Cortland, Cooperstown and Syracuse

Cortland
Jon's parents picked us up shortly after the bus dropped us off. We spent the evening walking up and down Main Street sampling the wares of different restaurants and bars. It was part of a promotion to encourage business. We had a nice time and the outing ended with dinner at the Starr Bistro. When we walked in the chef was right there. His kitchen is set up like a sushi bar. The chef greets you and makes you feel at home. His food was tasty and a lot of the dishes involve apples which makes sense because there's a whole apple thing going on in Cortland. I loved my duck breast. Sorry. No pictures. I was enjoying the food too much.

Sunday we kind of hung back. Jon went on a really long bike ride and I went to WalMart with Jon's mom.

Cooperstown
On Monday, Jon's dad drove us to Cooperstown where baseball was "invented" by Abner Doubleday.

We found a parking space by Otsego Lake which is just dreamy.


We walked around Cooperstown a bit before heading into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Cooperstown is quaint - a nice place to visit.


We stopped in at Doubleday Field.


Here's Jon with his dad.


We watched about 3o minutes of an intense game between two teenage teams. It was quiet and low key. No blaring music or flashing neon signs. Great way to see a game. Very nice.


We posed for a few pictures outside the stadium. Here's Jon with the Sandlot Kid - an absolute icon in Cooperstown souveniring.


Shortly after this we went to the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum which was way more interesting than I thought it would be. I found myself absorbed in some of the displays - in the museum part anyway. The Hall of Fame part was just kind of "eh" for me. Hundreds of plaques that look exactly the same hang on walls splashed in bright sun light. Not knowing anything about baseball or its heroes or its mythology, I felt lost in there. I preferred the museum part. At least there, I could learn a little bit about the sport.

Syracuse
The next day, Jon and I borrowed the car and drove to Syracuse. I found Syracuse to be quite stark. As exemplified in this picture of Dinosaur BBQwhich is also where we had lunch.


The interior of the restaurant was much warmer and inviting. Here is some of their artwork.
The picture on the left is relief of a motorcycle that was hanging next to our table. The picture on the right is a creepy boar's head reminding people not to smoke.


This is a mural of a dinosaur eating Syracuse.


What was on the menu? A lot of pork.


We each ordered a sampler - which all came with a rack of ribs. Here I am praying that the food doesn't make me sick to my stomach.


And here's our food.


We visited the outside of the NiMo building (Niagara Mohauk) which was built in the Art Deco style - quite nice.


And then we drove over to the Carousel Mall - which of course has a great old carousel not pictured here.

The next day, we rode the bus all the way back to New York and this time without any problems.

It was a nice trip.