Aurora & Seneca Falls

Shopping. Eating. Education. A day trip to Aurora and Seneca Falls provides the perfect opportunity for all three.

Mary Beth, one of my NYC friends who is willing to visit “upstate,” and I started at the Mackenzie Childs mother ship, on the east side of Cayuga Lake. Luckily, we were there the weekend before the barn sale (that event is not something I have the fortitude to experience), so the shop was calm and the sales staff friendly and relaxed. I hadn’t intended to buy anything, but there were a few really cute things on pre-sale, and as long as Mary Beth was helping our Finger Lakes economy, I thought I should join her... 

From there, we continued south, to Jane Morgan’s Little House, where we barely had time to say hello to Randi, the owner, and set a couple of things aside before our reservation at the Aurora Inn across the street. Lunch on the veranda overlooking the lake was lovely and delicious. Thus fortified, we re-crossed the busy street and continued our support of the local economy. In the short time it had taken us to eat, Randi and her associate had completely rearranged the front room by relocating all of their black and white (i.e., Mackenzie Childs-like) clothing there, where it would be easily accessible to this weekend’s barn sale hordes. They were also busy sorting handmade button necklaces, many with that signature checkerboard, by color. Although I wanted one in each color, I settled on a plain, but versatile, black and white one.

The First Wave Statue Exhibit,
by Lloyd Lillie

Then it was time to be educated in Seneca Falls. Our first stop was the Women’s Rights National Historical Park. We watched the introductory film at the Visitor Center, which was informative, entertaining, and a bit depressing (because equality is a fragile concept, even and especially these days). The exhibits are mostly reading material, and the few children visitors appeared bored, but I was heartened to see several male visitors, as well. 

We peeked into Wesleyan Chapel, the site of the First Women’s Rights Convention (although it is not the same structure as in 1848), and since no one else was there, I tested the acoustics with a short song…

Next stop was the National Women’s Hall of Fame, which was little more than posters on the walls of each of the women inductees – information one could just as easily read on their website, in the comfort of a chair and with a drink in hand. Still, I suppose our admission fee helped support the existence of the organization in some small way.

Our final stop was the Seneca Falls It’s a Wonderful Life Museum, a curious little place which exists on fact that Frank Capra visited the town in November, 1945, while he was working on the film’s script, and the idea that parts of the movie, set in “Bedford Falls,” are based on the town and stories of Seneca Falls. Some of the actors who played children in the film, as well as Frank Capra’s granddaughter, make frequent pilgrimages to Seneca Falls. As I said, curious.

statue commemorating "When Anthony met Stanton"

We tried to visit Elizabeth Cady Stanton House on our way home, but it was closed, and I’m not sure I would try returning – the entrance to their parking lot is so steep that my car was making all sorts of warning sounds going in and out to turn around! This town definitely felt like a “once and done” visit…