Take Me Out to the...Opera?
by Karen Harrison
SOME TRAVEL DESTINATIONS, SIMPLY BY THEIR NAME, EVOKE ONE THOUGHT – NIAGARA FALLS, BANFF, ORLANDO. FOR SPORTS FANS, COOPERSTOWN, NY IS SYNONYMOUS WITH BASEBALL AND IS HOME TO THE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM. I GREW UP WITH THE EXPOS IN MONTREAL, SO IT WAS ONLY NATURAL THAT ONE OF THE FIRST TRIPS MY HUSBAND AND I MADE TOGETHER WAS TO BASEBALL’S MECCA.WE FOUND THAT, AND MORE.
This village of 2000 people, hugging the southern tip of Otsego Lake in rolling hills just north of the Catskill Mountains in central New York state, offers a delightful combination of history, fine art,music, dining, lodging and shopping – enough to entice even those who don’t care or know anything about baseball.
And yes, there is opera too.
One visit to the lake and you’ll know why the “Glimmerglass” of native son James Fenimore Cooper’s stories is the ideal word to describe its quiet beauty. And why Cooperstown is a perfect getaway.
The village boasts a bustling Main Street (only one traffic light) with many buildings dating back to the early 19th century. With its tree-lined streets, attractive well-kept homes and other amenities, it measures up to its claim as “America’s Most Perfect Village”.
A short walk from the heart of the village, past the Otesaga Resort Hotel and the adjacent Leatherstocking Golf Course, lies a hidden treasure, the Fenimore Art Museum. This elegant neo-Georgian mansion, built in the 1930s, houses exceptional works of American Fine and Folk Art, as well as the breathtaking Thaw Collection of North American Indian Art, which includes exquisite artifacts from numerous Canadian First Nations. (One of the original curators was Canadian Sherry Brydon). Currently on display are Christmas with Thomas Nast and Arrested Motion: 1950s Railroad Photographs by O. Winston Link. In 2005, Fenimore House plans a special 10th anniversary celebration of the Thaw Collection and a distinctive presentation of Hudson River School landscape paintings.
If you prefer a more hands-on experience, you will find it across the road. The Farmers’ Museum is a collection of authentic buildings, moved on site from around the region to recreate a rural community circa 1845. Skilled and engaging interpreters demonstrate the crafts and trades of both farm and home. A splendid stone Main Barn displays old-fashioned tools and farm machinery, along with a new exhibit, Mysteries of the Lake, which tells of virtually everything natural and man-made connected with Otsego Lake. Like Fenimore House, the regular season runs Apr 1–Dec 31. There are special events on Thanksgiving in November, as well as a beautiful Candlelight Evening, this year on December 19.
The most unexpected feature of the Cooperstown area is the Glimmerglass Opera Company. What began in 1975 with a production of La Boheme presented in the high school auditorium has grown into a world-class opera company that draws more than 40,000 opera lovers every July and August. Since 1987, the Alice Busch Opera Theatre has been home for the Glimmerglass Opera; its unique sliding walls open to fresh summer breezes before a performance and during intermission. Four new productions are performed in repertory each year. Plans for 2005 include Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte with Canadian John Tessier in the role of Ferrando.
Glimmerglass Opera collaborates with various major opera companies throughout North America, and even as far away as Opera North in the UK. Opera buffs might be interested to know that Richard Margison and Benjamin Butterfield, among other Canadians, have appeared.
Visitors looking for a different sensory experience might want to visit the Brewery Ommegang, a working farmstead brewery open year round for tours and tasting. The FlyCreek Cider Mill and Orchard west of Cooperstown offers a similar experience. Cider is made in an 1856 water-powered mill.
After an excursion to a museum or the countryside, a return to Main Street for some shopping might be in order. Once again, Cooperstown offers some surprises. Fine crafts, many from local artisans, can be found at Riverwood, along with challenging games and puzzles for all ages. Further along the street is Ladybug, a brightly lit, charmingly decorated boutique showcasing small home accessories, many of them designed by New York State artists, or Tin Bin Alley, a gift and candy shop packed to the rafters with knick knacks, bears and truly memorable amaretto chocolate fudge.
On Pioneer Street, you will find Stone House Gifts. This tiny 1826 stone building, with low ceilings and not-quite-level floors, offers one of the most complete selections of Portmeirion stoneware in the northeastern US. How so many beautiful dishes managed to find their way from Wales is just one more surprise. These shops are some examples of a conscious effort in Cooperstown to maintain retail diversity despite the growth of baseball summer camps, and the accompanying increase of baseball memorabilia stores.
At the end of November in Pioneer Park, Santa and Mrs. Claus take up residence in a Victorian cottage right out of a child’s Christmas fantasy. Shops and homes alike are hung with pine boughs and thousands of lights. This year, on December 18, a horse-drawn wagon will ferry visitors to a number of bed and breakfasts in the village.
There are many B & B’s in Cooperstown. The traditional colonial and Victorian style houses lend themselves to creating warm, inviting spaces. The Barnwell Inn, on Susquehanna Avenue, follows through on its promise of elegance and tranquility. Innkeepers Tara and Mark Barnwell traded the warmth of Florida for the four seasons of Cooperstown in 1997.While Tara worked for the opera, Mark went to work remodeling the 1850 Victorian house, including the installation of private baths for each of the four guest rooms. The result is a house where one feels immediately at home, free to sip sherry and read in the library or nap in your room. For breakfast, the beautifully appointed dining room draws you with the aromas of fresh biscuits (courtesy of Mark’s southern roots), eggs, bacon, sausage, fresh fruit, and “a sweet”, such as butterscotch pie or peach cobbler. If this all sounds very formal, the elegant surroundings in no way prevent animated conversation and lots of laughs with guests – and innkeepers too.
While such a breakfast will get you through most of the day, dinner is still necessary. For truly fine Italian food, Nicoletta’s on Main Street is deservedly popular with tourists and locals alike. In fact, reservations are recommended. Another possibility is the Hoffman Lane Bistro, a lively spot with a full bar, but its off-season hours vary, so check ahead. The dress code in Cooperstown, except at the Otesaga resort, is decidedly casual – perhaps it’s because of the baseball.
Which brings us to what started this perfect village on its road to being a main attraction – the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Even for the non-fan, it is a truly fine museum, carefully curated, beautifully designed and maintained. For the fan, it is heaven. The displays tell the history of the game and the memorabilia bring you somehow closer to sports idols of all eras. A miniature theatre, which evokes old Comiskey Park complete with wooden seats and old-fashioned scoreboard, somehow carries you back in time. In “The Hall” the bronze commemorative plaques, the wood paneling and soaring ceiling give the feeling of a cathedral, and people speak in hushed tones as they make their way through.
In spite of all the activity and attractions, Cooperstown remains a real village, still nestled by a lake called Glimmerglass, amongst rolling, wooded hills. Many have learned that one visit is not enough.
Karen Harrison is circulation manager at Canadian Government Executive magazine, a dedicated sports fan and a cultural connoisseur. For more information, contact the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce (www.cooperstownchamber.org) where Polly Renckens and staff provide a warm welcome and generous assistance.
