NEW YORK

YEAR VISITED: 2005, 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022

RESTAURANTS

DESTINATIONS

SPORTS / EVENTS

FAVORITE CITIES AND EXPERIENCES: Our two trips to the state of New York, that didn’t involve New York City, came in 2016 and 2020 and revolved around the village of Cooperstown. The game of baseball has always been a big part of my life. With Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame residing in Cooperstown, this village was a natural bucket list destination of mine. I am proud to say that Jill and I were present for Seattle icon, Ken Griffey Jr’s induction ceremony and the whole family toured the museum and explored the city limits the summer of 2020.

New York is one of our favorite states. Whether you are in Manhattan or upstate there is always something to do.

STADIUMS AND/OR SPORTING EVENTS: The Village of Cooperstown, located just under four hours north of New York City, is the home of Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame. I have been lucky enough to travel to Cooperstown three times; 2000, 2016, and 2020.

The most memorable trip came in 2016 as Jill and I made the trip to the east coast for Ken Griffey Jr’s HOF induction ceremony. Each year the ceremony takes place in a field on the outskirts of town. While the HOF committee does it up right with a massive stage and TV screen or two, it blew me away to discover this massive event takes place in a field.

Another fun fact is that the surrounding villages provide hundreds of school busses to help bus people to and from the ceremony. People bring blankets, chairs, and typically pack picnic lunches for the ceremony. It reminded me of a football tailgate party.

The Griffey induction was oddly emotional for me as I kept thinking of my own childhood memories that were interwoven with the rise of Griffey and the Mariners. This was truly one of the coolest adventures of any trip I have ever experienced – if you ever have the opportunity to attend an induction ceremony jump on it. You won’t be disappointed.

As Jill and I were planning the Cooperstown trip I stumbled upon an opportunity presented by the Play Ball organization. This organization advertised the opportunity to take ground balls with Ozzie Smith and guaranteed the opportunity to interact with a handful of other undisclosed Hall of Famer’s during induction weekend. Like a kid in a candy store I handed over my credit card as fast as humanly possible. When I told Jill about my purchase her response was not what I was anticipating, “soooo you will be hanging out with a pack of 12 year old’s” is something that we still laugh about today. On the day of the Play Ball event, the field which was adjacent to Doubleday Field, I couldn’t have had a bigger smile on my face. Jill still refers to it as “Jason’s perma-smile” day!

Interacting with legends such as Goose Gossage, Craig Biggio, John Smoltz and turning a double play with the Wizard of Oz was truly one of the greatest experiences of my life. Although Jill was correct – I was nearly a foot taller than 70% of the other participants.

As you can probably imagine, the entire town (which has less than 2,000 residents) is baseball themed. We spent half a day wondering through Cooperstown’s restaurants, stores, and markets. We have eaten at The Double Day Cafe, The Cooperstown Diner, and The Lake Front. In 2016 we ate at the Lake Front and discovered we were seated next to Ken Griffey Jr’s high school baseball coach. We quickly pushed the tables together and started swapping baseball stories. Beware that Hotels are limited in the village limits and as a result are extremely expensive; especially during induction weekend. We stayed in Albany, roughly a hour and 30 minutes east of Cooperstown. Because we were so excited to get to the festivities in Cooperstown, the only thing we really did in Albany was explore the Empire State Plaza (area around the state capital).

The capital building is unique in the fact it does not have a dome but is one of the more majestic and gothic looking capital buildings we have ever visited. Hotels were reasonably priced and the relatively short country drive was pleasant.

During induction weekend HOFer’s return to the city limits, sign autographs, and interact with the fans and the townspeople alike. On our 2016 trip we met Don Larsen, Juan Marichel, and Johnny Bench.

Inside the museum the memorabilia is as good as it gets for sports fans. Exhibits are interactive, and the plaque gallery is powerful as you come face to face with best players in baseball history. I can’t say enough good things about all three of my Cooperstown experiences.

ADVENTURE: In July 20016, while on our Cooperstown trip, Jill and I decided to make the four and a half hour drive to Niagara Falls. It was a Saturday and we arrived mid day. The town was absolutely packed. We struggled to find a place to park and felt like we were fighting crowds everywhere we went. When we stopped for lunch, there was a huge line. While window shopping, other tourist’s constantly bumped into us. Taking pictures of the multiple waterfalls, people wondered into our shot. Making it even worse the temperature reached the mid 90’s and the humidity was also in the 90’s. It was hot, sticky, and we felt swarmed by people. When you add all of these inconveniences together, this was our least favorite destination of the entire 2016 New York trip. However, the falls are absolutely stunning – we just caught it on the wrong day and time.

We very much want to return when it is less crowded. Even though it wasn’t our favorite day, once we found a place to park we made our way through Niagara Falls State Park. Interestingly enough it is New York’s oldest state park. There are multiple water falls, miles of biking and walking paths, and is an absolutely gorgeous area. Jill and I explored the falls, took our waterfall pictures, and even joked about going over the falls in a barrel.

After exploring the park, we headed downtown and bought a ticket to board the Maid of the Mist. For over 150 years this sight seeing boat takes you as close as you can get to the American Falls as well as Horseshoe Falls. Even though we once again ran into huge lines and ended up waiting over two hours to board, it was worth it. For the roughly thirty-five minute boat tour, we had a blast taking photos, and embraced the feeling of ‘small and powerlessness’ while being so close to something so massive and powerful.

Returning to upstate New York, specifically Niagara Falls, is high on our list. The area is beautiful and assuming we plan our visit to not coincide with tourist season, I am confident we will have a blast. No matter how many times we return, Maid of the Mist will always be on our to do list. Also, next time we will make a point to cross into Canada as well.

NOTABLE DESTINATIONS & STOPS: Following our one day adventure to Niagara Falls, we ventured into Buffalo. While we admittedly didn’t experience much of what Buffalo has to offer, we did eat at the original Anchor Bar. This family owned establishment became famous in 1964 for serving the first plate of wings; served with blue cheese and celery a legendary combination was born.

Also on this trip we spent a couple hours exploring the town of Ticonderoga. Unfortunately, the Fort made famous from the French & Indian Wars as well as the Revolutionary War was closed. However, we did walk the La Chute River Trail and Bicentennial Park where we briefly passed through the Heritage Museum. A number of exhibits were dedicated to the history of the pencil and how this quaint little town mined the graphite originally used in pencils. We had a beautiful morning exploring this sleepy east coast town of around 3,000 residents.