Cooperstown: Day Two

We're not "sleep in on your vacation" people. We were up and at'em by 7:00 every day. The poor little guy was exhausted by the end of the trip (and so were his parents), but we can't say that we missed out on any of our time away.

On the second day, our first stop (after a breakfast of homemade French toast) was back to the lake. The little guy loved checking out the water. I snapped some shots of "The Indian Hunter", the statue that overlooks Lake Otsego.

"The Indian Hunter"

 While I snapped pictures, Hubby and the little guy were looking for fish. There were some little bass swimming near shore, and though he claimed to see them, the little guy always seemed to be looking everywhere but at the fish!

"I see the fish!"

The little guy was very excited to have his picture taken in front of "the ocean". And he wanted me to take plenty of pictures of it without him in front of it. He also wanted me to take a picture of the apple floating in the water, but I declined. I wish I had, now, as every time we returned to the lake, he was looking for that apple!

"Cheese!"

After some time at the lake, we drove up to the Farmer's Museum. Loved it. Absolutely loved it there. If it hadn't started to get so hot, I would have spent the entire day there, if not the entire trip. I have tons and tons of images to process in a future post, but here are some of the first round.

Once you enter the museum, the first thing you see is the "Cardiff Giant," a huge hoax from 1869. This ten-foot tall petrified man was unearthed at the farm of William "Stub" Newell.

"The giant was the creation of a New York tobacconist named George Hull. Hull, an athiest, decided to create the giant after an argument at a Methodist revival meeting about the passage in Genesis 6:4 stating that there were giants who once lived on Earth.

"Hull hired men to carve out a 10-foot (3.0 m) long, 4.5-inch block of gypsum in Fort Dodge, Iowa, telling them it was intended for a monument to Abraham Lincoln in New York. He shipped the block to Chicago, where he hired Edward Burghardt, a German stonecutter, to carve it into the likeness of a man and swore him to secrecy.

"Various stains and acids were used to make the giant appear to be old and weathered, and the giant's surface was beaten with steel knitting needles embedded in a board to simulate pores. In November 1868 Hull transported the giant by rail to the farm of William Newell, his cousin. By then, he had spent US$2,600 on the hoax.

"Nearly a year later, Newell hired Gideon Emmons and Henry Nichols, ostensibly to dig a well, and on October 16, 1869 they found the giant. One of the men reportedly exclaimed, "I declare, some old Indian has been buried here!" from Wikipedia

"There's a sucker born every minute."

The next stop at the Farmer's Museum was the fair tent. Inside were a bunch of activities for kids. Hubby attempted to teach the little guy how to milk a cow...

"Maybe Grampie should be teaching you how to do this..."

On staff was Mary, a delightful woman who is perfectly suited to working with little kids. She was so gentle, sweet, and enthusiastic. She took the little guy around and showed him how to "build" his own farm. I think he would have stayed at that activity with her all day!

Placing the tractor out in the field

Also in the fair tent was a little tableau where you could take pictures. The museum even provided little costumes! So, of course, we had to try it out!

My little farm boy!

After checking out the rest of the farm museum (the schoolhouse, print shop, pharmacy, barns, etc.), we headed out for a hot dog lunch! What else would you eat in a town dedicated to baseball?

Apparently, the hot dogs were taking a little too long...

After lunch, we headed into the Baseball Hall of Fame Museum. The little guy's poor legs were so tired by then that we let him ride around in his "cart." (He refuses to ride in a "stroller", but a "cart" is okay.) One of his favorite displays was the one where he got to build a mascot.

"I built this!"

The little guy wasn't too interested in players and stats, so we headed to the Sandlot. My hopes and expectations were dashed as it was pretty lame, but to a three-year-old, it was pretty cool!

"Mommy? Can I sit here?"

Once Hubby was done exploring, even he took a time out in the Sandlot....

"Daddy! Dat seat is not for you!"

And to truly commemorate the trip to the museum? A baseball card! I have a picture of the little guy's uncle with his face shoved into the same card!

That face cracks me up every time I look at it!

Finally, to end our trip to Cooperstown, we spent more time at the Lakefront Park. The little guy relaxed in the grass while his parents plotted out the next leg of the journey...

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