By Peggy Karas

Forget the debt ceiling crisis, the high unemployment rate, the crashing stock market—the American Dream is alive and well in Cooperstown, New York. 

A recent visit to this Village of 2,000 people in New York State found the accommodations fully booked, the restaurants busy and the main street crowded with tourists. Cooperstown  is a pretty Village located on the shores of Otsego Lake and is known as the birth place of that all American pastime: baseball. As home to the Baseball Hall of Fame, it attracts sports lovers from all over the United States and Canada, but it has so much more to offer than that.  During our recent visit, my husband and I didn’t even go by the Hall of Fame, and we  found plenty of other interesting things to do.

One of these lovely mansions has been converted to the Fenimore Art Museum.  It specializes in American art and particularly American Folk art. Their Thaw Collection of American Indian Art has been described as “A collection any museum in the world should envy” by The New York Times. Their recent addition of a new native Indian exhibit, including an Iroquois long house has only added to its importance as an Indian Art centre. I particularly liked the fact that because the museum is set in an old mansion you walk from room to room as you would in a house and the art work seems so appropriate to the setting. Take time if you can to enjoy a meal or a snack in the café. The eating area is set on the terrace at the rear of the mansion overlooking beautiful gardens (which you can wander through) and the lake. One word of caution while the setting is gorgeous the food is merely adequate and the service is slow.  This is partially because they make fresh sandwiches for each order, but on the day we visited the woman in front of me cancelled her food order when she was told it would be 15 minutes before her salad would be ready and she had opera tickets and didn’t think she could wait that long.

Across the road from the Art Museum is the Farmers’ Museum. It represents village and farm life in New York State at the time period of 1840 to 1845.  It is of course an idealized version of life at that time—no manure piles or unkempt buildings here.  However, it does attempt to be authentic in its representation of life at that time.  There are displays of farm equipment and buildings which have been brought from other parts of the state and were in use during that time.  In addition there are costumed interpreters who perform everyday tasks from the mid-1800s and they are happy to explain what they are doing and how it relates to life at that time. The costumed interpreter who was spinning the wool from the farm’s flock of sheep showed me the difference between hand spun and mill spun yarn. There are interactive exhibits which allow you to try some of the games and skills (like quilt making) common to 19th-century life.  There is even a working hand-crafted carousel which offers rides for children and adults alike. The food display illustrates some of the crops grown in the area and tells you of some of the foods which originated in New York state. For example we can thank New York for Jell-o, shredded wheat and ice cream sundaes among many other foods. Of course no farm would be complete without animals and they have cattle, oxen, sheep, chickens, ducks, turkeys and more and visitors are allowed to get up close and personal with them. This is a wonderful opportunity for many urban children who may never have seen a mother hen and her brood.

While there we also took the opportunity to enjoy performances at the Glimmerglass Opera Festival. The theatre is located in a bucolic rural setting among trees and ponds. The theatre is a beautiful frame structure surrounded by lush green grass and picnic areas. I especially like the sliding panels on the sides of the theatre. As you enter, the panels are open letting in the light and fresh air. As the performance begins the panels close to preserve the acoustics of the theatre and open again at intermission and the end of the performance. Such a perfect way to bring the beautiful setting into the theatre.  

Of course, the American Dream is not complete without lots of good food at reasonable prices and we found this as well.  The Doubleday Café on Main Street serves a great bacon & egg breakfast for only $5.40 and has good choices for lunch and dinner also. The Pit at the Tunnicliff Inn has  Friday & Saturday night specials which include a 1lb whole lobster with French fries, 12-oz roast prime rib with baked potato, or a 6 ounce  filet mignon with shrimp scampi over linguine for only $14.95 each. My husband enjoyed the lobster while I had the prime rib and we washed it all down with local draft beer.

Oh and what about the Baseball Hall of Fame, it is there of course, but we found so many other interesting things to do we never got around to visiting it.  Maybe next time!

IF YOU GO:

The Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce website  has information on Accommodations, Restaurants and Attractions.  Included in the Accommodations section is a “Room Availability” feature which allows you to inquire about accommodations in various categories.  Be advised that the rooms fill up quickly especially on peak summer week-ends so book early.

http://cooperstownchamber.org

The Fenimore Art Museum, 5798 State Hwy. 80, Cooperstown, N.Y. 13326, open May 10  to Oct. 10:  10am to 5pm, Oct. 11 – Dec. 31 Tues to Sunday ,  10am to 4pm.  http://FenimoreArtMuseum.org/

The Farmers’ Museum, 5775 State Hwy.80, Cooperstown, N.Y. 13326, open same dates and hours as the Art Museum.  www.farmersmuseum.org

Glimmerglass Opera Festival runs till Aug. 21, check their website for production dates and times http://glimmerglass.org/

The Doubleday Café, 93 Main Street, Cooperstown, 13326, Tel. (607) 547-5468

The Pit at the Tunnicliff Inn, 34 Pioneer Street, Cooperstown, N.Y. 13326, Tel (607) 547-9611 

Written by :

Peggy Karas