I left behind a museum devoted to one comedic icon to pursue a more subdued testament to another: From the zany and frenzied Lucille Ball and her museum in Chautauqua to the more philosophic and observational humor of Mark Twain.

"You’re going to a WHAT?” asked my friend apprehensively. Yup. An hotel. Three of them actually for a total of six days as part of an Empire State Road Trip in upstate New York in early September, sponsored by the Harbor Hotels Collection.