Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame Museum

Over Labor Day, we went to upstate New York for our friend Jennifer's wedding.  Since the wedding wasn't until 5:30pm on Saturday, we decided to spend the day a few towns over in Cooperstown to check out "baseball-ville".  Cooperstown is the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and is all about baseball.  The restaurants are named after baseball legends, stores sell anything "baseball" that you can think of, and the streets are filled with baseball fans wearing their favorite team's shirt!

We started the day at the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Here are a few snapshots of some of the memorabilia we found.

You can start the museum by watching a film about baseball - the theater looks like Fenway!  (I recommend skipping the film and making your way through the first part of the museum while the crowd hangs back for the film.)

Travis said the Yankees locker stunk...har har har.

Once we had soaked up as much baseball history as is humanly possible, we went downstairs to the Hall of Fame Gallery.

The museum/hall of fame was really neat - I'd definitely recommend it if you're in the area.  It will take you anywhere from 2-3 hours to make your way through it (depending on how much you want to read), so there will still be plenty of time in your day to explore main street.

We enjoyed lunch at the Doubleday Cafe before we made our way further down the street.  The grilled chicken sandwich was good, fries were great, but their fruit cup was fantastic.  I know that's a silly thing to be excited about, but I really hate a bad fruit cup.  You know the one...1/2 is honeydew, 1/4 is cantaloupe, and there are a few strawberries and blueberries sprinkled on top?  Well this fruit cup was ALL of the good stuff - pineapple, strawberry, oranges, blueberries...so good.

Such a fun day.  Stay tuned for adventures from the wedding and our trip to Saratoga Springs, which rounded out the Labor Day weekend!

The Most Fabulous Sox Game Ever

Saturday we went to our first Red Sox game of the season.  After the rough week we had here in Boston, it was a much needed chance to get out of our heads and have some FUN in our city.

Our friend, Brooks, was able to get fantastic seats for us - standing room on the GREEN MONSTER!  Travis and I have sat all over the park, but the Green Monster was the one place we never thought we'd be able to sit.  It was such a fun place to watch the game...and what a game it was!

We got there a little early so we could secure a spot at the 'bar'.  Standing room 'seats' are on the top row of the monster and have a bar ledge for you to lean and eat on.  With Travis' back acting the way it is right now, this was actually better - he would have been miserable in those tiny wooden chairs.

The view from the monster!

Wally stamp!

Before the game, the Sox put on a beautiful ceremony honoring the Marathon bombing victims and the law enforcement officers that put an end to the terror last night.  After a video tribute, they brought out people that characterized this past week to throw the first pitch.  This included a victim of the bombing that had been released days ago, a first responder that jumped into action from his table at a restaurant nearby, and the Hoyts...Boston Marathon icons.  Each threw a pitch, while the Mayor, Governor  and many police officers formed an arch around them.

Then the game started!

If you've ever been to a game at Fenway, you know everyone looks forward to the 8th inning, when it's time to sing "Sweet Caroline".  This time, they announced they had a surprise for everyone.  Major League Baseball teams across the country had showed their support for Boston this week by adding some of our iconic songs to their games (like the "Cheers" Theme and "Sweet Caroline").  When Neil Diamond (who wrote "Sweet Caroline") heard this...and that the suspect was captured Friday night...he hopped on a plane to come sing "Sweet Caroline" AT the game!  So cool!!

It was a fantastic day and just what we needed to start getting over the last week.

Red Sox Opening Day

Happy day, happy day!  Today was our first REALLY beautiful day here in Boston - 64 degrees and sunny!  If that wasn't enough, it was also Opening Day at Fenway Park.  Since I couldn't take the day off to go to the game, I decided the next best thing would be to take my lunch break and walk to Fenway to soak up a little Sox enthusiasm.  Here are a few pictures from my walk.  Enjoy!

Beautiful brownstones!

The very first bloom I've seen this year!

And just for good measure...here's a cute picture of Toby.  :)