Info:       
    
Cooperstown/Otsego County Tourism
242 Main Street
Oneonta, NY 13820

Web:
www.thisiscoopers
town.com

Phone:
800-843-3394

Cooperstown
Chamber of Commerce
31 Chestnut Street
Cooperstown, NY 13326

Web:
www.cooperstown
chamber.org
Phone:
607-547-9983

The Farmers’ Museum

Web:
www.farmersmuseum.org
Phone:
888-547-1450
607-547-1450
Open:
Apr. 1 - Oct. 31.
Hours/admission vary.

Glimmerglass Opera

Web:
www.glimmerglass.org
Phone:
607-547-2255
Season:
early July through
Aug.
Tickets (2009):
$48-$130

Lodging:

Otesaga Hotel, a grand hotel

The White House Inn, a family-friendly B&B

Best Western Inn & Suites, Cooperstown

Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites, Hartwick/Cooperstown

Bay Side Inn & Marina, a waterside motel with swimming beach, canoes, row boats and kayaks.

Others.

Cooperstown NY - Beyond Baseball                

by Mitch Kaplan
photos by Mitch Kaplan

Cooperstown, New York, as we’ve noted elsewhere, is home to the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum, so it’s only natural to associate this quaint, delightful upstate refuge as only with baseball.

Yet, there’s much more to Cooperstown than baseball, running from history, opera and theatre to water sports and scenic train rides.



The Farmers’ Museum       

What was it like to live on a farm in upstate New York in the mid-19th century?  

Finding that out is what the Farmers’ Museum is all about.

Set within walking distance of downtown Cooperstown, the Farmers’ Museum displays living history, special exhibits, a country fair and one beauty of a carousel ride. The carousel, "a museum you can ride on," shows off hand-carved riding figures that represent New York State’s agricultural and natural heritage. It re-creates a typical carousel, circa 1910.

Me, I personally can’t ride a carousel: instant motion sickness. But, none of the kids who were flocking to it seemed to suffer that affliction.

I could, however, indulge with the kids in some of the vintage games being played inside and outside the country fair tent. Who wouldn’t want to try their hand at

• top skittles (a kind of bowling; sort of)
• toy boat races
• Nine Men’s Morris (an ancient board game)
• stilt walking
• or quoits (a kind of horseshoes; sort of)?

But, before you get to those activities, you must pass through the museum’s changing exhibit building. During my last visit, it was all about ice cream—a trip down memory lane for the adults, an eye-opener for kids.

"Look ma, there’s Ben and Jerry’s original freezer!"

And, it revealed some amazing machines, like the unlikely milk shake maker that looks more like a well pump than anything else.

Living History        

"How," I asked the blacksmith, "do you make the twists in those decorative pieces?"

"Let me show you," he replied with pleased eagerness. "What you do is..."

• heat up a piece of iron until its red hot
• pull it out of the fire with special tongs
• put it in a special vice that turns
• and slowly rotate the vice while holding sure to the iron piece.

In an age where few of us—kids or adults alike—know where things come from or how they’re made, having people demonstrate how things were done one and a half centuries ago is an eye-opener. Back in the day

• a blacksmith took hours to make a few nails
• an apothecary had to grow his own plants and flower from the roots, stalks and blooms of which he ground medications
• a printer had to painstakingly lay out typeface—upside down!—to print a small newspaper or poster.

You see all this in action at the Farmers’ Museum. And, then you get to meet the animals of the Lippitt Farm. The small barn that houses the baby animals is probably the biggest hit. (You must come at the right time of year, of course.) But, there are beautiful horses, sheep, goats, pigs and cows to see, as well.

Altogether, for city dwellers or suburbanites like me and mine, it’s a cool combination of historic and cultural enlightenment.


Cooperstown is located on eleven-mile long Ostego Lake. So, as you might imagine, there are plenty of watery pastimes to pursue. Among the possibilities:

• Head down to the main dock and board a boat at the Glimmerglass Queen Tour Boat Company for a leisurely cruise around the lake.
• Join Captain Chris Palumbo for a fishing expedition aboard C.P.’s Charters.
• Rent a canoe or rowboat.
• Swim from the Otesaga’s dock.
• See how Belgian-style beer is made at Brewery Ommegang.
• Scare yourselves silly by roaming the town after dark with Cooperstown Candlelight Ghost Tours.
• Enjoy a play at the Cooperstown Theatre Festival.
• Take in historic and fine art at the Fenimore Art Museum; or at the Smithy-Pioneer Gallery set in Cooperstown's oldest building.
• Go hiking, swimming, fishing, picnicking, etc., at Glimmerglass Sate Park.
• Or attend and opera . . .

They’ve been singing arias and choruses at the  Glimmerglass Opera since 1975 and, even though I’m no opera aficionado, I felt compelled to stop on my way out of town.

Good thing I did.

Here’s a place where the opera lover and newcomer can feel at home. It’s not overwhelming: no grand opera house with huge chandeliers and people dressed to the nines. I mean, these guys started out performing in the high school auditorium.

Now they perform in the Alice Busch Opera Theater, a welcoming, wood-sided, 900-seat theater set on 43 acres of manicured grounds and outfitted with these oddly wonderful sliding walls that allow fresh air and country views before performances and during intermissions. How cool is that?

This is first-class, professional opera, with name performers presenting some 40 performances of imaginative and sometimes challenging works during an eight-week season. People come from around the world to attend performances here, and I’d certainly list the Glimmerglass as a must-do during a Cooperstown visit.

And, the company presents a Family Day during the season, with arts and crafts, storytelling and other participatory activities.

The Otesaga         
            
The Otesaga Hotel looks like something from another era.

It is.

More than 100 years old, here’s a building and grounds that hearken back to a time when grandeur defined a blue-blooded resort hotel. Huge columns dominate the front facade of the impressive brick building at the top of a curving driveway. Behind, a broad wooden porch lined with rocking chairs looks over an expansive lawn and a croquet court out to the Leatherstocking Golf Course’s 18th green and to Ostego Lake beyond.

One expects Fred Astaire or Cary Grant to arrive suavely at any moment.

But, don’t be fooled. Yes, gentlemen must wear jackets at dinner in the main dining room, but this is not a snooty place. Indeed, as I sat peacefully rocking on the porch of a Sunday afternoon awaiting colleagues’ arrival, kids were running all over the lawn, playing croquet and splashing about in the outdoor pool.

Genteel? A bit. Family-friendly? Most certainly.

Indeed, the hotel employs a "Director of Fun," and offers The Pathfinders Club for ages 6-13. A quick stop at the concierge desk reveals a daily children’s activity schedule that’ll run ‘em ragged. "Hay You" the clown shows up and keeps ‘em in stitches for an hour or two. And, then, there’s the watermelon eating contest—hands-free, please—that certainly makes a happy mess.

Come evening during holiday and other times, family movies are shown.

And Beyond             

For those with the time and inclination, the "things to do" list extends beyond Cooperstown. Such as?

• Cooperstown & Charlotte Valley Railroad, Oneonta; scenic/historic train ride and museum
• Erie Canal Cruises, Herkimer
• Fly Creek Friesians, Fly Creek; Dutch Registered Friesian Horses, mule rides, carriage rides, Texas Longhorn cattle; tours
• Herkimer Diamond Mines, Herkimer
• Howe Caverns, Howes Cave; cave tours
• Joseph L Popp Jr. Butterfly Conservatory, Oneonta
• National Soccer Hall of Fame, Oneonta
• The Petrified Creatures Museum of Natural History,
• Richfield Springs.

There really is a lot more to Cooperstown than baseball.