Cooperstown, NY - Prime Destination Point

Cooperstown was GRAND!  We arrived in Cooperstown on the crack of dawn.  We were able to park the RV right in town for $20.  I was worse than a kid on Christmas morning wanting to open his presents, so I started to wander down main street.  None of the shops were open, but window shopping just added to my anticipation.  The street itself reminded me of days gone by.  Homemade advertising sings, potted plants along the Blvd., and the smell of cafe's and diners cooking up breakfast.  We chose to eat breakfast at a neat little joint call T.J.'s.  After a night of winding roads and little sleep, it was a great pick-me-up.  From there we made our way to the actual Hall of Fame.  Upon arrival I bumped into a familiar face, Clyde Doepner, the Twins Historian/Curator at the post office (which is the only one in the nation open on Sundays).  He was just as excited as me to begin the day.  One way to get a cheap souvenir is to have any items from that day stamped for the price of a postage stamp.  We talked for a bit and laughed about what Bert might have in store for his speech.  It began to rain a little but it couldn't wash the smiles off of our faces.  He did me a favor and snapped a picture of me in front of the HOF and we went our ways.  Once in the hall, I couldn't help but to gravitate towards the gift shop.  I hadn't even gone through the hall and there I was looking for trinkets I could remember the day by.
After glancing at all the items in the gift shop, I bumped into a couple other fellas from Gibbon that made their own way out to Cooperstown, Doc and Larry.  Doc has been an avid baseball fan for years.  He's also at nearly every Gibbon Reds (http://www.gibbonreds.com) home game.  In the past he's shared numerous baseball stories with me, my favorite being about his experience attending the 1965 World Series games in Bloomington, MN.  Today was different, we were both experiencing Cooperstown for the first time.  Decked out in Twins gear, we shared our thoughts and first impressions of town and discussed the plans we had for the duration of our trips.  Before we parted, we had our photo taken by Bert's display case with our pals and wished each other safe trips home.
Thinking that we better get our lawn chairs set up for the actual induction, we hopped on a bus and went to the ceremony grounds.  I'm glad we did because by the time we got back for induction, there were thousands of people there.  Then it was back to the the HOF.
Artifacts from the game have been wonderfully preserved and are easily accessible.  Babe Ruth's uniform, Honus Wagner's baseball card, and World Series rings are just a few of the items you can't miss.  A true fan could literally take all day to get through the entire museum.  Since we didn't quite have all day, I did my best to absorb as much of it as I could.  I knew there was lots going on out on main street so I decided to make the rounds to all the shops.  It was here that I got to meet HOF baseball player, Pete Rose.  I paid a little bit of cash and had him sign the foul ball I got at the Cleveland game.  I figured it's all part of the same trip so why buy another ball.  He looked a bit tired, but enjoyed talking with the fans that stopped to see him (there really weren't that many... lol).  One way or the other, he's a historic player of the game and it was neat meeting him.
It was now time to see what we had came for, the induction ceremony.  Walking back to our chairs was like taking of tour through the Festival of Nations.  Roberto Alomar, Jr. had quite the following from Latin America, Canada, and the US.  Reporters from around the world were making the rounds as well.  Speaking of reporters, our hometown news crew, KARE 11, had contacted us via Twitter (www.twitter.com/gibbonreds) and asked if they could ask us a few questions about our trip.  Why not?  Randy Shaver, KARE 11's Sports Reporter, met us at our seats and wanted to know how our trip came to fruition.  We told him how a simple phone call last year amongst our crew snowballed into what has now become one of the greatest road trips we've ever experienced.  I shared that I was glad to mark a few more items off my 'Baseball Fans Bucketlist'.  We were tired and running on fumes, but I think a large portion of the fans in attendance were feeling the same way.  Thanks, Randy, for taking the time to feature us in your news broadcast.  Viewers from back home were quick to notify us that they had seen us on the air.  Fun.
The actual induction ceremony was phenomenal.  I believer there were over 52 HOF members that graced the staged with their presence.  It was a who's-who of all the players that have made legendary impacts on the game.  To see Bert amongst them was very fitting.  His speech reflected on his early years of playing ball and all the people that impacted his career.  He got a lot of chuckles out of the fans with numerous stories and one-liners.  He also paid homage to the great Harmon Killebrew and Kirby Puckett.  Bert was first-class that day and now has his permanent place amongst the games greatest players. 
When the ceremony was finished, we crossed paths with some more Minnesotans and shared stories about each others trips.  We finished up our souvenir shopping and saddled up for one last campground before we made our way to Niagra Falls.