Everything you love about the sport of baseball converges in one tightly wound, nostalgic ball of a town in Cooperstown, New York – home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. While Union General Abner Doubleday didn’t actually invent America’s favorite pastime in this rural New York village, you can’t help but get the sense that this place represents everything the sport values. Miles and miles of largely untouched nature surround the charming small town where everybody knows everybody, and every sign points to something related to baseball. Only in Cooperstown can you plan the ultimate, comprehensive, better-than-anyone-has-ever-done-it Baseball Hall of Fame family vacation.
First of all, if you intend to focus your visit to central New York on baseball, by all means purchase the $50 annual membership. You will receive 10% discounts at dozens of businesses throughout Cooperstown, and the museum will discount many of its events for you as well. For starters, adult admission to the museum itself costs $19.50 while members can enter for free — so you don’t have to do much else before your membership pays for itself.
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The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum offers special events throughout the baseball season, but the Hall of Fame Weekend easily outshines the rest. The induction of six new members into the Hall of Fame at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 26, will attract the most attention, but other notable events will occupy your time from the 25 – 28 as well. The PLAY Ball event on Friday morning, for instance, provides hours of small group instruction and playing tips from some of the sport’s all-time greatest minds. (Registration for members is $450, but for the baseball aficionado, it’s worth every penny.) The Saturday evening Parade of Legends down Cooperstown’s Main Street will give you a chance to see all of the 50 or so returning Hall of Famers all in one place.
If you can’t get to Cooperstown at the end of July, however, the May 24 Hall of Fame Classic Legends Game continues a long-standing tradition of showcasing a number of Hall of Famers playing for opposing teams in a seven-inning exposition game, joined by recently retired major league players. Amazingly, a mere $12.50 will get you first-base seats. The first pitch will be thrown at 2:05 p.m., preceded by a 1 p.m. hitting competition and a noon parade down Main Street. Other weekend activities include Night at the Museum, where you can roam the premises with Hall of Famers, and a Legends for Youth skills clinic.
Again, though, if you can’t make it to either of these eventful weekends, Cooperstown and the Hall of Fame within it will not disappoint. With three floors containing a selection of 38,000 artifacts, 2.6 million library items and 130,000 baseball cards, you certainly won’t run out of things to explore. A number of movies, interactive displays and games will keep younger children entertained, too.
If at any point your family needs a break from the baseball, they have plenty to keep them busy! Glimmerglass State Park sits on the opposite end of Otsego Lake from Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame. Open year-round, this spring-fed lake park offers fishing, swimming, ice-skating and all sorts of alpine trails to explore. Camping in the park costs about $21 per night (more around holidays), and wouldn’t be a bad place to stay as you visit the Hall of Fame. Back in town, the Fenimore Art Museum focuses on local art from native peoples and 19th-century Americans. The $12 admission pays for itself with just the view of Otsego Lake you get from the building, and it is small enough to be child-friendly.
Camping in Glimmerglass isn’t for everyone, of course, so if you’d prefer something within walking distance to the Hall of Fame, The Otesaga Resort Hotel provides a bit more luxury than sleeping on a camping mat. Rates as low as $199 will put your family in the most relaxing of environments after long days of baseball excursions. As an added bonus, you can walk from the hotel to Alex and Ika Restaurant on Main Street where you can try the bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin with cherries, a local favorite.
The village of Cooperstown may only have 2,000 residents and look like a small dot on a map, but the far-reaching significance of its National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum demands more attention than its statistics imply. Baseball legends appear everywhere you go, and opportunities to play and watch the great American sport never run out. Bring your family for an educational, exciting stay in the baseball capital of the world.
Travelocity Editors
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