Day 12 - September 19, 2026 - 28020
After loading the car and partaking of the hotel breakfast, it was off to Cooperstown, NY and the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Along the way - a good portion of which was toll road (tollway) - we noticed that instead of rest areas, they had service area. The service area had a fuel station for both cars and trucks, restrooms, fast food (Burger King & Dunkin Donuts, or Starbucks) and a convenience store. An interesting concept, but it pretty much covered all your needs in one stop. Along the way we crossed the Erie Canal, which at the crossing point the canal was less than 50ft across. Then we saw a larger section of the canal, that had a business advertising cruises on the Erie Canal - if we had the time we probably would have stopped and done that.
Dinner tonight was at a little Bistro in a former hose in the downtown area of Cooperstown. Mel's at 22. The service, staff and food were all excellent. Several different brands of beer - I choose;
Day 13 - September 20, 2026
Today, after breakfast at the hotel (this a Hampton Inn, with a much better breakfast fare than the Comfort Inns so far) we were off to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. This is located in a rather unassuming building on a narrow street with angle parking on one side of the street and parallel along the other side.
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| National Baseball Hall of Fame Museum |
We were fortunate to find street parking about a block away. Parking on the street cost $5.25 for two hours.
The museum is divided into three floors. It is recommended that you start the tour on the second floor, which has the history of the sport and a section on the Negro League. The third floor covers the more current era of the sport, including a section on the Women’s Major League history. In the library area they even had a display giving the short history of Banana Ball. The first floor has a section on Hank Arron and the “Hall of Fame” gallery which features bronze plaques honoring each inductee. The first “class” was in 1932. The gallery is broken into sections based on the year of induction. It is very impressive. There were names I recognized, but more that I did not. We talked to a Museum Host and told him how impressed we were with the museum. He asked where we were from. We told him about Lubbock, TX. To our surprise, he stated that he lived in Lubbock for a year in 2012. He worked for Kent Hance, the Chancellor of Texas Tech. He had nothing but good say about Tech.
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| Hall of Fame |
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| Wall of Fame |
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| All the inductees in the Hall of Fame |
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| Mound to Home Plate - In outdoor exhibit |
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| On the wall of the Museum Gift Shop, made of baseball bats |
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| Inside the Museum Gift Shop |
Dinner was at the Cooley's Stone Tavern. The Tavern is located in a building constructed in 1839. The Tavern has been in business since 2004.
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| Outside of the Cooley's Stone Tavern - No smoking establishment |
The interior was dark, wood , narrow and long. But, they had one of the best Rueben Sandwiches that we have had, along with homemade potato chips.
Day 14 - September 21, 2026
This morning we are off to Burlington, Vermont. We let the GPS choose the route. It might have been an error in judgement on our part, but it turned out to be an interesting adventure. Travelling north on NY 10, 7 & 8 and multiple County roads and lanes. The GPS seemed to have a sense of humor and was trying hard to get us the shortest route possible. We would turn off the main State Route onto a county road, travel a bit, make a turn left or right, travel
A little further, turn right or left and end up on the State Route we were on several minutes before. Of course travelling like this we passed through many small little Villages, settlements and cross roads. None of which seem to have a restroom or coffee. Finally as we were getting desperate for both coffee and a restroom, we turned off a County Road onto a State Route and were greeted with a sign stating “Bakery”, then “Donuts” then “Fresh Picked Apples.” Down the road less than a mile we found Gunnison Family Farms. Family owned and operated since 1829.
We immediately stopped, went in, found a restroom, found donuts, coffee, fudge and T-Shirts. We also met two ladies from New Jersey on a girls trip. In talking about where they were going, where they were from, they asked where we were from. We told them Lubbock, TX and one of them stated that she had family that lived in Lubbock and had been there to visit them.
Back on the road we continued on and arrived at our hotel in Burlington, VT. Driving through the Adirondacks of New York was not on the list of to do, but we have that to add to our experiences. Quite a day, that ended with filling up the car with fuel at $4.57 a gallon.
Day 15 - September 22, 2026
While at breakfast in the hotel, Deb saw an older gentleman wearing a T-shirt mentioning Seaside, OR. Deb asked him about it and found out that he lived in Seaside. The gentleman and his daughter were in Burlington, VT visiting family.
This morning it was off to Stowe/Waterbury, VT to the Ben & Jerry’s factory. Started in 1978, Ben & Jerry’s has produced many famous Ice Cream flavors over the years. Hard to believe that this International Company started when two guys took a $5 correspondence course from Princeton on Ice Cream making.
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| Main Entrance |
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| Original "mobile" sales vehicle |
The flavor graveyard is probably the highlight of the visit. This has a tombstone for every flavor that has been produced and then production stopped. Of course I have a photo of every tombstone.
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| Graveyard Entrance |
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| There are 41 Tombstones in the Cemetery with room to churn |
After having some Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream (non-dairy for me) it was back to Burlington to pick up a prescription at CVS and some water at Walmart.
Day 16 - September 23, 2026. 28590
Today we are off to Portsmouth, NH this was a nice 190+ drive through some gorgeous leaf changing areas.
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| Windshield photo of the changing leaves |
Here for just one night, we got the laundry done and Deb got her haircut.
