What I did on my summer vacation

I was very fortunate to be able to take a little trip for my birthday last weekend.  Unfortunately, I was on my own without the girls, but I was fortunate that I was able to meet up with some old friends.  The trip happened like this:  I saw that the band Cake was playing at Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, NY, which as you may know, is also the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame.  I thought that that sounded like a pretty excellent combination of things of interest to me: music, beer, and baseball.  Then I remembered that I was going to Washington, DC for work the day before and it. was. on!

DC is not super close to Cooperstown (although much closer than St. Louis), so there were quite a few logistics to work out, which gave me a bit of a headache for a while.  But I got it all figured out without too much trouble.  The first stop was Washington on Thursday for a charity dinner for a client at work.  The dinner was very nice and for a great cause: the Sodexo Foundation. I also got to hang out with some co-workers who happened to be in town for a different charity dinner.  My time in DC was pretty short (less than 24 hours) so I didn't get to see the sites.  Here is the view from my hotel - you can just make out the Washington Monument to the right in the distance.  That was about the extent of my site seeing.

On Friday, I took a short flight from DC to Albany, NY and then drove to Cooperstown.  It was a very scenic drive - lots of rolling hills and small towns. I got into town and check in  at the Inn at Cooperstown, which I would highly recommend - it is a very old inn and operates like a large B&B.

In addition to Sam & Dave from work, Ryan and Carrie were able to make the trip from Michigan as well!  I met up with them once they got into town and we headed over to the Brewery Ommegang. It is a few miles outside of Cooperstown and is sort of out by itself.   When we pulled up, we were informed that because of the Cake concert, there were no tours or tastings that day.  However, we were lucky that Ryan was able to set up a VIP tour and tasting ahead of time with one of his beer reps, so we were able to get in.  Sam and Dave were waiting for us, so let the tour begin!

We were treated to a private tour of the facilities and then a private tasting.  We were not able to see the cafe, tasting room, or store because Cake was using that area as their green room.  We actually saw the band walking around and heard the sound check, which sounded pretty great.

The Ommegang Entrance

Beer tanks!

Tasting Glass

Dave & Sam enjoying the beer

Ryan & Carrie taking it seriously?

The lineup

These are all of the beers we tasted.  They brew Belgian style beer - and are actually now owned by a Belgian company - Duvel.  I think their beer is fantastic - I really liked all of the styles. They are not for everyone - they tend to be rather sweet and can get pretty high in alcohol content.  I would recommend the Witte and BPA as a starting point.

After the tasting, we had about an hour until the "doors" opened, so we parked the car and hung out for a bit while Sam & Dave went to check into the inn.  It was nice to just hang out and then we went to get our tickets.  It was a bit of  a mess to get into the show since almost everyone had will call tickets.  The tour guide said they were expecting around 2500 people.  There is a Wilco show in July which might be double that, so hopefully they get it together (man, would I love to go back for that....)

The concert was outdoors - they had a lawn area and you could bring chairs.  They were selling all Ommegang beer reasonably and had food trucks parked along the outside so it was a pretty good setup.  What can I say about Cake?  They are a "rock" band but have a pretty unique sound.  I have not really heard a band that you can really compare them to. They have been around since I was in college and this is the third time I have seen them.  Ryan was there for all 3 of those shows as well - I think the first time was in 1997 and the second was in 2006. This show was interesting because instead of an opening band, they did 2 sets with an intermission.  It was a great show - they even gave away a tree, provided the person had somewhere to plant it and would share its growth.

If you went to college in the 90s, you will probably recognize this song (unless maybe you only listened to country or something...). If you have ever watched the show "Chuck", the theme song is a Cake song.

Watching the sun go down...

Cake onstage - notice the tree to the right

 
All in all, it was a great show and a great day.  I was glad I made the effort to get out there for the show and the brewery! On Saturday, I met Sam & Dave for breakfast and then it was off to the Hall of Fame.  I really enjoyed the museum.  We didn't see every nook and cranny and spent the most time on the 2nd floor, which had all of the exhibits and artifacts.  We also saw the Hall of Fame Gallery with all of the plaques of all of the inductees.

Mural for the Baseball Experience

Tigers jersey from the 40's

Stan Musial gear

This display honored the 84 Tigers and 82 Cardinals World Series teams

Me and Jack Morris and some of the other 84 Tigers. One thing about the Hall that makes me a little upset is that there are no Tigers from this era in the Hall!!!

We were also lucky that we were in town for the Hall of Fame Classic game.  This game featured some Hall of Famers and retired players in an exhibition game.  Ozzie Smith was one of the team captains and the other players included Carlton Fisk, Eddie Murray, and Phil Niekro.  There was also a parade before the game.  I surprised to see Darrell Evans from the 84 Tigers in the parade, the Hitting Contest, and the game.  Another former Tiger, Dmitri Young played as well.  They both participated in the Hitting Contest before the game, which Dmitri won (although he was the youngest by several years...).  It was very cool to see Doubleday Field and see the old timers go at it.  The Hitting Contest and the introductions took awhile so we only elected to see an inning of the game.  We had been there almost 2 hours and it was hot...and we had to get some ice cream.  We also wanted to go back to Ommegang!

The parade

Doubleday Field

Ozzie Smith on 1st base after a single

We hung out at the Brewery for awhile and then enjoyed a nice dinner at a local Cooperstown restaurant, Alex & Ika.  It was a great meal and great company!  It was definitely a birthday to remember.  Afterwards, we went to see Lake Otsego and then, sadly, the fun was over....

Sunday started VERY early as I left around 4am for the Albany airport.  It was a very DARK ride.  Luckily, I am not unaccustomed to driving in the country - but I think I saw more deer than cars.  I made it with no trouble.  Unfortunately, I got delayed for a couple of hours in Newark, but made it home around 1pm on Father's  Day.  I got to come home to these smiling faces!  These two were excited play and made me feel really missed!  They were also excited to show me their new shows with "a little bit of heel". 

It was a great trip and experience and I was really glad that I took the plunge.  I would have loved to share the experience with Shannon, but luckily I was able to spend my birthday with some great friends and hopefully the next time, we will be taking a big trip together!