Travel Call Episode 2: Bing Bong

 

Albany Great Danes vs. Binghamton Bearcats

Site: Binghamton Events Center

Location: Vestal, NY

Date: February 11, 2023

The Historic Binghamton Railroad Terminal. (Flickr)

Rolling Green Hill Zone: The City of Binghamton has seen a number of costume changes over the years. In the early days it was considered a transportation Mecca, sitting at the convergence of the Lackawanna, Delaware, and Western railroads, with the Chenango Canal connecting the southern tier with the Erie Canal to the north. 

As a result of all this traffic, the city became a major manufacturing hub, especially for cigars. In its heyday, Binghamton was considered the second-largest manufacturer of cigars in the country. Later, the city would be known as a hub for high-tech and defense firms. IBM was one such notable company founded here, and the flight simulator can also claim Binghamton as its birthplace.

Hard times struck following the conclusion of the Cold War, as the tech and arms wars ebbed. In recent years, Binghamton has re-emerged as a city grounded in healthcare and education, thanks to Binghamton University. The city has earned the moniker of "Valley of Opportunity;" an idol to capitalism, entrepreneurial spirit, and reinvention.

Today, Binghamton is a "city" that almost feels like a quintessential upstate New York town. Nestled in the region's renowned emerald valleys, the city has found a way to unite industry with nature. There's a little bit of something for everybody. Historic estates such as the Phelps Mansion Museum inform us of the city's history and growth, while outdoor escapes like the Chenango Valley Park draw us in to the southern tier's natural beauty.

Me? I went to an arcade. In the outskirts of Binghamton is Robot City Games and Arcade, which operates as both a new and classic video game seller and a classic video arcade. With over 100 machines, including pinball machines dating back to 1974 and favorites such as Defender and Robotron 2084, Robot City Games is a great way to step back in time and have a little fun while doing so. 

The Stevens Square Building. (Flickr)

The Power In-Vestaled in Them: Binghamton has also earned its reputation as a hub for sports fans, in large part to the university bearing the city's name. Originally called the Colonials, Binghamton University competed in Division III athletics until 1998, when it moved up to Division II. One year later, the University would vote to move up again, this time to Division I. They would also adopt the Bearcat as their new mascot. 

Binghamton officially moved into Division I in 2001, joining the America East conference. Since then, the Bearcats have seen a mixed bag of success across many athletic disciplines. The baseball team has made five NCAA tournament appearances, including last year, and won six regular season titles. The rugby team is the class of the America East, having won several conference championships over the years.

Then, we have the men's basketball team. Their sole NCAA tournament appearance in 2009 is unfortunately marred by scandal. After defeating the UMBC Terriers in the tournament championship that year 61-51, the Bearcats would earn a 15 seed and challenge number 2-seeded Duke. They hung tough with the Blue Devils and their legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski, but would ultimately go down 86-62. 

Despite an early-round loss, there was optimism that Binghamton basketball was only getting started. That was, until October 2009, when it was discovered that the university had compromised admissions and academic standards in order to strengthen its men's basketball team. The scandal would force head coach Kevin Broadus to step down, and put the Bearcats in a slump they have never truly recovered from. Binghamton has failed to accrue a winning record in overall and conference play since 2009, in one of college basketball's most depressing droughts.

Their 2022-2023 campaign, however, has shown some promise. Though they are 11-13 overall, the Bearcats have amassed a 7-4 conference record, and as of this writing are sitting in the second position in the America East standings. 

Dr. Bai Lee Court at Binghamton Events Center.

Falko Punch: What makes this Binghamton team so special is its veteran presence. There are only two underclassmen on the team (sophomore Matt Solomon and freshman Masud Stewart), with the rest of the team being anchored by juniors, seniors, and fifth-year grad students who have played at the highest level for years. It is this synergy that has led the Bearcats to their best season in over a decade, and close wins over power teams in the conference like Bryant, UMass Lowell, and NJIT. 

On Saturday, February 11, the Bearcats challenged the Great Danes from Albany.  Once upon a time, the phrase "why not us?" was closely associated with the Albany program. The Great Danes nearly became the first 16 seed to knock off a 1 seed, when they nearly defeated the UConn Huskies in the first round of the 2006 tournament. Despite a fair amount of tournament appearances in the 2010's, the Great Danes have fallen off in recent years.

2022-23 has been an especially rough go for the Great Danes from the state capital. As of this writing, they sit at a miserable 6-21 overall record, and 1-11 in the conference, last place. A team hungry for a win is a dangerous one, however, and the Bearcats would witness that almost right off the bat against their in-state rival. 

The Bearcats would be kept off the scoreboard for the first 3:30 of action. By the first media break with 15:16 on the clock, Albany had soared to an early 10-2 lead, largely on the back of Rochester-native Gerald Drumgoole Jr. Aggressive in the paint as he is on defense, Drumgoole Jr. was the first to score for the Great Danes, kicking off a 6 point scoring run while buoying a tough defense that kept the white-hot Bearcats far away from the basket.

Binghamton quickly adjusted, however, and with 6:20 showing on the clock, Bing's Armon Harried would steal-and-score to tie the game at 20. Albany and Bing would trade scores from there, but the home team wouldn't get their first lead until a little over one minute left, when Dan Petcash calmly drained a three to put the Bearcats up 32-31. Despite a slow start, the Bearcats would survive the first half up 35-33.

The back-and-forth continued deep into the second half, with Binghamton and Albany both finding pockets of scoring and trading the lead. With 1:30 left, however, it looked like Albany had dealt the decisive blow when Drumgoole Jr. hit a crucial three to put the Great Danes up 63-59. The pressure was on for the Bearcats, but we all know what pressure makes.

That diamond turned out to be Jacob Falko. A clumsy foul from the Great Danes put Falko to the line, where he drained both free throws to bring the Bearcats within two. With the seconds counting down, and the Great Danes attempting to drain the clock, he made a bold steal and made a break for the basket, where he was fouled a second time. Once again, Falko drained both. 

63-63, with 16 seconds to go. Albany would fail to make a basket, and the game went into overtime. Perhaps inspired by their clutch comeback, the Bearcats would dominate the overtime period. They limited the Great Danes to only three points, while scoring on every possession to down the Great Danes 80-66. 

Binghamton shot up into second place in the standings with the win, while Albany's difficult season continued. 

Travel Call Episode 1: What Does the Fox Say?

Canisius Golden Griffins vs. Marist Red Foxes

Site: McCann Gymnasium

Location: Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY

The Historic Hudson Valley: You don't need me to tell you how beautiful the Hudson River Valley is. There is an entire art movement dedicated to this slice of New York geography; let that sink in.

    Marist is one of two (technically three) division one basketball schools located in the Hudson Valley, and the only one that can really claim to be on the Hudson River. From the parking lot of the McCann Gymnasium, you can look out over the Hudson Valley. Honestly, it's so breathtaking you'll almost feel guilty for having to go inside.

    Both the Mid-Hudson Bridge and the Walkway Over the Hudson stretch over the horizon, and across the river the twinkling lights and stately homes and churches of the town of Highland are visible. After the game, a merchant vessel came chugging through, carrying an untold amount of goods to New York City. For a moment, I felt like I stepped back to a simpler time (until I pulled out my smartphone and took a picture of it, realizing how many emails I hadn't opened).

    A number of historical landmarks are less than half an hour away from campus, including the home of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Vanderbilt Mansion, and Historic Huguenot Street. 

    

I only had time for a short visit to FDR's crib, which offers perhaps the best view of the Hudson Valley. In addition, there is a museum detailing FDR's life and presidential achievements. It puts into perspective just how much one man can handle. FDR took the reins of a nation reeling from the Great Depression, and carried the nation on his back through the entirety of the most devastating war in world history. He did all that, while battling the debilitating effects of polio. Regardless of your opinions on his policies, I think most Americans can agree that FDR is an indelible part of our nation's history and legacy.

Marist-ed Development: McCann Arena is just one part of the James J. McCann Center, a 140,000 square foot facility home to many of the Red Foxes' indoor sports, athletic department offices, and fitness centers. The Arena itself is a throwback to when it was built, as the wooden paneling along the wall would indicate.

    The title banners along the wall tell the story of the Marist basketball program, and it is pretty clear that the women have seen far more success than the men. The women have won 13 MAAC Regular Season Championships and 11 MAAC Conference Tournaments. Ten of those tournament championships came between the years of 2004 and 2015, demonstrating their stranglehold over the MAAC. In their eleven NCAA Tournament appearances, they notched five wins and one Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2007. 

    The men have picked up four regular season titles, two with the MAAC (2002, 2007) and two when they were in the Northeast Conference (1986, 1987). Their two NCAA tournament appearances (1986, 1987) came when they were still in the Northeast; they have never won a MAAC tournament championship. They saw the most postseason success in the 2007 NIT, when they defeated Oklahoma State by a slim 67-64 margin before losing to NC State in the second round by the same amount, 69-66. 

    So far, their 2022-23 campaign doesn't suggest they'll break out of this 15-year slump. The Red Foxes are 8-14 overall, and 4-9 in the conference. Coming into this game, they were struggling through a five game losing streak. 

Better Home and Gardner: The good news: Canisius has also been struggling. At 5-18 overall and 3-10 in the conference, the Golden Griffins' hopes have gone the same way as Buckbeak almost did in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: to the chopping block. Coming in, the Golden Griffins were in the midst of a four game losing streak. The only bright spot for the Golden Griffins was their last win before the losing streak: a shocking 66-62 mid-January win over conference-favorite Siena. In their previous bout, the Red Foxes had marched into Buffalo and clipped the Griffins by a score of 76-58. 

Even if you aren't familiar with the Red Foxes or the MAAC at all, it doesn't take long to figure out who the star is for Marist. At 6'11, with flowing, Fabio-esque brown hair, redshirt senior Patrick Gardner captures the attention of the room. And defenses.

It was pretty apparent from the word go that Canisius was focusing on Gardner. Whenever he got the ball, the Golden Griffins would swarm him like flies to an elephant. This never really seemed to bother him, however, and even as the Griffins hampered him in the paint during the first half, he kept his cool and found the hoop more than anyone else on the court. By the time the final buzzer sounded, he would rack up an impressive 29 points, and probably would've scored more had the Griffins not focused so much on him. He scored the final five points in the first half for Marist, who entered halftime with a respectable, but not insurmountable, 33-26 lead.

What was also noticeable was the difference in coaching styles. Third-year Marist head coach John Dunne could be heard all the way across the gym, as could his assistant coach Dalip Bhatia when the Red Foxes were on defense. By contrast, Reggie Witherspoon quietly observed his team from the Canisius bench. During timeouts, he let his players talk it out before he would break the circle with his own observations and game plan. 

By the waning minutes of the second half, it was clear that the focus on Gardner was beginning to get to him, even as he sank nearly every free throw from the fouls committed on him. Canisius' Jacco Fritz, in particular, was proving to be the most annoying. The former MAAC All-Rookie, now in his senior year with the Golden Griffins, had been standing across from Gardner for four years, and wasn't about to back down. Even when he didn't have the ball, Fritz clung to Gardner, and their hand-fighting was becoming noticeable. 

In the meantime, Canisius' Jamir Moultrie stepped up big time for the Golden Griffins, with 14 points and a pair of three pointers, leading a spirited comeback effort. In total, the Golden Griffins would outscore the Red Foxes 26-13 in the final 11 minutes of play. 

With 3:37 left in the game, and with Canisius beginning to rally, Gardner's frustration seemed to boil over. He elbowed Fritz a bit too hard in his push to the hoop, which was all the official needed to turn the ball over. Moultrie would capitalize on the offensive foul with a three point swish. With 3:00 on the clock, the score was now only 64-59 in Marist's favor. 

It seemed like Marist had driven the nail in the coffin when freshman Isaiah Brickner hit a clutch three-pointer. Moultrie would quickly and calmly respond with a three of his own to keep the score within five, now with 1:36 remaining. A foul was committed on Marist's Kam Ferris, giving him a chance to bury the Golden Griffins at the free throw line. Instead, he missed both shots.

Jordan Henderson, the Golden Griffins' leading scorer that afternoon with 17 points to his name, would then drain an impressive three with two Red Foxes applying pressure. This would bring Canisius within two points of Marist's lead, 67-65, with 1:06 left. This would be the closest Canisius would get.

Any good team knows to put the ball in the hands of their playmakers After the timeout, and without a moment's hesitation, Gardner boldly charged down the court and up to the hoop with a quick layup, as if taking a walk in the park. Canisius would come up short in their next possession, and in the final minute both Gardner and Brickner would be fouled, sinking both of their respective free throws to effectively put the game on ice.

With their 75-67 win, Marist swept Canisius and ended their painful losing streak. As the sun set over the Hudson Valley below, I left Marist College happy to have seen a great game between two teams that deserve to be much higher up in the standings. 

Why Summer is Now my Least Favorite Season

To most people, summer means the tasting notes of freshly grown farm goods, sunsets that give the sky the colors of cotton candy ice cream, bustling street carnivals under the warm glow of string LED's, and stimulating trips to the links with friends. 

Every season has its ups and downs, but once upon a time summer was the one season you couldn't criticize. It's three months off from school, with no homework, no teachers, no annoying classmates. Who could possibly complain about that?

For most of us, however, once grade school is over summer becomes just another season. The death of summer vacation is a sad checkpoint in the transition to adulthood, which might explain why a slightly higher number of American adults picked spring over summer as their favorite season.

Personally, summer hasn't just become another three month period of the year: it's now my least favorite. I may enjoy a calming, sunset bike ride through Pultneyville or a boat ride around Sodus Bay that concludes with dinner at Skipper's Landing, but compared to the other three seasons summer is just a bit lacking.

Before teachers or anyone under the age of 18 threatens to break my kneecaps, please hear out my main reasons that summer is now my least favorite season:

1. It's Too Hot

When it's cold out, all you need to do is add an extra layer of clothing and presto: you're protected against the elements. The worst that can happen is you bundle up too much, and look like Randy from Christmas Story. 

Cooling off requires you to do the opposite. You can strip down to your wifebeater and short-shorts...but what happens when that isn't enough? Indecent exposure is a misdemeanor in New York, punishable for up to 15 days of jail time. And it may not be against the law, but I really don't need to see your undergarments.

You can go to ballgames and spend half the price of admission on Powerade alone, and you'll still be overheated. A gross layer of sticky sweat will cling to your skin, and there ain't enough Bath & Body Works in the world to stave off the smell.

My point is, it's easier to get warm than it is to cool off. Yeah, being too cold is dangerous, but so is being too hot. It means dehydration, fatigue, and can even lead to heat exhaustion, a potentially life-threatening condition if left untreated. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that more than 1,300 deaths a year can be attributed to extreme heat.

So, being hot is harder to treat and it could potentially lead to life-threatening conditions? To the Arctic, it is.

2. Sunblock, Bug Block, Tick Block...

Thankfully, there are tools in place to prevent us from grappling with the negative effects of excess heat and sunlight. Thing is, that sunblock stuff smells kinda funky, and you have to cover everything with it. 

And if the sun and heat don't get you, the insects certainly will. Mosquitoes, ants, yellow jackets, beetles, flies...it's like an annoying, buzzing paparazzi greeting you the instant you walk outside. 

More subtle, and arguably more dangerous, are ticks. They crawl up your skin, bore in, and suck your blood, and if that isn't annoying enough, they can give you Lyme Disease. Your skin will swell, you'll be fatigued for hours on end, and if you're really unlucky, the lining of your brain will become inflamed. An article in The Nation claims that the number of new cases of Lyme Disease has risen to 476,000 a year. 

Go outside, they say. It's nice out, they say. Having to cover yourself in gross chemicals to do it? Yeah, you can miss me with that.

3. Bad for Mental Health

Alright, you say. Now you're being ridiculous. How can the sun, our main source of vitamin D and the source for so many beautiful sunrises and sunsets, be bad for your mental health?

You'd be surprised. For some of us, including myself, Summer Anxiety is a form of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) that can cause symptoms of anxiety and depression. It's believed that too much sunlight can throw off our circadian rhythm, making it difficult to get as much sleep as we need to. 

If you're struggling with Summer SAD, the good news is it's still manageable like other forms of SAD. Sticking to structure and routine, scheduling some downtime out of the sun, and seeking therapy can help you.

4. Travel is a Bigger Hassle

With the release of our nation's children for summer vacation, family trips become much more common in the summer months. This means clogged interstate highways, overbooked flights, and screaming children at the back of the plane.

It's much harder to plan road trips and arrival times when traffic congestion can break out at any time. Congestion is very difficult to predict. All it takes is one crash or one big truck trying to get back on the highway for a half-hour to be added onto your trip. 

Flying means avoiding the headache of long road trips, but it's kinda like being served a crap sandwich with a little salt, rather than raw. If you haven't seen my last article (which you can read here), you may not know that air travel has never been so chaotic, as pent-up demand has overwhelmed an industry that was forced to cut back significantly due to Covid-19. This has meant hundreds, perhaps thousands, of flight delays, cancellations, and ruined vacations. Add higher fares between the months of June and August to take advantage of demand, and your wallet will be hurting too.

It's much easier to travel in the fall and spring months, when the kiddies are still in school.

5. Few Sports Worth Watching

Winter might be cold and dreary, but it's also peak sports season: postseason football, college basketball, and hockey. The Royal Rumble, the Super Bowl, the Daytona 500, NCAA Conference Championships, and the opening rounds of March Madness all take place in the winter months.

Once you hit late June, sports programming dries up. Okay, there's a weekly NASCAR race and maybe some golf, but what else? The Olympics? Only happens every four years. The MLB? Snore. Preseason football? Meh... There's no college or even high school sports to follow. 

Sorry, baseball fans. I might be the biggest softball fan this far north of the Mason-Dixon line, but that doesn't mean I enjoy sitting through nine innings of a pitcher's duel in sweltering weather. 

6. It Doesn't Mean What it Used To

I touched on this at the beginning of the article. Summer used to mean time off from school, playing Game Boy and reading Goosebumps in the oak tree behind my house, and biking all day around town with my friends.

Now, it means sitting in a cubicle or home office like every other season, only the weather is better, essentially taunting you for having to staying inside. Summer is a kid's season, and when you're an adult, that fact can be very isolating.

How to Travel by Air when Air Travel is Sucky

Traveling by air right now sucks. You know it's bad when mainstream media outlets, who have no shortage of stories to cover in the present, have dedicated time in their primetime slots to talking about it. 

Now, we could debate about why so many flights are being delayed or canceled, and whether or not airlines are intentionally selling flights they know they can't make, but this article isn't about the industry. It's about you, the traveler.

I've been flying solo since I was 19 years old, when I regularly flew from Burlington, VT to Rochester for breaks during college. In my 20+ flight experiences prior to 2022, I've experienced only one flight delay. This past summer, two of my flights home were cancelled, and I was lucky not to have my plans severely disrupted by them.

My love of flying and going somewhere new or amazing is worth the hassle...it's just that the hassle is the expectation now, not an exception. It's no excuse to miss out on some amazing travel experiences, especially since we've spent the last two years traveling from San Living Room to Las Bedroom while hiding from Covid. 

So, here are some ways to survive the hassle of flight delays, cancellations, and the civil aviation ecosystem as a whole, whether you're a frequent flyer or have never flown before. 

Let's start with some pre-flight stuff:

1. Pack Smart

Before you even think about heading to the airport, think about how you've packed. I'm not talking about how you've sorted the books you intend to read, how you fold your clothes, or remembering your electric toothbrush. 

Consider purchasing tags or some kind of identifier to clip to your bags in case they get lost, especially if you checked them at the airport rather than carried them on the plane. Include information like your address, name, and phone number so airport or airline officials can contact you. 

Keep important items like wallets, cell phones, printed boarding passes, and your passport in your pockets or carry-on luggage. If your miss your flight for any reason after you've checked that bag, it's going to your destination without you. Guess she's just not that into you, fam.

Note that sometimes, because of the size of the plane and the amount of people on board, you might be asked to leave carry-on luggage at the bottom of the jet bridge to be stowed beneath the plane. Ask the gate agent if your bag might be too big to carry on, and make sure you've taken everything out that you might need during flight. Or, do what I do; pretend you didn't hear them and bring it on anyway. The worst that can happen is that there isn't room, and they make you take it the jet bridge anyway.

2. Download your airline's app (and check in as early as possible!)

Unless you're flying with some really small, obscure airline, your carrier will have an app you can download. The app has all kinds of nifty features, allowing you to download a digital boarding pass, check-in, change seats, etc.

It will also update you on the status of your flight. If your flight is cancelled or delayed, the app should provide you rebooking options.

While we're talking about the app...make sure to check-in as early as possible! Though overbooking flights isn't quite as common as it used to be in the digital age, it can still happen. You can check-in up to 24 hours before your flight, and I would do it at or around then to further guarantee you a seat.

3. Arrive Early

It's good practice to get to the airport at least two hours before your flight departs. It's not like a bus station where you can walk up right when the bus is hissing and lowering to the ground. You might need to check your bag and leave it at the airline counter. Then you have to get through TSA, which is typically smooth, but you never know (this deserves its own article). Then, depending on the size of the airport, it might take you a long time to walk to your gate (looking at you, Miami).

On top of all of that, you can't just arrive at your gate when your flight is scheduled to depart. Boarding begins ~30 minutes before departure, and the gate closes ~15 minutes before departure. Once that door closes, there's no opening it. It's one of those secret rules of air travel, so make sure you can do the math and get to your gate at the appropriate time.

If you end up having a little too much extra time, go get dinner, catch up on your reading, tune in to whatever mainstream media outlet you allow to brainwash you. It's better than running through an airport with your lungs on fire.

Okay, you're in your seat. 

You're reading the menu card front to back out of boredom, you're sweating because the AC doesn't work...but you're on the plane. Good work! 

But what if you're sitting there when you get a text through the airline app, saying your connecting flight to Podunk is cancelled? What if the flight you're on has been delayed, and you'll have a very limited window to get to your next gate? What if you're not on the plane through no fault of your own, but because that flight was cancelled?

Well, it's time to buckle in because this is where you're gonna need your air travel smarts. 

If you want to minimize this risk, though, here are the best ways to avoid delays and/or cancellations in the first place:

4. Fly Direct

When you fly direct, delays just mean getting there a bit later than scheduled. If your outgoing flight is cancelled, you can just drive home (if your returning flight is cancelled, skip to #6). You also don't have to worry about missing connecting flights. If you live near a big airport like New York-JFK or Atlanta, it's easier to find a direct flight to where you want to go, whether your destination is domestic or international.

If you're flying out of a smaller airport like Rochester or Syracuse, your options for direct flights are likely limited to hub airports, or airports where airlines like to concentrate their flights. Unless your destination is one of these exciting hub cities, which are usually places like Philadelphia, New York, or Washington, you will probably have to get a connection if you're flying to another small airport, a different coast, or internationally. 

5. Catch an early flight

Yeah, nobody is a fan of getting up at 4 in the morning to rush through TSA and sit in an overcrowded airport, but earlier flights are less likely to be delayed or outright cancelled. According to Travel + Leisure airspace is less crowded in the morning, meaning there are fewer headaches for air traffic controllers than in the afternoon and evening, when planes build up and wait for departure. 

If an early flight is delayed or cancelled, you'll also have more options for rebooking later in the day.

What to do if a delay will impact travel/your flight is cancelled:

6. See what your rebooking options are

Remember that airline app you downloaded? It should provide you a list of flights either the same day or the next that you can rebook to at no extra cost (do NOT pay extra - if it tries to make you, check out hint #7. You shouldn't have to pay anything to get on a rebooked flight).

If it would greatly inconvenience you to fly out the next day, see if you can fly to an airport near your final destination. For example, if your flight to Syracuse is cancelled, you might be able to fly to Rochester, Ithaca, or Watertown (yeah, they have an airport). 

7. Speak to an airline representative (and get some compensation for the disruption to your plans)

Face-to-face interaction is typically the best and quickest way to get things done. 

Your mission is simple: track down your gate agent or the customer service desk, tell them exactly what happened, where you need to be, and ask them the best way to get there. 

If this isn't possible for some reason, you might have to go through your carrier's call center. Little known air travel fact: American carriers typically have international call lines that are usually quicker than the domestic one. Same MO as above: tell them what happened, where you need to be, and ask the best way to get there. 

Once you've got a gameplan, ask about compensation. Even if you aren't inconvenienced by a change in plans, airlines typically offer incentives like miles, money, or a travel voucher. If you're forced to stay the night in a different city, definitely ask about compensation for a hotel room. 

Sadly, airlines aren't required to do this according to the USDOT, unless the flight is overbooked. In fact, on my trip to Alabama earlier this summer, the airline I flew with was literally telling people to walk into Philadelphia and hope they got lucky with a hotel. 

If all else fails and nobody is willing to help you, a snarky Twitter post tagging the airline will certainly get their attention. 

8. Stay Calm, Be Friendly and Flexible

The most universal advice I can give you about traveling is that on the long list of things that can go wrong, at least one of them will. It's just part of the deal.

If you're flying home, don't get it in your head that you will be in your bed that night. If you're flying to Tampa, don't wear your bathing suit on the plane. If you're flying to Chile in the summer months, keep that parka parked. 

My point with all this is: don't expect everything to go perfectly, because it won't.

If you go into the airport with this mindset, you can be ready and flexible for anything that comes your way. Always be friendly with airport and airline staff: they are constantly being screamed at and treated like less than dirt, both by their employers and travelers. The more friendly you are, the more patient and willing they will be to help you. 

Sometimes, they're jerks. That's their problem, not yours. 

It's also important to extend that courtesy to other travelers. Not only will you make some new friends; you might still be able to get to where you want to go.

When my flight back to Syracuse was cancelled earlier in the month, the goal was to rent a car from Albany airport and drive home. It wasn't until we were taxiing to the runway on my rebooked flight that I learned Albany had no rental cars available (yeah, that's another thing to be ready for). Thankfully, I had struck up a friendship with a woman who also needed to get to Syracuse, and had a ride there.

Long story short, I made it home that night. Accepting uncertainty and showing kindness won't just get you far at the terminal, but in life.

With all of this said...

Please, don't let travel uncertainty hold you back from taking the trip of a lifetime. Ashoka Tano, the great grey Jedi, once said: "nothing worth doing is ever easy." Find your destination and get out there!

Beyond the Veil: Rolling Hills Asylum

Beyond the Veil: Rolling Hills Asylum

Last year, in my piece about the Palmyra Historical Museum, I asked the question: what happens when we die?

This Halloween, I ask a different question: what is fear? It’s like our gene expression, or perhaps our alcohol tolerance; it’s different for everyone. 

What frightens you? Is it the shadow that moved on its own? Or is it something more concrete, like the thought of being late to work? Regardless, nobody should have to live in fear like the residents of Rolling Hills Asylum. Abandoned. Left to rot for reasons beyond their control.

The patients of Rolling Hills Asylum in East Bethany, NY didn’t just live in fear; they bathed in it, slept in it, drank and ate it. Today, the spirits of those tortured dead keep the dark history of the Asylum alive, exposing horrors far greater, far deeper than mere bumps in the night.

A History of the Facility:

The Rolling Hills Asylum began as the Genesee County Poor Farm.

When you think of a haunted place, you think of a place that was built with good intentions, only to see tragedy, neglect, or acts of evil that leave spiritual stains on the place.

The Rolling Hills Asylum was never built with good intentions in mind.

The Genesee County Poor Farm broke ground in early 1827. Yes, there were actually places called “poor farms” back in the day, George Carlin be damned. The Genesee County Poor Farm housed some of New York’s “undesirables” (read: people the county didn’t want to take care of) such as orphaned children, destitute elderly,  the physically and mentally handicapped, habitual drunkards, and others who were unable to take care of themselves. 

Perhaps the most controversial inmates were unwed women. In those days, if a woman talked back to her spouse or requested a divorce, her butthurt husband could institutionalize her with no questions asked. It’s believed hundreds, perhaps thousands, of unwed women with complete possession of their mental faculties were locked up here.

Over time, more interesting clientele took up residence in the facility, including lunatics and people cited for misconduct.  A separate solitary confinement branch was opened here, in order to keep these people isolated from the other inmates. 

As you can imagine, the 200-acre facility housed many needy people. This might instantiate images of starving people crowding the halls in your mind, but the place was actually relatively self-sufficient. Physically-able residents would work the farm, raising animals such as chickens, pigs, horses, etc, while others would can fruits, vegetables, and meat. 

Hundreds of people died within the Asylum’s walls over its century of operation, but with no family or loved ones to claim them, many were buried in unmarked graves around the property. A single monument in the nearby Genesee County Park is the only tribute to these tortured souls.

Though the Poor Farm would close in 1974, it continues to stand as a stark reminder of how we treated the destitute in those early days.

Ghost Experiences: 

The Shadow Hallway. A mysterious darkness sometimes envelops the end of the hall.

The Rolling Hills Asylum is considered one of the most haunted places in the world, and is it any wonder? As the Palmyra Historical Museum is any indicator, ghosts exist to tell their life stories even after they have passed, and with the thousands of colorful characters that passed through the Asylum in its heyday, there’s no shortage of stories to tell. 

The most popular spot in the building for seeing ghosts is the Shadow Hallway on the second floor. Here, shadows and apparitions peek out of rooms, walk back and forth, and have even been reported to crawl along the floor. Perhaps the strangest phenomenon reported here is the encroaching darkness itself.

“Sometimes, the entire hallway gets blacked out,” said Gina Bengston, a veteran ghost hunter and host of Ghostly Excursions. The end of the hallway is typically bathed in the red glow of an exit sign, but the darkness can even block that light out. It’s not known why this happens, but it’s frightening nevertheless.

One notable resident of this hallway is Roy. In the 1800’s, Roy was a resident of the poor farm who suffered from gigantism, a disease of the pituitary gland that causes abnormal growth. By age 12, Roy was almost seven feet tall, and his family had him committed out of embarrassment. His hulking shadow has been captured on film throughout the building.
Apparently, Roy has also taken a liking to the owner of the Asylum, Sharon Coyle. During her final walkthrough one night, Coyle saw a rat that caused her to scream and flee the building. The next day, the rat was found in the same part of the building, dead. There was a bloody handprint on the wall near its corpse; Sharon claims the handprint belongs to Roy, who killed the rat for her.

Another interesting room off the Shadow Hallway is the Portal Room. Mediums who have visited the property claim the room contains a portal to another dimension, and as you can expect, many bizarre things have happened here. A woman was photographed here on a ghost hunt, and a strange green shape was seen hovering above her shoulder in the photo. Further analysis revealed a baby’s head, which prompted the woman to make a chilling confession; she had a miscarriage years before.

On the top floor are two notable rooms; the Organ Room and Nurse Emma’s Room. The Organ Room is where a doctor named George Flemming passed away from a stroke. His spirit is said to growl at visitors, but that’s only because the stroke paralyzed his vocal cords; he’s one of the friendliest spirits in the Asylum. 

Nurse Emma has an unfortunate reputation. On Ghost Adventures, she was depicted as an abusive nurse who practiced black magic, a story that would later inspire the film Grave Encounters. In reality, Nurse Emma was a strict disciplinarian, but by no means was she evil. The owner of the Asylum, Sharon Coyle, has had to defend her reputation on several occasions.

“Nurse Emma is NOT evil,” she posted on the Rolling Hills Asylum Facebook page in 2015. “She did not practice satanic rituals. She was a Baptist, and is buried in a local Baptist cemetery.” 

Men are nevertheless asked to declare themselves before entering her room. Why only men? Because back in the day, it would be a major faux pas to enter a women’s changing area without asking. Correct me if I’m wrong...but I think that still applies today.

Most visitors concur that Nurse Emma is not the monster she’s painted out to be. Another character in the building, however, is still a rather divisive figure. In the basement resides Raymond, a maintenance man for the building in life, who many believe abused the female residents of the asylum. In the same Facebook post from 2015, Coyle defended Raymond (first name “John”) from claims that he had been a pedophile in life. Many historians and ghost hunters, however, disagree. Many believe his spirit pushes people around who enter his room.

Also in the basement is the morgue, complete with an embalming table. People who lay on this table and ask for a nurse’s help may report the sensation of being touched or operated on. There is a Christmas Room, where the spirits of children will laugh and move toys around.

There are so many rooms and notable spirits in the Asylum, it would be impossible to describe them all in one post.

My Investigation:

This image was NOT captured during my investigation; it was taken by an employee of the asylum back in 2017. This is believed to be the apparition of Roy.

The drive up to Rolling Hills Asylum doesn’t prepare you at all. The vast farmland and rolling hills (from which the Asylum got its name) of Genesee County, combined with the cool September air wafting through the open car window, put me at ease and lulled me into a false sense of security. After driving through the quiet village of Bethany, I began to wonder where in the endless expanse of Oz-like country an insane asylum could possibly be, when suddenly, as I reached the top of the hill where Routes 15 and 49 meet, there it was. 

Even in a vacuum, the place has an unsettling vibe. It rises from the flat fields of corn like a grotesque shadow, a single cupola clawing at the sky. I got serious concentration camp vibes from the exterior, which was more than enough to give me the heebie-jeebies. 

Once inside, however, I felt strangely cozy. The entrance was decorated with no one holiday in mind. There was a Christmas tree in the entrance hall, Halloween decor in the gift shop, and Leprechaun Hats in some of the downstairs hallways. We were taken into the gift shop to sign waivers, and I finally got to meet the owner, Sharon Coyle. She is ruthlessly dedicated to the Asylum, to the point where she sacrificed her marriage and cushy film career in California to be the caretaker. No food or drink is allowed outside of the gift shop area, lest they attract rats. Residents are expected not to taunt the spirits or perform rituals. 

Coyle keeps a tight ship, which has resulted in some less-than-flattering reviews online, but I personally found no problem with it. 

My night began with Bengston and another paranormal investigator from Texas (whose name sadly escapes me) in the Organ Room. Here, Bengston placed her favorite ghost hunting device, a stuffed fox that measures electromagnetic waves, on the bed. No sooner did she set it down that the thing began to alarm. 

About twenty minutes into our conversation with the spirit, Bengston noticed something strange on her thermal camera. Though I was sitting cross-legged on a chair across from her, the image in her camera was of an older man sitting straight-legged. A trick of the light, or spirit sitting in my lap? We’ll never know for sure…

We next spent an hour in the Shadow Hallway, hoping for an apparition to appear. Though a couple of odd shapes would appear in the doorways throughout the halls, nothing definitive was documented. That didn’t mean strange things didn’t happen, however.

At one point, Bengston asked for one of the spirits to knock to show they were there. A few seconds later, a knock was heard in Roy’s room.

Stranger still, another member of the ghost tour had been standing in the doorway to one of the larger rooms, and reported feeling hands gently nudging her out of the room. I volunteered to stand in the doorway to see if I felt the same thing...and to my surprise, I found it difficult to lean back. It wasn’t a hard push I felt, but rather something that prevented me from leaning back, as if a nurse was gently trying to keep me out of the room.

A trip to the Morgue saw an EMF reader spike to its highest setting on several occasions. The temperature also dropped a considerable five degrees while we were in there. 

No activity was reported in the other rooms in the basement, so the group took one last trip to the Shadow Hallway. Once again, I felt the gentle force on my back, keeping me out of the back room. At one point, something passed by one of the windows in my peripheral vision. Bengston also reported hearing a little girl squealing on her digital recorder during her live EVP review.

Is It Haunted?:

While the paranormal experiences I had in the Rolling Hills Asylum weren’t quite as diverse as the Historic Palmyra Museum, knowing where I was and what had occurred there was more than enough to satiate me. 

Can I personally say the place is haunted?

Strange things definitely happened, but they could easily be explained away. It’s an old building, explaining the knocks and occasional footsteps we may have heard. The pushing sensation on my back wasn’t strong enough to warrant a paranormal explanation, and there was power in the building when the strange EMF readings were recorded. 

The rapid temperature drop and the EVP are a bit more difficult to explain. Nevertheless, there is a strange aura surrounding the Rolling Hills Asylum, even if it isn’t paranormal, no doubt a consequence of the thousands of inhabitants that passed through it in its day.

*The photos used in this blog post are not mine.