49th Anniversary Trip Part 4

 

Our next day started in Penn Yan, NY. Decades ago I remembered two stores that I wanted to return to. Before we made our way to them, George found a candy store, the Keuka Candy Emporium which was full of nostaglic candy. We were greeted by this barking guard dog. I'm sure he was set up for Halloween. After picking out some sweets, we headed on to the original destination.

The first store I wanted to return to was an Amish store that I didn't really remember well, but that it was way off the beaten path and that I had enjoyed the visit. Well, it was off the beaten path, but it was "off season" and at a new location, so nothing sparked my memory. It was a cute but little Amish goods store. The view of the lake from upstairs was wonderful. Weaver-view Farms Amish Country Store. 

 

On our way to our next stop enjoying more scenery.

Now this store I wish was closer. So much fun going through all kind of bulk items, Amish and other foods. We had fun shopping here. Maybe, it's a good thing it's not closer!

Our next stop was Wings of Eagles Discovery Center in Horseheads, NY.

They had a room about living on Mars. We got to have our pictures taken on Mars. 

More outside photos

From there we went to Elmira, NY. We had seen a lot in Elmira on another vacation, so this was mostly just passing through. It's a great city to visit especially if you are a Mark Twain fan. George did want to see this cemetery again. A little history lesson first:

When the prison camp in Maryland was overfilled, a confederate soldier prison was established in Elmira in 1864. They lived in canvas tents waiting for the barracks to be built. Of the over 12,000 who went here, around 3,000 died, they claim it was due to the harsh winter weather. An escaped slave and caretaker to the Woodlawn Cemetary, John W. Jones buried them all and respectfully kept records on every burial. In 1874 the government made it a national cemetery. Here there are confederate, and union soldiers buried together. 

We found it interesting that the stones are inscribed with the names facing each other row. 

Our final cemetery visit was Mark Twain's family plot.

A bite to eat on our actual 49th wedding anniversary.

49th Anniversary Trip Part 3

Waiting for a museum to open we did a little side trip to the City Pier in Canandaigua. Having read about the boathouses there, we stopped to see the 80 different little boathouses. It's such a unique village and the lake is beautiful. It was a great way to start a warm, sunny morning. 

Canandaigua Lake is the fourth largest of the Finger Lakes and know for the cleanest water in New York State, providing the drinking water for Canandaigua. 

George said if we lived near there, he would go for walks there all the time. It was truly a beautiful spot.

After that diversion we went back to Seneca Falls to see the National Women's Hall of Fame. I knew obviously that this building honors great women. The criteria to be inducted was kind of vague. Nominees come from the public. The exhibits were just ok. 

Actual torch used in the 1977 Women's National Conference.

From there we went to the Women's Right National Historic Park, also in Seneca Falls. This is such an interesting time in history as women fought for equal rights. They were a diversified group of women that began the long battle for justice for woman. 

My previous blog post showed the Ripples of Change statues of Laura Cornelius Kellogg, Harriet Tubman, Martha Coffin Wright and Sojourner Truth in another part of Seneca Falls, representing women suffrage activists through decades who fought for rights.

This museum told of the first women's rights convention in the U.S. in 1848. Organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lurcertia Mott, Mary M'Clintock, Marth Coffin Wright and Jane Hunt. Nearly 300 attended the convention which was held at the Wesleyan Chapel which is next door to the museum. There a park ranger gave an informative talk. 

This all gave us a deeper respect for the long road of fighting for equal rights. We need to be thankful for all of these women and the men that also stood by them. To put things in perspective, African Americans were given the right to vote in 1870, women nationwide in 1920 and in 1924 the Native Americans were granted U.S. citizenship and the right to vote. In 1965 the Voting Rights Acts was passed to protect the voting rights of all citizens regardless of race or ethnicity. We all need to not take this right for granted and use this right that so many fought for us to have.

After this, we drove to Penn Yan to spend the night before our next stop, but our lodging for this stop, turned into an awesome adventure. On the way, we enjoyed the New York scenery. We did see some Amish horse and buggies too.

The Hampton Inn at Penn Yan, felt like a reward with the view overlooking Keuka Lake. The hospitality desk kindly gave us a special rate that proved to be one of most inexpensive our stays and definitely the nicest. I mean, how nice is it to walk into your room and have the TV welcoming you. 

The view from our room:

Downstairs, the same view with outside tables, chairs and a lit fire pit. We watched the sunset. There is a restaurant which offered outside dining and we chose to have dessert. There was musical entertainment at night, but we were too tired to see that or the indoor pool. What an awesome place to stay. 

The view from our room that evening.

And the next morning. Almost didn't want to leave. Such an awesome place to just relax and enjoy, but we were off to another adventure continued on the next blog.