Econo Lodge, Marion, VA

Jamey and I travel a lot back and forth between Lynchbuurg, VA and Marion, VA where Jamey's Mom is in a nursing home and where his brother lives.  We stayed at one of the four small hotels in Marion this past weekend with my mother, who came along for the ride and to meet her son-in-law's family.  It was a dump--in a word.  No wonder this area of Southwest VA has such a bad reputation for hotels and dining.  We plan to stay at and review each of these small hotels over the course of the many trips which we will be making to Marion, VA this year.

The Econolodge at 1420 N. Main Street in Marion, VA was terrible.  We reserved two rooms.  Thank goodness it was only for one night! There was only one handicapped room in the entire motel that we could find and there was no handicapped sign on the door.  My Mom is 81 and cannot climb over the tub enclosure to get her shower.  She is doing very well, but needs a handle to lift herself up now and again.  The room that she stayed in had a huge bathroom into which you could roll a wheel chair, but no roll in shower and no useful bars for getting up and down.  Other than the extra floorspace in the bathroom, that was the only concession to the handicapped individual in her room.  So, Mom never got to have a shower.

The heat was impossible to regulate.  The thermostat in the window-units in both rooms was obviously not working correctly and the hot air became cold air, then hot air and this continued all night long. The TV in my mother's room was not working correctly and had snow in the picture on just about every channel.  The rooms were old, worn and dirty. The lamps were controlled by the switches on the walls and the turn buttons on the lamps themselves were non-functional.  The telephone had to be fine-tuned by banging it on the dresser to get a working dial-tone.

Surprisingly, the Internet worked just fine.  The coffee in the morning has got to be some of the worst I ever tasted.  While we were looking mournfully at the meager offerings of the free breakfast, we asked what time checkout was and the male at the desk told us 12 noon.  We went back to the room to get ready to leave and since we no plans until a Sunday family brunch at 1 PM, we were glad for the 12 noon checkout.   At 15 minutes to 12 noon, the phone rang and the man on the other end (the manager?) informed us curtly that we only had another 15 minutes to get out of there. 

Not surprisingly, there were only three cars in the parking lot all night long.  I would never return here or recommend this place to anyone.  A full scale remodeling is called for at this motel and a crash course on customer service.  I give them a one star rating. 

Comfort Inn in Grantsville, MD

• 2541 Chestnut Ridge Rd
  Grantsville, Maryland
• 301-895-5993

• Branwenn from Lynchburg
• December 2, 2010
   My family and I had a wonderful, relaxing night here. Our main complaint was that they didn't have any handicapped accessible rooms available that night. We had two King linking rooms on the third floor and both were very comfortable. All the amenities were working and the lobby had a lovely Christmas tree just put up by the Front Desk attendant and her son. The lobby area would be ideal for a Christmas party with a fireplace and a snug area of couches and chairs for conversation. This is a fairly rural area just off Interstate 68, Exit 22, on the PA-MD border. It is in the snow belt and even then day we were here in late November, there was snow and ice, not a lot, but it was there. The hot water can be an issue in the mornings. At 9:00 AM, several people were complaining that there was no hot water when we were enjoying the Breakfast Bar which was very good. The Front Desk attendant said to be patient and give it a chance to heat up again. We opted for a late checkout at noon and by the time we got our showers, the water was very nice and hot. This might be a problem for a businessman on a tight schedule. The Coffee Bar was very good and open all the time. There were carts for loading and unloading luggage and an elevator. The area seemed pretty safe and we didn't worry much about parking our heavily parked van in the lot. There is a local pizza place featured by the hotel with incredibly good pizza that delivers, so we didn't even have to go out in the rain and light snow to get our dinner. All in all, this was a great night for our family.

I'm Back and Will Remain Here--Goodbye Examiner!

Well, I am leaving the Examiner.com group of writers and striking out on my own.  I have been so busy taking care of Mom lately that I haven't been writing anyway and this is bad.  I love to write, to travel and to write about the things that I see that would interest the overall Pagan/ Earth-centered communities.  Examiner.com now wants exclusive rights to my/our work and has reduced the pay to a fraction of a penny a hit.  This I cannot do, so on I go to a new home.  I will most likely settle here again and work to publicize this blog with other green travel and Pagan groups.  Stay tuned and pass on the good news.  The Pagan Travel (Examiner) is back!  I will begin publishing several times a week after Thanksgiving. I am thankful for Examiner.com pushing me out of the nest to fly on my own.  I will soar like the White Raven that I am.

Rev. Alicia Lyon Folberth

"All artwork copyright 2010 Alicia Lyon Folberth. Do not use without permission."

Rev. Alicia Lyon Folberth is a multi-talented, multi-faceted Pagan artist, writer and festival organizer. She is a Visual and Digital Illustrator, Painter, Graphic Designer, and Photographer, Alicia grew up in rural North Salem, NY behind the old Keeler Farm at the top of Hunt Mountain, and in the shadow of an ancient Celtic dolmen. She moved to Connecticut in 1988 after attending the Philadelphia University of the Arts. She has lived in the Valley for the past 7 years and currently resides in Derby. When she received the children’s book "Ma Lien and the Magic Brush" accidentally in the mail at age four, she would not let her mother return it.

After that, her focus was always to become an artist, breathing life into her artwork just as the character Ma Lien has done in the story with his magic brush, and this concept would later also magically color her life spiritually as well.

Although her focus was Illustration, she became a Graphic Designer, and has worked for Fortune 500 companies and Advertising Agencies.

As an entrepreneur Alicia ran a small business in the 90’s, Centaur Illustration, exhibiting her work at Renaissance Fairs, and creating commissioned fine art and graphics. She also privately instructed local children in art and drawing while living in Bridgeport.

"All artwork copyright 2010 Alicia Lyon Folberth. Do not use without permission."

Most recently, she ran her own magical book and gift shop in East Haven, SubRosa Magick, for three years, and is a talented tarot reader giving spiritual advice to her clients. The recession forced its closure last year. Rev. Alicia still reads by appointment, and over the phone. She has always had the second sight, as well as other spiritual gifts, and employs these during her readings. Her customers tell her that her readings are highly accurate, and the manner in which she reads is caring, honest and straightforward. She was a long time reader before she first began reading for the public thirteen years ago, and has been a spiritual advisor to many in her capacity as a priestess. She enjoys reading and she has found it to be one of her callings in helping others on the path.

Now, running a magic shop might sound unusual, until you realize that Alicia has put her talented hand to many different creative pursuits. Alicia considers life to be the greatest canvas on which to paint. She is not simply a visual and graphic artist, but deeply spiritual woman of the Goddess as a Priestess, a teacher, a feminist, a writer, an activist and advocate, a psychic, a Reiki Master, and a student of the Afro-Caribbean hand drum.

She also teaches Reiki Classes and offers Reiki treatments. She first received Usui Reiki Level I training 27 years ago from David Jarrell, she began working with animals, and later treating people who were ill. She completed the Essential Reiki Level III Master/Teacher Training in January 2005 with Morganna Davies, who was trained by Essential Reiki author Diane Stein.

Rev. Alicia came to the path 25 years ago, after she was introduced to Wiccan religion through Zanoni Silverknife. For many years she has devoted herself to Celtic traditions as a votary of Rhiannon. She was introduced to Odyssean tradition thirteen years ago, which is the tradition of the Wiccan Church of Canada, and has now resumed her studies with two wonderful teachers, Elders Tamarra and Richard James.

Rev. Alicia founded the first Wiccan and Pagan Temple in the state of Connecticut in 1995, the Panthean Temple, formerly known as the Pagan Community Church and runs its large Beltaine festival every May in Oxford (http://www.PaganOdyssey.com/). She is no stranger to the media, having co-hosted a Wiccan cable access television show for several years, and has been interviewed on television, radio, the internet, and in newspapers and magazines.

Her writing has been published in two books to date; Cakes and Ale for the Pagan Soul edited by Patricia Telesco, and Voices of Survivors edited by Namid, both are available on Amazon.com. Her advice tarot column “It’s in the cards” has been featured in Finer Things Magazine and on PaganPages.org. She is in the process of writing and illustrating her own first book, which is a series of guided meditations and journeys.

Having matured as an artist, she is beginning her career now as a visual artist and writer full time, and is excited about this new journey under the new name of ‘Fly by Night Studio.’ To this end, she has recently joined the Valley Arts Council in Derby Connecticut.

Her favorite medium is oils, but she happily works in any, on or off the computer.

Links to learn more about Alicia and her many hats in the Pagan community

* web site coming soon: http://www.flybynightstudio.com//
* old store web site: http://www.SubRosaMagick.com/
* Facebook-Alicia's FB Page: http://www.facebook.com/alicia.folberth
* Facebook-Fly By Night Studio page: http://www.facebook.com/FlyByNightStudio
* Facebook-Panthean Temple Page: http://www.facebook.com/PantheanTemple
* Web site-Beltaine: A Pagan Odyssey site: http://www.paganodyssey.com/
* Facebook-Beltaine: A Pagan Odyssey site: http://www.facebook.com/PaganOdyssey
* My Space: http://www.myspace.com/aliciafolberth

Related articles
More fun at the Beltaine 2010: A Pagan Odyssey Festival in CT:Slideshow

Beltaine 2010: A Pagan Odyssey in Oxford, CT is a wonderful festival

Sacred Sites of Northeast USA: Connecticut: Gungywamp, near Groton CT

**Author's note: I recently met Rev. Alicia Lyon Folberth at the Beltaine 2009: A Pagan Odysey Festival in Oxford, CT. Alicia was kind enough to offer me complimentary admission to the festival in return for several articles previously published about the festival. I fell in love wih the work of this enchanting artist and knew I had to feature her artwork and her story on this column. PLEASE comment on her astonishingly talented work and check out all the links. She is a powerhouse of talent. Enjoy!

Barefoot Bernie's in Hagerstown,MD

I've been to the Barefoot Bernie's in Kittyhawk, NC and I was so hoping to hear and feel the incredible music and ambience of the islands, but no way, mon. This place looks OK from the outside--a little kitschy, but that would be fine if they could pull it off. Island time can be lots of fun. Inside would probably have been better with the Beach Boys heading to Cocomo or Jimmy Buffet wasting away somewhere, but there was no music or it wasn't very loud if it was there.

The waitress was just plain unfriendly and she looked wore out and unhappy too. I was there on a Monday night at about 6 PM and the place was--well--dead. The food was OK. Nothing fabulous, but the food was the star here when I thought the atmosphere would/should be.

At least they had a Margarita special on Mondays. Margaritas were 3.76--$4 with tax. They call them Monday $4 Margaritas. The Margarita packed a pretty good punch for a small one, too.

I had an order of cheese sticks which were pretty normal, nothing incredible. The crab melt sandwich was great and inexpensive too, only $10.99 and since both sides were covered, it had a good quantity of fresh tasting crab. The house crab sandwich is $13.99 and there is a special of two smaller crab sandwiches for $12.99 on Mondays. With the very good fries, I think I made the right choice.

I hope this place livens up in the summer time. If it does, it could be a lot of fun. The waitress really needs to learn to smile though.

Rathskeller Restaurant & Bar: A fabulous find in Southbury, CT

This is a small, but wonderful restaurant in the basement of a beautiful house near Exit 15 of interstate highway 84 in Southbury, VT. The food is incredible. The service was also fabulous possibly because the owner waited on me herself most of the time. Since I was sitting alone, she talked with me quite a bit and both she and her husband were super sweet. I loved the great hat that the owner was wearing with Mayday flowers on it.

The bar put me so much in mind of "Cheers" that I kept waiting for someone to shout, "Norm!" when the various regulars walked in the door to shouts of greeting. It wasn't quite as overly familiar as "Cheers," but the environment was that hometown friendly, but with wonderful food.

I had one of the best appetizers of my life. They call it the Mozzarella Carozza. It is the size of a piece of bread. The menu describes this work of art as sliced mozzarella lightly breaded and fried with house marinara for $6.99. That doesn't begin to describe the wonderful chunky, chewy goodness of this concoction. Wow! That is all I can say.

I also had the Cooper's Chicken Sandwich which was a crisp chicken cutlet, cheddar cheese and bacon with Ranch dressing. This was served with a choice of side and luckily, I chose the homemade potato salad. It was one of the best restaurant potato salads I have had over my lifetime. The sandwich was served cut in half to make it a bit easier to manage. There was also a half a pickle. I so miss New England.

I chose my meal off the sandwich menu which is always available. The dinner menu is adventurous and features things like Pumpkin Ravioli in a white wine cream sauce with crispy sage and Jack Daniels steaks in a peppered cream sauce.

I saw a desert go by which was huge and looked like it would cause a chocolate orgasm. I couldn't finish my meal after the filling appetizer, so I loaded half of everything into my doggie bag and resolved to stop back again on my way back home. I will definitely go back to this little gem.

Nice, but not perfect

Hotel review of:
Crowne Plaza Southbury
1284 Strongtown Road
Southbury, Connecticut
203-598-7600

The outside of the hotel does not look as upscale as you would expect a Crowne Plaza to look. Inside was very nice, but the elevators were hesitant to open their doors when you reached your floor and this made for a few nerve-wracking moments. Nothing was free or discounted and the fact that I was a Priority Club member didn’t seem to register with them even though I gave them my Priority Club card at registration and they took a copy of it. I had made my reservations on Priceline.com for half as much as the going rate at this hotel, but other times I had still been given my Priority Club benefits.

The room was small. The plug in the bathroom sink did not work and so when I tried to wash out some delicate items, I could not. The shower made a horrible shrieking noise and the water as not ever really hot, hot. It was ok for a shower, but not really hot.

Room service was quick. I ordered room service the first two nights but got rather nauseous to my stomach after both meals. I am not sure why. It could just have been me. I did not go out on Thursday as I had planned because I was still not feeling well. The food was very good-expensive as room service always is. ($10 for a burger and fries plus $3 for the room service—$2 for the server and 60 cents tax.) I had a lot of stuff with me since I am working at a festival while I am here. The second young woman who brought my meal on Thursday night stared around her and exclaimed, "You sure have a lot of stuff!" She seemed quite young and naive.

A maintenance man came to fix my telephone which wasn't working and discovered that the plastic thing that plugs into the phone was broken. He was quite nice and quick, very efficient.

I stayed 5 nights while I was working at the festival. For some reason after my first night there, I had to go down to the lobby to get my door entry card re-activated. I was sick on Wednesday night and Thursday and did not leave the room. For some reason, they had checked me out of the room and listed me as a no-show for Thursday. When I went to get my key reactivated, there was a lot of stuff that had to be done and managers to be called to fix the situation. They were nice, but I still don’t understand how they could have not known there was someone still in the room. I had room service and a repairman both on the day they said that I was a no-show. I was already there. Weird. They fixed it and everything was fine. I am waiting to see what happens when I check out on Monday morning.

Sometimes perfect and sometimes, not so good

Hotel review of:
Holiday Inn Hotel and Conference Center
542 Route 9
Fishkill, New York
845-896-6281

This hotel was a mixed bag of perfect and not so good. The people at the front desk were excellent both at registration and check out. They treated me like a Priority Club member even though my reservation had been made on Priceline.com. I still showed them my Priority Club card when I registered and they treated me like I hadn't paid half as much as everybody else there.

The bed was very comfy--I could have slept for days... The front entrance was beautiful. The coffee pod things in the rooms, however, were terrible. They only made one cup and then they didn't have enough fixings to put enough sugar or creamer into the awful coffee. The dining room only had 1/2 and 1/2 and I am allergic to milk, so this was not a good thing for me.

The guest soaps are incredible--citrus mint-Yum!!! There was one bulb out in the bathroom. The shower did not adjust in intensity. It turned but then froze in one position which was the needle spray position which made the shower a bit painful. The bathroom sink drain drained very slowly--almost not at all.

Breakfast was free to Priority Club members. All I can say is that you get what you pay for. I ate late at 9:30 AM and breakfast was over at 10 AM. It definitely showed. The scrambled eggs were dry and hard. The bacon was ok and the fried potatoes looked awful, but tasted great. They were lukewarm and had gotten clumps of red in them where the salsa put into them had congealed. They looked really nasty, but they still tasted pretty good. The fruit was hard, unripe pieces of melon and one or two grapes. There were no flavored--or unflavored for that matter--non-dairy creamers for the coffee, only 1/2 and 1/2. I stated earlier that I am allergic to milk, so this was a problem for me. The waitress said that this was all they had.

Dinner the night before had been exactly opposite with great food, good service. The Priority Club membership gives you a free drink-a choice of beer or wine-and 10 % off dinner. This was very, very nice.

If you are a Priority Club member, then show your card. You will get treated like royalty and get all the discounts and things you would normally get paying full price. Also, the points you earn in the restaurant, room service, bar and the rest will be credited to you Priority Club account, just not your room fee if you make the reservation on Priceline.

Sedalia Writers' Conference

The fourth annual Sedalia Writers' Conference will be held April 16-17, featuring novelist Kathy Grissom of Forest and three other presenters on various aspects of the writing life.

Grissom's first book, "The Kitchen House," was published last month by Simon & Schuster, and she will be a participant in the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville.

Lynchburg resident Paula Jean West, a specialist in eco-travel and "spiritual travel" has a worldwide audience for her blogs. She will discuss blogging as a diversion and also as a potential business.

Amy Allen is the owner and director of the Lynchburg-based Ruth Consulting Group. The author of eight books, she was the public relations director for the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts before going into business for herself. She will discuss public relations as an occupation.

Darrell Laurant has been a journalist for three decades and a freelance writer for almost that long. The local columnist for The News & Advance in Lynchburg, he has also written more than 200 magazine and Website articles and is the founder and director of The Writers' Bridge (www.thewritersbridge.com), an international freelance writers' organization.

The conference will begin with a reception on Friday, April 16 from 7-9 and continue on Saturday (9-4). Lunch is included in the cost, which is $25 at the door and $20 in advance. For more information, contact Darrell Laurant at writersbridge@hotmaillcom or at 434-525-4811 or 434-385-5544.

MRS. B Has a Great Idea on Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom!

My friend and co-Examiner at Examiner.com has posted a great idea and a really cool contest on her blog site! Take a look at this! Can yo see me "fantasied" as an Autumn Faery??
BB
Paula

Friday, February 19, 2010
Retro Cooking Giveaway #5: Fantasy Me Print!!

While this might not necessarily have a "retro" theme (though it certainly could, lol!), I'm never going to pass by a chance to work with Angelique from Angelique Art (among a multitude of projects that she handles, including the Pagan Writers Community)

Have you ever fantasized about being a fairy, a pirate or a princess? Maybe a fierce warrior with a pet dragon? Now is your chance to put those fantasies into a work of art!

The winner of this contest will get a custom made "Fantasy Me" digital creation!! If you aren't familiar with Angelique's Fantasy Me creations, she works in 3-D digital technology to create a custom made "If I were a fantasy figure or historical figure, what would I look like" picture.

I personally have a Fantasy Me done as me as Joan of Arc (one of my ultimate favorite historical figures. Here's what mine looks like:

Is that freaking cool or what?! To see other works by the artist, check out her Deviant Art Gallery, which includes other Fantasy Me works, among other things (Let me strongly recommend her take on Cernunnos on page 4 -- rowwwrrr!).

The winner will receive a high quality digital file of the work that Angelique creates specifically for her/him, suitable for a great print!

Requirements to enter:

Have an blog accessible through your user name or leave an email address with each entry.
Visit Angelique's Deviant Art Gallery and see what kind of work she does. Come back here, and leave a comment about your ideas on what historical or fantasy figure you'd like to see yourself made into.

For extra chances to win (required post must be made for these to count!), you may do any one or more of the following (leave a separate comment for each):

1 entry each (for a total of three possible) - Write about this giveaway on your blog, Myspace or LiveJournal. Leave a separate comment for each and include the URL to the post. (As per the new Facebook TOS, Facebook can NOT be used as an entry for giveaways.)
*1 entry (per day) - Tweet the following message: RT @MrsBsConfession Visit silvermoonwitch.blogspot.com to enter to win a Fantasy Me creation from artist @angelmroczka! (Leave a separate comment for each day's tweet, including the URL to the post.)
1 entry - Be or become a follower on Twitter of @angelmroczka
1 entry - Subscribe to Angelique's personal blog.
All Retro Cooking Month Giveaways will run until the last day of February. All winners will be picked at noon, EST on February 28 via an online, random number generator. Winners will be announced soon after.


***PLEASE NOTE ON THE TWITTER MESSAGE:
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Just erase the part of the message that says:
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PLEASE NOTE:
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Read more: http://silvermoonwitch.blogspot.com/#ixzz0g0uNY5zI