Cooperstown, NY

On our way to Cooperstown, NY last weekend, we stopped for the night in Albany since it was a lot cheaper to get a hotel there. Using my usual strategy of searching Beer Advocate ratings for places in a given city/area, I found a place called The Gingerman. We thought this was somehow related to a such named place in NYC and the ratings were good, so off we went.

Turns out this The Gingerman was not related to the other(s) and was instead privately owned by some Irish dude. I had a super amazing sesame seared ahi tuna and a 5 glass flight of American ales. Surprisingly, the two I liked the best were ones I had not heard of before: Seranac Pomegranate Wheat and Switchback Unfiltered Ale. I also had a Seranac Pale Ale that I found unremarkable, but still ok, a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale that was kind of dull, and a 90 minute IPA that tasted like it had aged. I am not a big fan of the aged stuff when it tastes too much like alcohol, but it was alright.

Next morning: onward to Cooperstown, NY, which is located 30 miles from civilized highways. The Baseball Hall of Fame was a lot of fun as expected. I liked the historical exhibits and the section on women in baseball the best I think. I ended up buying a shirt in the gift store with a chica player on it. :D

While we were taking a food break at a local bar-type place, we noticed an unusual amount of Ommegang brews... Ommegang is in Cooperstown too! Of course we went there right after we finished touring the Hall of Fame for a free tour and tasting. They had some cool cheese dips and mustard to go along with pretzels. We bought some of the spicy horseradish mustard to take home.

Overall, Cooperstown made for a fun weekend trip.

Grab your peanuts and crackerjacks...

We're goin' to Cooperstown!!

My fun little rental car

I like being able to drive such a small car around. I wouldn't feel so secure on a highway with big cars, but here all the speed limits are relatively low and the other cars tend to be small too. Oh yeah, and it doesn't do stupid shit here like snow. :)

Coolest Yankees fan ever

Customs guy: [shaking head] "No Sox fans allowed."
Me: "Oh yeah, why not?"
Customs guy: "Because I'm a Yankees fan."
Me: "I'm sorry."
Customs guy: [sheepish grin...stamp stamp] "Keep this card in your passport until you leave. I hope you win."
Me: "Well, good luck to you too!"