Trip 2: Jamestown

Date: Thursday, July 18, 2024

Events/Locations:

• Visit the Lucy-Desi Museum
• Enjoy Jamestown & have lunch on your own
• Visit the National Comedy Center, a great interactive museum
• Visit the Lucille Ball Memorial Park
• Dine in style at the Roycroft Inn in East Aurora

$150 for members and guests

Non-member guests must create an Osher online account in order to register for trips.

After you register, open the registration confirmation email you will receive, then click on the link within the email to fill out the questionnaire specific to this trip.

* There are four restaurants near the Lucy Desi Museum. Please check out their menus (URLs below) and decide which restaurant you want to go to, preferably before the trip. A trip coordinator will accompany you to that restaurant and help you find the National Comedy Center afterwards.

• The Pub (230 ft; 1 minute walk)
• 4 Below (0.1 mi; 4 min)
• Labyrinth Press (vegetarian/vegan) (500 ft; 2 min)
• Pearl City Hops (0.2 mi; 4 min)

Some walking and standing is involved. Dress for the weather — rain or shine. Wear comfortable walking shoes. If you need a cane or walker, please bring one and use it. Don’t forget your camera. This trip is NOT wheelchair accessible.

In these stressful times, we could all use a little comic relief. Accordingly, our trip to Jamestown will feature two of the country’s preeminent comedy experiences – the Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum and The National Comedy Center. Jamestown is Lucille Ball’s hometown, and this museum explores the careers of both Lucy and Desi, “The First Couple of Comedy,” pioneers of television comedy in the 1950s who have had lasting impact on American cultural history. The museum includes memorabilia from the I Love Lucy TV series, including wardrobes and sets. A guided tour will be provided, delving into the vital role Lucy and Desi played in television and on the big screen. Our tour guide will also accompany us to the National Comedy Center.

The National Comedy Center. Jamestown is a destination for the celebration of comedy. The National Comey Center presents the history of comedy from the early days of vaudeville to modern social media. The center has over 50 immersive exhibits that take you through the world of comedy, including stand-up, movies, TV and radio shows, cartoons, and comic strips. Discover the great works of iconic performers who have elevated comedy to an art form. 

For more on the Comedy Center, from its being of national importance to how it customizes each visitor’s experience to their personal sense of humor, check out this 4-minute video: https://vimeo.com/561353966 

Lucille Ball Memorial Park. This scenic park on the shore of Chautauqua Lake has two statues of Lucille Ball. The second was sculpted after much controversy over the first! We will make a quick stop there so you can see them, form your own opinion, and maybe take a selfie (or two). 

Dinner. Our dinner destination, The Roycroft Inn, is a part of the Roycroft Campus, the birthplace of the Arts & Crafts Movement in America, founded by Elbert Hubbard in 1897. At its peak, over 500 artisans and craftsmen worked here, drawing visitors from all over. The Roycroft Inn opened in 1905 and became the center of activity for the campus. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Inn underwent a 9-year, $8 million renovation, restoring it to its original splendor. Walking into the Roycroft is to step back in time to the days of the Arts and Crafts Movement. 

Please select your main course entrée while registering for this trip. There are three entrée choices for dinner:

1. Pork Tenderloin (grilled with roasted garlic and fresh herbs, honey blackberry barbecue sauce)
2. Faroe Islands Salmon (pan-seared with fresh herbs and finished with orange Thai chili glaze)
3. Vegan Coconut Curry (vegan sweet Italian "sausage", zucchini, sweet peas, broccoli, chickpeas and red bell peppers, Basmati rice, and toasted peanuts)

Dessert will be a Sliver of Chocolate Truffle Cake (gluten free)

All entrees are accompanied by fresh garden salad, vegetables, potato or rice (as appropriate), Inn-baked breads with creamy butter, freshly brewed coffee, decaffeinated coffee, and hot tea.

If you have special dietary needs, please indicate so on the registration questionnaire.

On Tuesday, July 16 at 10 am all members are invited to a free lecture, featuring two talks by Dan Viola. Following graduation from Cornell in 1989, Dan Viola tried stand-up comedy at an open mic and was hooked for a few years.  Life came calling and he quit comedy “forever”.  Since then, he has accumulated one wife, seven kids and almost 30 years teaching chemistry at Brockport HS. Oh, and he resumed his entertainment career along the way, emphasizing clean comedy and a resume that includes his own Dry Bar Comedy special, entertaining Fortune 500 companies and sharing the stage with big names like John Stewart, Kevin Nealon and Rob Schneider. This may be obvious with 3 kids in college, but he will NOT be sharing advice on accumulating wealth.

(hybrid format - attend in person at Osher or via Zoom)