scenes from a vacation

hubby and i spent a couple of days in cooperstown new york.  it was far away from the kids, but only a few hours away to get home just in case we had to.

we drove up 220 instead of the interstate.  aside from the heavy traffic from the gas drilling that is up in the northern tier, the drive was really nice and actually pretty quick.  above sayre we caught the lower tier interstate and winged it to binghamton and towards cooperstown.  we stopped at a yarn shop in oneonta - the shop also shared space with a spice shop.  knitting it all together was chock full of sirdir and rowan yarns, it was literally like a candy store to me.  i picked up some rowan denim yarn, some noro sock yarn that was on sale, and some sirdar baby yarn to make the kiddos mittens.  i could have bought the whole store, i loved it so much.  somedays i admire my own restraint.  i also bought some cumin and some indian spices at the spice shop.  yarn and spices.  so yummy.

we stopped at bear pond wines for a wine tasting and some souvenirs.  we learned that they had a beverage trail along with 2 local breweries and fly creek mill.  if you visited each place, you got a free souvenir and if you visited all the sites and got your "passport" stamped you could get a free wine glass or beer glass.  not a bad way to visit the area plus get free swag.

we stayed at the best western cooperstown.  we stay there every time we visit.  it's clean, it's next to a supermarket and dollar store, and it has a pool and a hot tub.  i stayed there years ago with my folks - the night we were there, there was a tornado that touched down a few miles from the hotel, and the power was out.  i remember getting free pizza at the pizza hut in front of the hotel, and the hotel gave us free accommodations for our inconvenience.  nearby there is a new hojo hotel and a holiday inn express that looked really nice so in case our hotel is ever booked up, we have some more options.  there are some small motels and b&bs in the village if you're so inclined.  we went to the supermarket to get windex and paper towels (the van was coated in bug splatter) and i found a cute dish for the kiddos, plus jumbo marshmallows.  i must get a picture of them - i never saw such big marshmallows in my life.  if you ever want a snapshot of a new town, visit its supermarket.

we spent the afternoon in the village and went to our favorite store, the cooperstown general store.  that place has everything.  i got cool patons yarn, hats and personalized signs for the kids, and other cool stuff that you can't seem to find anywhere else.  got dad and the kids books at augur's book store.  there is also a vintage jewelry store too and i got my mom a pin.  

we drove to a taste of europe near cobleskill, about 45 minutes from the hotel.  we love german and polish food, and this was the closest restaurant we could find.

the dining room.

my appetizer, a pastete, a ground beef filling wrapped in a crepe and deep fried.  soo good.

latvian piragi, like pierogies  but more bready and with bacon filling.  honestly, it was mostly bread and little filling.  the pastete was more tasty.

hubby's salad, with bleu cheese and an herb dressing.

mich sauerbraten, mit spaetzel und cabbage.  sehr gut!

hubby's wiener schnitzel, with potatoes and red cabbage.  plus he had a side of spaetzel.  he was stuffed.

the next day we went to fly creek cider mill to get apple wine, cider donuts and cheese.  this is where i got the curds for my poutine.  the place was empty for a late spring day, but i bet the place is crawling in the summer and fall, spesh  during cider season.  

we drove up to clinton for food at indian cafe.  we split samosas, i got chicken mahkni, which was butter chicken in a tomato sauce.  the sauce tasted like spaghettio sauce.  hubby got extra spicy goat curry.  so good.

near the indian restaurant was tom's health food store.  here is the inside - they had every spice imaginable - if they didn't have it, it didn't exist.

bins full of bulk goods like beans and flour.  so cool.  this store must have been really neat, whatever it was, years and years ago.

we drove to sharon springs to visit cobbler and company, a cute shop filled to the gills with gifts and goodies.  i got sock monkey goodies for the babies and a cute dachshund figurine for mom.  the building used to be a cobbler's shop, and the upstairs was a boarding house.  the walls were covered with people's graffiti, unfortunately we didn't get to write on the wall.  but the store was adorable.  we drove back to cooperstown to visit some shops, including little bo'tique which had cute kids clothes crammed into a tiny space.  

we drove back to the hotel, went for a swim, then ate supper at redneck bar-b-que, down the road from the hotel.  i don't recall seeing it on past visits, but hubby thought it would be a fun place to eat.

the interior is like a roadhouse, with stools and tables.  the place was empty for 5pm, except for some locals bellied up to the bar.

what hubby ate...pulled pork, mac and cheese (homemade!) and fries...  hubby couldn't finish the macaroni, so we took it with, but it was sacrificed when we couldn't fit it in the cooler.  oh well.

what i ordered...barbecue chicken with dr. pepper sauce,  ribs that were so hot they gave me ulcers, shredded pork, with baked beans and cole slaw.  loved the pork.  the chicken was good.  slaw tasted good with the pork and the beans were eh.  naturally, i couldn't finish this plate and wound up taking most of it home.  literally.

our hotel room was the honeymoon suite, and it had a hot tub.  it was nice to soak in that tub after our travels.  the first night, we couldn't figure out how to work it.  we looked for switches and buttons, even calling the front desk.  turned out i laid my magazines on top of the button - which had been obscured by towels earlier!  hot tubs really do feel good on tired old bones!

both nights i fell asleep early, but woke up early.  i guess i was really tired, and it felt good to sleep and not worry about missing a crying baby in the middle of the night.  the hotel had continental breakfast, and the first morning i had cereal, frisbee eggs and toast.  the next day we just ate mcdonald's.  the hotel was full becos of visiting baseball teams (cooperstown dreams park was down the road from the hotel) and breakfast was crazy.  and i loathe fake frisbee eggs.  

saturday morning i went to schneider's bakery for black and white cookies.  planned on getting sandwiches from danny's main street market to eat on the road, but their bread wasn't ready and i didn't have time to wait.  went to the farmer's market and got a cute fleece jacket for petunia - i got the boy a fleece jacket at a shop in cooperstown years ago and the lady had a stand in the market.  i bought a bonnet a day earlier at the ladies' dress shop, and she had adorable smocked dresses, but none in petunia's size.  she told me she made american girl doll clothes mostly as there wasn't much of a market for baby bonnets or smocked clothes anymore. what a shame, becos her work is beautiful.  i wanted to buy some fiddleheads, but couldn't find the merchant, so i went without.  

we drove home the same way we came.  it beat the crazy construction busy interstates.  

in all, it was a nice trip, albeit a very short trip.  the trip really wasn't restful.  but it was nice to get away, hubby and i, without the kids.  we hope to do this more often - mini trips minus the kids.  it's good for us, good for our relationship, to just be us.  

cooperstown is a fun place to explore.  on previous visits we've gone to the baseball hall of fame (they had a peanuts comics exhibit years ago, plus i love the girls' baseball league display) and once we went to the the farmers museum.  cooperstown is a great place to visit with kids or as a couple.