Advice on visiting Cooperstown
mcadams
Posts: 2,618 ✭✭✭
Hi gentlemen,
I'm taking my 13-year old son on a trip to NY this summer. He's an avid Braves fan and an overall baseball junkie and he's never been to Yankee stadium, so we're catching the Braves while they're in town in June. We are also planning a 1-2 day trip up to Cooperstown to visit the Hall, which I've never been to either. My question is this- The HOF website touts this "private experience" for $500 where they take you behind the scenes and show you items of interest from your favorite team. Has anyone ever done this and do you think it's worth it? Or is there enough to see in the HOF itself that my son would love it anyway? Any famous cards there that we should look for?
Thanks for any advice!
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This should go in the Travel Forum
@mcadams
What a wonderful trip! Cooperstown is a quiet hamlet with the HOF, Doubleday Field, some card shops and some restaurants. The museum is definitely an awesome place to visit, well run and not so overwhelming in size. They regularly rotate the material on display so it’s a good mix of stuff.
I would definitely consider the offer to pay for the ‘behind the scenes’ tour especially if it’s a once in a lifetime trip as it sounds; the age is perfect and with no girls you should have oodles of time to soak it all in.
Enjoy!!!
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Thanks brother! Advice much appreciated.
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Just to add and make it a TC&M related post.....as you stroll Main St you might notice more than a few stores and dealers selling baseball cards on your way to the Hall Of Fame. My recollection from summer of 2002 was a place so vast, that there wouldn't be nearly enough time to see even a fraction of what's on display. We found our way to exhibits for specific teams or players of interest. We were there, I think, a week ahead of induction weekend with a large group because our kids were playing in the Dreams tournament. The town was already overflowing with visitors and the toughest assignment we faced was finding food!
Plan ahead.
Gobble.
I roadtripped it up there with a buddy a few years ago. Including the trip there and back from Hartford, CT area and the time we spent in town, I feel it was sufficient. The museum was cool, of course. Most sure I'd spend $500 on a special tour, but I am cheap! Honestly, even though the stuff was amazing, I grow bored after a while of looking at exhibits. I spent enough time inside the museum and I am guessing it was maybe 1, 2 hours at most.
Although we popped into every shop I saw that was open, there were only a 2, maybe 3 shops that I felt were worthy of spending any time in. Most of them focused on merchandise and newer stuff (this was 2018). Cards, smaller flats (PCs, 8x10s, etc) and autographs are my primary interest. The best shop in town, by a mile, was Baseball Nostalgia (this was the model of the perfect type of card shop in my mind) and it has since closed. A couple with storefronts were not open for whatever reason as well. I didn't spend a ton of money, simply because the selection was fairly weak and most of it overpriced. Very touristy vibe for most of the shops, because that is probably who they serve mostly. All said, i'd like to go again someday and maybe have more time in general for everything. I don't think I would like it around induction day, despite the benefits of what comes with that. I hate crowds and lines.
If I make it back there, it'll be to spend more time in the museum and maybe just to absorb the town a bit more. We didn't stray far off main street.
The Basketball HOF in Springfield, MA is not that far away considering (of course we were coming from CT and that was only a slight detour or maybe that was the best way anyway). Worth making that trip if you are already that close and have the time, if basketball interests you as well.
Reserve some time in the HOF library especially if your son has a favorite player. They have folders of photographs organized by players for which they have the negatives and will print and send a photo to you at a very reasonable price. It is cool to be given gloves and go through the originals many of which have notes as to where to place on the newspaper article. It is free but you need to call ahead.
Had them print this photo of Banks and Robinson my first trip there in 1995. When I took my nephews a few years back let them each pick a photo and I framed it as a Christmas present one chose Ryan the other DiMaggio.
HOF Library seems like a Great idea!
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I have wanted to go there my whole life but I have no way of getting there nor covering the expenses
And there's also little one (kitty) to think about as well...
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Dona fundraiser. I would donate $20 for your trip. Every fan who wants to go needs to.
And I didn’t know about the library. I need to go back when my boys are a little older.
I finally visited last November. Because it had been a bucket list item since I was a kid I spent the equivalent of two full days in the museum (the hours are 9-5 daily) because I wanted to see every exhibit, read every placard and take lots of pictures. I just didn't want to be rushed. I don't want to dissuade you from the $500 behind-the-scenes tour (I didn't do it) but there is so much to see and gawk over in the 3 floors of the museum. And that's not even including the actual hall with the HOF plaques.
The baseball card exhibit is amazing. They have pull out display frames with several cards from about every major set going back to the tobacco era. The holy grails exhibit has the Wagner, '52 Mantle, 1914 Mathewson, Plank, etc and each are contained in a niche. (They're kept in the dark save for a light that stays on for 10 seconds with the push of a button.)
I really enjoyed the town itself too. Some good places to eat and very walkable. The Otesaga Hotel has a rather nice restaurant. (They even have the wine glasses on display assigned to the individual HOFers who come for induction weekend.) Most of the touristy memorabilia stores were closed when I was there but I don't think I missed anything. The Fenimore Art Museum is in Cooperstown too. They had Randy Johnson's (yes, that Randy Johnson) photography on exhibit when I was there.
I definitely want to go back.
Always enjoyed my visits there. Careful with the card shops. Prices at some are high. A point of interest I find is the reading of the plaques of the HOFers. Card displays are always a joy to see. Have a great time.
Ommegang Brewery during waffles and puppets week . Plenty for parents and kids . Always took that trip when I lived back east. Get there early and leave early . Worth every sugar spike my diabetes absorbed
I've been there twice. Enjoyed every second of it.
Advice? Stay away from the local shops selling cards and memorabilia. They are tourist traps from yell.
you also have to have breakfast at the Cooperstown diner on Main Street
IMF
I've visited 5 times starting as Child in the late 80's. My only regret is I've not been there my 6th time - yet
Highlights of my first visit
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Just to add....We also made a plan to attend a Single A Minor League game in Oneonta at Damaschke Field. IF you get a chance to go see some guys who will quite likely never get a trip to The Show, this would be the place. It was quite surreal, and of course included a rain (downpour!) delay.
The Tigers affiliate played vs. the Vermont Expos and one notable name on the roster was Curtis Granderson, just starting to play his way up the ladder. I guess he did alright. In 2016, we attended Game 3 of the WS in Chicago the night he received the Clemente Award. Had a decent career. So, I'm a Grandyman fan.
Gobble.
Been to the Oneonta field once. Got a program when future Yankee Jorge Posada played there.
Thanks for all the recs, guys. We decided not to do the behind the scenes tour because the stuff they had on regular display was overwhelming enough. GW Jersey and memorabilia from the 4/8/74 Aaron HR record game was so special to see in person. Cooperstown was awesome….off to Niagara this afternoon.
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I am glad you had a great visit!!! I agree, it is overwhelming. I have been out about 10 times over the years and i just keep coming back. Have fun at the falls. those are awesome as well
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Glad you had a nice trip. Going to the HOF with your son will be a memory you both cherish.
Were you there for the All Star Village tournament?
Did you visit any card shops?
Absolutely! We got into town Monday early afternoon and hit up 6-7 shops, then hit the hall Tuesday morning. For the card shops, my favorite was Yastrzemski’s. Had a decent selection of pre-war and good mix of raw/graded. Staff was friendly and had good conversation in general, plus they were nice to my son. We also had a good experience at Shoeless Joe’s, but they’re really more about auto’s balls and jerseys (really nice selection of jerseys).
Besides the LCS, we thought the wax museum was a waste of time. But there was a random “escape room” on a side street that had a room based on Yankees stars and the curse of the Bambino. Oddly enough, we had a GREAT time there for $35.
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Did that same escape room with my nephews and we had a great time too.
I commend you as a Father, well done! I wish I had done similar with my 3 Sons before they got older. My boys are all 30 or over now and it's very hard to plan trips that they can all attend.
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Amazing stuff. Like Cakes said, great you did it with your son while he was young. He will remember this visit forever and tell his own kids about it.
I’m going for baseball in August. Never been otherwise and can’t wait to steal away for some HOF stuff. Make some of those same memories myself.
John