Cooperstown Visit - Advice?

[Guy_Incognito]

I'm thinking about taking two of my sons to the HOF tomorrow. The older one is 8 1/2 & perfect for it now - he's baseball obsessed, and still young enough that the game is still magical to him. The almost 6 year old is first getting into it. The drive will be about 2 1/2 hours each way. Is it worth the trip? Any tips I should know about if I go? I haven't been there since I was a kid.

Thanks.

 

[Hank_Scorpio]

I take it no hotel?

I'd guess it is probably doable, especially if you left early enough and stayed til it closed, which I believe is 9pm in the summer.

Probably depends how much you want to spend at each exhibit. Don't forget to spend a few minutes at Doubleday Field either.


I went last summer for the first time since my youth and spent 2 1/2 days there. I obviously didn't spend all my time in the HOF. It was great just to walk around Main Street.


Since it's still the heart of summer, crowds will be a bit heavier. I went just after Labor Day, so I got better rates at hotels. And it was almost dead in the HOF, except for some of the Little League teams that were still playing at Cooperstown Dreams down the road.

It was the last week the Hall stayed open til 9pm too. After dinner, it was almost deserted.

 

[Guy_Incognito]

I take it no hotel?

I'd guess it is probably doable, especially if you left early enough and stayed til it closed, which I believe is 9pm in the summer.

Probably depends how much you want to spend at each exhibit. Don't forget to spend a few minutes at Doubleday Field either.


I went last summer for the first time since my youth and spent 2 1/2 days there. I obviously didn't spend all my time in the HOF. It was great just to walk around Main Street.


Since it's still the heart of summer, crowds will be a bit heavier. I went just after Labor Day, so I got better rates at hotels. And it was almost dead in the HOF, except for some of the Little League teams that were still playing at Cooperstown Dreams down the road.

It was the last week the Hall stayed open til 9pm too. After dinner, it was almost deserted.

No, back & forth in 1 day. Is there really that much for kids so young?

 

[Screwball]

Five hours of "when are we going to get there?" with a place far from major highways? You know your kids, but that seems like a recipe for disaster, or a sitcom.

HOF is awesome, though.

 

[Hank_Scorpio]

I didn't notice your kids age the first time.

Being 8 and 6, they probably won't read a lot of the exhibits, but it will be cool for them to see the older mitts and bats and stuff. The older stadiums exhibit is also pretty cool.

Without spending a lot of time at each exhibit, you could probably breeze through the HOF in 3-5 hours.


You say the 8 year old is really into baseball, so I doubt he would get bored. The 6-year old on the other hand might get restless.

They do have a small kids room that plays videos and some other activities.

 

[Guy_Incognito]

I didn't notice your kids age the first time.

Being 8 and 6, they probably won't read a lot of the exhibits, but it will be cool for them to see the older mitts and bats and stuff. The older stadiums exhibit is also pretty cool.

Without spending a lot of time at each exhibit, you could probably breeze through the HOF in 3-5 hours.


You say the 8 year old is really into baseball, so I doubt he would get bored. The 6-year old on the other hand might get restless.

They do have a small kids room that plays videos and some other activities.

Thanks, good stuff.

 

[Killick]

Awesome trip. I took my dad a few years ago — a little quality time that completely changed our relationship. Bonus: We went in October, when the area — outside of the Hall itself — is just amazing. Stayed overnight at one of the motels on the lake, spent a whole day just going thru the Hall. Best trip of my life.

 

[buckweaver]

Enjoy it, Guy. Nothing more memorable than a HOF visit at your sons' age -- I know the feeling well.

If the kids get bored (I sure didn't at 6, but I'm weird like that), take 'em to the hitting range next to Doubleday Field.

Not sure what's changed in three years, but here you go:

Well, here's my long-delayed Cooperstown review:

We went during Induction Weekend a couple weeks ago, so I can't give any advice about the crowds. We had, oh, about 75K other people to deal with.

Anyway, a couple tips:

- re: hotels ... if you want to stay in Cooperstown, try the Lake Front Motel off River Street. Cheapest place in town, but it's right on the lake and pretty nice for a motel. Otherwise, I recommend staying south of town on Hwy. 28, at the HoJo or the Holiday Inn Express, about 10-15 miles outside of C-town. If you want anything cheaper, you'll probably have to go one exit over on I-88 to Oneonta or up to Sharon Springs.

- re: parking ... don't get suckered in by the trolley lots. You'll have to get extremely lucky to park on Main Street, and the foot traffic's not worth it. So troll all the off-streets near Doubleday Field (Elm St., Pioneer St., Church St., Fair St.), and park on the side of the road for free. Even during Induction Weekend, we didn't pay a dime to park -- parked outside the Lake Front Motel and walked up one block to the HOF the first day, and parked at Elm and Pioneer and walked two blocks to Main Street the second day. Easy as pie.

- re: Main Street ... the pizza at Sal's Pizza wasn't so good (tasted like Sbarro's at the mall), but the sub I had there was excellent. ... We didn't have time to eat at Shortstop Grill, but heard a lot of good things about it. Ate lunch once at Triple Play Cafe, which was decent food/quick service, but nothing to write home about. ... Brooks BBQ up off Exit 17 (I-88) in Oneonta was a nice dinner, but the company was better than the food.

- Definitely second the Doubleday Hitting Range, which was there in 1988 when I went to C-town the first time and hasn't changed a whole helluva lot. We hit off the knuckleball machine (although it acts more like a hard slider), and that was a lot of fun. Good times.

- re: Hall of Fame ... don't miss the movie (Grandstand Theater, second floor). That hasn't changed a whole lot since 1988, either, other than the video quality being much more advanced.

- We entered the Hall at precisely 1 p.m. ... and got kicked out at 9 p.m., still thinking we could have used another hour or so. It's that engrossing, and that good. The second floor, naturally, took up most of our time, and it's amazing to realize the stuff on display is only about 1 percent of the Hall's total collection. The third-floor exhibits were also outstanding, especially the no-hitter display and the World Series programs and rings. The Gallery, of course, speaks for itself. It's awe-inspiring.

- Also, don't forget to sneak up the winding hallway inside the Gallery (go toward the end, and take a right) to get to the Hall library atrium, where there are a few more exhibits, including the Frick/Spink Award displays and Baseball At The Movies, with a bunch of props and posters from Bull Durham, Eight Men Out, Bingo Long, A League of Their Own (including a Jimmy Dugan baseball card, but not the baseball he signed, "Avoid the clap, Jimmy Dugan" ... "Hey, that's good ADVICE!", etc.)

- Watch out for New York state troopers.

 

[Steak Snabler]

Welcome back, Buck! Where ya been, man?

 

[Hank_Scorpio]

Thanks for mentioning the batting cage, buckw. I completely forgot about that when I responded to Guy.


Oh and it's six or seven percent that is actually on display. At least that's what one of the HOF managers said last year. Still an amazing number. Would love to walk through their storage facility/basement once.

 

[Buck]

I've never been, and I have long regretted it.
Since I haven't lived on the East Coast in about 13 years, I regret it even more.
We tried to put together a last-minute trip when Ashburn was inducted (1995 maybe?), but the logistics were too crazy. Very difficult for a last minute trip during the induction weekend.
Left the East Coast a couple years later and never went.

 

[Killick]

Great tips, Buck. My dad and I stayed at the Lake Front, and you're absolutely right: Cheapest price, but still nice and clean. Step out your door, and you're at the marina (complete - if it's still there - with a bait vending machine. That was a first for me).

Don't know about the rest of you, but my favorite piece is still the colored balls depicting Ted Williams' batting averages at different pitch locations.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

I loved the Ted Williams colored balls exhibit (I probably should have worded that better) when I saw it as a kid. I remember when Williams showed it during an episode of the Baseball Bunch, and being real impressed seeing it at the Hall.

I've been to the Hall three times from ages 10 to 15, but not in the last 20-plus years. My kids are around Guy's kids ages, but they're not really into baseball. I hope to take them some day.

I concur with the others, and if you can, stay in a hotel for one night, just to not wear the kids, and yourself out. Then you can take more time at the Hall.

There are also boat rides on the lake, which the kids should like. They might like seeing the old farm machinery at the Farmer's Museum, but unless they are into paintings, you should probably skip the Fenimore House.

And yeah, take them to Doubleday Field. The first time I went with my parents, the field was empty, and a gate was open. I had a good time running around the basepaths and sitting in the brick dugouts.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

I've never been, and I have long regretted it.
Since I haven't lived on the East Coast in about 13 years, I regret it even more.
We tried to put together a last-minute trip when Ashburn was inducted (1995 maybe?), but the logistics were too crazy. Very difficult for a last minute trip during the induction weekend.
Left the East Coast a couple years later and never went.

Went once, and wasn't sorry. Have no compulsive need to return.

 

[Hank_Scorpio]

When I was there last September, the Orioles had a fantasy camp at Doubleday Field. It was kind of cool to sit in the stands with a few other people and see action out on the field. I've never seen one of the HOF Classics they have there.

I didn't stay real long, but a 10-15 minute sit in the stands with a game going on, wasn't bad.

 

[Guy_Incognito]

Thanks to all, this was really helpful.

-I ended up taking the 6 year old's twin sister too. In the HOF, they were pretty good & liked it, but kept getting antsy when their brother & I would stop to read, watch or explain things for too long.

-Tons of great photo ops.

- The advice on parking & the batting cages was spot on. The parking spot saved much more than I spent measuring all of our fastballs & trying to hit a knuckleball while they watched.

- Doubleday field might have been the best part for them. there were games from a 40+ league tournament going on all day. We had the whole LF stands to ourselves. The players couldn't have been nicer, talking to my kids the whole game, each of them walked away with 2 baseballs. These were regular guys, but to my kids, they were real ballplayers (the 2 best lines from my oldest: "These are the nicest players I ever saw - make that I ever met. Maybe if I would meet ARod & Jeter, they would be just as nice" and "Frankie was so nice - proabably much nicer than Ty Cobb, right?".

As for the museum itself:

-What is ESPN doing with that prime real estate at the end of the opening movie. DId they pay for it, or is it part of their TV contract?

- I liked the No-hitter exhibit, it was very nostalgic, but it was one of the very few things that were not current. Also, it doesn't seem fair that Bud Smith gets in, but not Bob Horner or Mark Whiten.

- I'm a Yankee fan (so are my kids, though one was wearing a Dodgers hat, just because it's what they sold once when we needed one, and he got a ton of comments on it), and I was tunned by how Yankee-centric it is. I guess the combination of their success historically & currently as well as geography dictate it, but I could imagine being annoyed if I rooted for someone else.

- I still laugh at Who's on first.

- Walking through the gallery I was juggling awe for most and mild annoyance with others who IMO don't belong.

- The lockers for each team is a fun room.

-Who would pay $100 for Melky Cabrera's autographed ball.

- Why isn't there an interactive section, like hockey has (had?)?you could let people feel what 60 feet 6 inches really is etc.