Nirvana

The VFH "brew" crew just got back home from a glorious trip to Cooperstown, New York. I'd like to say that we explored this slice of Americana that is the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame http://www.baseballhall.org/ sober and walked through the museum dizzy in awe of the legends of this great American Pastime enshrined here. I would love to say that we allowed a languid afternoon to meander towards evening as we lolled by the picturesque Lake Otsego with nothing stronger than unsweeted Iced-tea, or to take in a free game at the historic Doubleday Field with nothing more than a box of crackerjacks. Yes, we could have communed with nature at the Farmers Museum http://www.farmersmuseum.org/ or nodded in appreciation at the art of John Singer Sargent at the Fenimore Art Museum http://www.fenimoreartmuseum.org/.

It could have been all clean, wholesome fun. We could have trundled down Cooperstown's Main Street with the hordes of tourists ogling the baseball memorabilia shops, perhaps to even stroll, linked arm-in-arm, down to the small bridge at one end of the town to view the source of the mighty Susquehanna River.

But....beer is a strong incentive.

As well as the World Cup.

Our first thought when we arrived in Cooperstown on Tuesday was to find where to watch the World Cup match between Netherlands and Uruguay. We made a point of leaving very early so that we could drive the 240+ miles to Cooperstown with enough time to find a decent place. Well, we were worried at first. Several exploratory phone calls to restaurants and bars in the area were not promising as our questions about the World Cup match were often met with a "huh". One bartender said they didn't like the television on, another said it's first come first serve with the viewing..... Ugh.

At least the choice of beer would not be a problem at any of the places because Brewery Ommegang, which makes wonderful Belgian style ales, is a local company and every place had at least one on tap! http://www.ommegang.com/ But like a lot of the United States these days we're pretending to like soccer during the World Cup and we had followed religiously, although we weren't close to declaring war on Ghana when USA lost to them in the knock out round. We were still interested in seeing the two matches scheduled on Tuesday and Wednesday.

We flitted from bar to bar with nothing catching our fancy until we happened upon an information booth... I asked the woman there where to find three things. 1) World Cup 2) Food & 3) Ommegang. She immediately pointed across Main Street to the Doubleday Cafe. It was a crowded, noisey place brimming with tourists, but it had a nice menu with good prices and a bar with a spectacular flat screen television and a brew from Ommegang called Rare Vos for just $4 a pint! The best part was the bartender, a cheery fellow named Juddy, and one of the patrons, who bounced in and out from his dry cleaning business around the corner, Helmut, were enthusiastic about the matches as well. It made for a delightful afternoon.

After Netherlands won we said good-byes and walked down Main Street and visited the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Your interpid (and slightly snookered) Vacations From Home teammates are fans of the game and we delighted in the memorabilia and tales of the sport's history. We marveled over the pricy collectable baseball cards and uniforms set up in locker room displays and the balls collected from each no hitter hurled from 1940 onwards on one massive wall. We laughed at Abbot and Costello's timeless 'Who's On First' routine played in a loop and like dutiful altar boys at the Stations of the Cross we read nearly every bas relief plaque of the HOF enshrinees. I was particularly interested in seeing the locker room displays of the garrulous Ty Cobb and Lou Gehrig as well as Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto's plaque as I had grown up listening to him talk about canoli as he called the Yankees games on WPIX.

Wednesday was much of the same, though we got it in our head to go on something called the Cooperstown Beverage Trail. http://www.cooperstownbeveragetrail.com/. Visit all four and sample some good (and bad) drink and you get a FREE beer bug (or wine glass). Use the word "free" in a sentence anywhere near the Vacations From Home team and you're sure to be trampled in the ensuing bedlam. We took our breakfast at the Fly Creek Cider Mill by sampling every possible use of apples from butter to salsa to bbq sauce, dipping fistfulls of pretzels in the concoctions and washed it all down with some Hard Apple Cider and Apple Wine. It was a hot morning and we also cashed in the coupons that gave us a free Apple slurpy or slushie... it was good. Then it was back to the Doubleday cafe for Germany / Spain and more pleasant company from Skully and Helmut as well as a husband and wife from the area who rooted for Spain. The rest of us were on the German bandwagon. Spain agonizingly neutralized the German machine though to gain the final on Sunday.

Turns out the couple were school teachers too and were both from the Kearny/Harrison area of New Jersey where I grew up and so the banter soon turned from soccer to life and after the game they took us to a pleasant restaurant/bar tucked away on a side street away from Main. The Hoffman Lane Bistro proved to be a find. http://www.hoffmanlanebistro.com/. Not only did they have several Ommegang on tap, but they were pushing 750 ml bottles of Three Philosophers beer from Ommegang at just $4.00 per; a substantial savings from the normal retail price. They had several cases leftover from a party. We brought several bottles to take home, but left them at the restaurant to keep on ice until the next day. After our school teacher friends left Janet and I then strolled through the leafy streets of Cooperstown and breathed the fresh air and pondered the plausibility of moving here. The people are friendly, the town had a bit of a spark with all the baseball and the rural country side was just around the corner.

The next day, Thursday, we had no World Cup and no baseball. It was not an empty day though. After Janet made a glorious breakfast of bacon and eggs and we sloshed it all down with strong strong strong percolated coffee we then headed out on the beverage trail again. Ignoring the caravans of vans brimming with youth baseball players headed to the Cooperstown Dream Park emblazoned with colorful signs saying things like "Cooperstown or Bust" we hustled down the base path to the Bear Pond Winery where we sampled some "interesting" wines. We split the cost of one tasting, which included 6 choices. We were afraid we would not be able to pick another six! We ended up buying a bottle of rose that we figured would be good on a hot day.

But today was beer day and we very quickly headed north to the Cooperstown Brewing Company where we were entertained by the tattooed brewmeister/mechanic/salesman, Dennis, and it changed our minds about the beer. I had tried something called "Old Slugger" at Doubleday, thinking a change from the Rare Vos of Ommegang was necessary, and thought it tasted as if there was something wrong with the tap.... Turns out Old Slugger was sluggish no matter the venue.

The rest though were very good and all featured baseball motif names. We purchased two six packs of Coopertown Brewery beer; an award winning Porter called Benchwarmer and a very strong special ale called the Pride of Milford, which features a picture of the owner in a baseball uniform on the label. It was a positive visit. We had not expected much, but were pleased.

All was forgotten when we reached Nirvana; Brewery Ommegang! Looking like a Belgian Farmhouse in the New York State countryside, Ommegang beckoned us like a safe haven from Apple wine dead ends and skunk beer. Gleaming white in the brilliant afternoon sunlight Ommegang was the real reason for our trip to Cooperstown. We have been drinking these wonderful elixhirs, these Beligian style farmhouse ales and wheat beers for years and have long considered a trip to the brewery an implausible dream. But, here we were, standing before the gates like long lost children and we giddily waited for the tour and free tastings. We then bought a bottle of Ommegang, a Trappist Monk ale, and sat in the shade of an umbrella at one of the picnic tables to further extend our visit. We bought gifts and took pictures and when we finally left to swim at the campsite we were happy and satisfied and pleased we had traveled all these miles to reach this destination. We collected our decorative coasters and our Cooperstown Beverage commemorative beer mugs and drove away thinking here's another reason to buy property in Cooperstown!

After enduring the cacophany of youth baseball team members cannonballing their way into the pool we dressed and had another Ommegang at the Blue Mingo. If you decide to go, please please please ignore the dusty parking lot and boathouse, as well as the tacky gift shop in the front. When you finally enter the bar and restaurant that literally sits on Lake Otsego you will be so enchanted that perhaps you'll alter your plans for the rest of the day. We almost did, especially since our favorite bartender, Juddy, was there having ended his shift at the Doubleday Cafe. But, in the end we stayed with our original plan for the Hoffman Lane Bistro where we capped our mini vacation with a fine meal.