First of all, we are happy to show people this wonderful place where Swami Vivekananda stayed. If you would like to visit Ridgely, you must schedule a tour at least a day in advance. Right now we have so many day visitors we are asking groups to come at the same time so we can give one tour instead of many. Ridgely is not a museum; it is a private residence and retreat center. We live here and there are usually people on retreat, enjoying the peace and quiet of our shrine room and retreat houses. The same people who give tours are also the people who do most of the interior and exterior work at Ridgely. We are very happy to arrange our schedules to accommodate tours if you call in advance. We always ask people to call us if it is necessary to cancel or if you will be late. Please do this.
When Ridgely is holding an organized retreat or some other program like a meditation day, we do not give tours. You are welcome to attend the program and, if we have time, we usually show people around in a limited way.It all depends on the retreat schedule.
Once in a long while we will tell you that it will not be possible for you to visit on a particular day. It could be that we are all scheduled to attend an event off-site. Or, we know that the weather is going to be dangerous-tornado warnings, snow and ice etc. We do not want to have extra people here when we know there are going to be dangerous conditions. If we ask you not to come, please don’t come anyway! We have had visitors ignore this and drive for 2 hours only to find the place closed and locked.
And, last but not least, please be aware that we live in an area where there are many ticks that carry Lyme Disease. If you are planning to walk on our property, especially the shrine trail, you need to come dressed appropriately-long pants, socks and enclosed shoes. You need to check yourself and your children for ticks when you return home.