Baseball and Small Town Charm

Last week, on Father's Day, my boyfriend and I left on our much anticipated Vermont excursion. On the way, and in order to break up the monotony and 10 hour trip can bring, we decided to stop at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Dating a baseball player and being an avid lover and fan of baseball myself, it was the perfect stop. They had just celebrated 75 years on June 12, and favorites like Cal Ripken, Jr. were there to celebrate. It's a neat stop that's definitely worth the detour. The town's shops along Main Street are all baseball related - bat shops, general stores named after Ty Cobb or Honus Wagner. As soon as you walk up to the building, the stats of the baseball teams are out on a board that gets updated daily. The handrails are even decorated with baseball bats and balls.

We easily spent the two hours on our parking meter in the museum, and even then we felt like we were rushing through everything. There is so much to see and do and read. Just like any other museum, there will be some things that hold your interest more than others. This one, especially, felt interesting from start to finish. Their gift shop, while holding some pricey items, was fantastic too. Because we were pressed for time, we didn't really see much of Cooperstown itself, but there are a lot of fun things to do and see in the area. They have a Youth League Hall of Fame, as well as cool art museums and other beautiful historic sights all placed along Otsego Lake.

If you're looking to go, here is some must-know info for your trip:

• The Hall of Fame Inductions are coming up July 25-28, so start planning ahead or work your visit around this weekend as it will be insane. The inductees for the Class of 2014 are Greg Maddux, Joe Torre, Tom Glavine, Frank Thomas, Bobby Cox and Tony La Russa. The website with more information is here.
• Tickets are $19.50 for adults and it grants you all-day access. Let's say you want to spend as much time as you can there, but you want to grab lunch downtown. They stamp your hand so you can get back in whenever you want to pick up your browsing.
• There are three or four floors all full of memorabilia, information, uniforms . . . you name it. So mentally prepare for a lot of cool stuff.
• Tour guides are available at your convenience, and you'll see them standing around talking with visitors. If you have questions, they're great people to talk to.
• Remember that all pictures should be taken WITHOUT flash. There are some really neat, but really old, pieces that lose preservation with bright flashes of light.
• For more information, visit their website. The people who work there are friendly and willing to offer a helping hand.

Happy traveling! Adieu Caribou! xoxo

Un Viaje de República Dominicana

I'm back :) We, our group of 17, returned on Monday evening safe, sound, and changed forever. I'm going to be posting my musings and photos on tumblr, but I'll try to post some of my absolute favorite pictures here in my spare time. Being back is weird. Like, let me emphasize this weird. I've had moments where I've cried unexpectedly coming home from class because the wrong type of song was on. I've had moments of determination to learn Spanish (so much determination that I think I downloaded some weird thing on my computer instead of what I was wanting to do. Advice: don't do torrents if you don't know how to do torrents).

It's almost like I know I'm not mentally prepared to ever go back to the normal ways of doing things. I carry keychains that were gifted to me on my work keys to remind me to always keep working hard and stay focused on what's really important. It's really, really hard sometimes when everyone else around you didn't experience the same things as you. They ask how your trip was - some care and some don't, and you just have to deal with that.

Anyway, below are some pictures. I'm hoping to get to DC this upcoming week for the Cherry Blossom Festival, so hopefully you'll start to see me more regularly. If you want to read more about the trip, my link to tumblr is here.

I laid this row of block by myself :)