Cooperstown to Woodstock to Jersey: 40 degrees of difference

I hate this @##%@@$$%  netbook.  I just lost an entire blog of text while hitting the shift key and inadvertently highlighted everything and the space bar. It ain't the first time.

We visited Cooperstown in the afternoon to do laundry after checking into the Terrace Motor Inn. It's located about 4 miles north of Cooperstown.  It's a great find.  All the rooms overlook Lake Otsego and they have lake access w/ a dock.  You can fish and cook any you catch on one of their grills.  If we had had more time I would have broken out my rods and tackle to see if I had anything in the box that the fish would like.  

That evening we went in to town and ate at the Toscana Italian fusion restaurant.  Great food and an interesting way of preparing the meals.  I'd recommend getting reservations to avoid the wait.  TIP: If you buy tickets after 7:00 PM you can see part of the Hall of Fame before it closes at 9 and the tickets are good for the next day.

We had a short drive to Woodstock so we caught the Hall in the morning after checking out.  There are parking lots outside of the town where you can park for free and catch a tolley bus for only $2 for an all-day pass.  Street parking is limited to 2 hours and the lots are expensive, unless you have a van full of people.  Buses and RVs can not park in town so they have to use those lots.  

We had breakfast at the Cooperstown Diner on the recommendation  of the owner of the Marketside Cafe in Niagara Falls.  It was worth the wait.  From the photo of the front you get an idea of how small it is.  It's a local's favorite and there's good reason for that.  Don't expect to get in right away.  If one of the locals hadn't offered to share his table we'd have been out front a lot longer than the 20 minutes we did wait.

Then it was off to the Hall and museum.  We enjoyed the historical and special displays for individual greats like Ruth and Robinson.  There are also ones for the Negro and Women's leagues.  To realize that they have most of the artifacts NOT on display it's overwhelming.  

We finished off w/ the actual Hall of Fame and the plaques.  We saw where Junior and Piazza will be installed.  We also saw where Edgar should be.  The DH is here to stay.  It's been almost 50 years now and the position is not going away.  If, and when, Ortiz goes in it ain't going to be for his play as a first baseman.  That's simply a cover for those hard-core fans who feel that wasting an out on a pitcher is somehow more essential to the game.  If it was there would never be changes made to the mound or the strike zone.  Baseball is a living sport.  Changes are not evil despite those who feel that it should be sacrosanct.

After taking Bozo on his tour we headed down the backroads through the Catskills to Woodstock to see a friend of ours who was raised there and recently moved back after a few years working overseas.  Beautiful countryside.  It remined us of the Cascade foothills but with rounded trees rather than pointed ones.  Saw some really nice OLD homes, and a lot that need some love. Cooperstown is full of them and there's more along the highways.  The weather's been strange.  We've gone from the 50's to the 90's in one day,  Woodstock to Mt. Laural, NJ.  This is probably just the start.  After breakfast w/ our nephew and his young family tomorrow we are off to Richmond on our way to our niece's place in NC.  It isn't going to get any cooler from now till we get back to the northwest. 

Ciao for now