crack me up and I have always liked pigs.
And that is just where you are staying. Haha
yep. Oh & it is supposedly haunted too. Then the racetrack & casino. Fun all the way around.
Is Tioga Downs near the PA border? I used to live in Tioga County, PA
Yes - really close - in fact the route I am taking dips into PA for a bit.
We had a dairy farm outside Mansfield, PA for a while. We were only about a mile from the Tioga River which flooded an area called Lamb's Creek back in 1972 when Agnes came up the Susquehanna Valley
We got flooded in 72 in the Southern Tier of NY. The Cohocton river overflowed - that is the river that converges with the Tioga river in Corning to form the Chemung river.
I vaguely remember that area. We lived there from the time I was 10 until I was 13. Went to the Chemung County fair once and went to the Corning Glassware factory a few times
I lived 48 miles north of Corning for most of my young life. In a small town where everyone knows your father is the town drunk.
If.
I have two in state trips planned.
It's fun reading your adventures. I've had many adventures during my lifetime, but the biggest one is deciding at age 69 to completely change my life and become a teacher in China.
Took a class on Chinese history once due to needing non-major credits.
Have studied martial arts most of my life.
Sticks swords and knives work well up close.
Never actually learned much of the languages other than to count and swear.
Back in the PI the kids joked about me thinking I couldn't understand them. I could.
Are you fluent in all dialects?
LOL. Other than English, I'm not FLUENT in ANY dialect or language including French that I had to learn in school in Canada. I only know certain words and phrases in Chinese verbally, but no way can I read it. For example, when I picked up my new glasses at the optician's offices at Chinese New Year a year ago, I was able to say "Shay Shay, Shin Yin Quai Loh, Sai Jian" which translates to "Thank you. Happy New Year. Goodbye."
English is used so much here as a second language, and so many people have a mininal ability to use it (in the big cities), I've never really had to learn Chinese in order to get along here. My wife does most of the local communicating.
I think that is awesome.
Sounds like you had a great adventure, Veronica.
We did and want to have many more.
That was a beautiful room.
It was, just sad that the place closed.