On the road to a book event in Gloversville. Gary and I decided to start a day early and overnight in Cooperstown. We had lunch at this gourmet spot on Rte. 20 near Cherry Valley. We passed on the buffalo burgers, but enjoyed a cheeseburger and soaked up the last of the October son at a picnic table on the side of Tepee Pete’s Chow Wagon.

In Cooperstown we passed up the Baseball Hall of Fame for the Farmers’ Museum. It’s not that I like old farm equipment. I wanted to see The Empire State Carousel, which is housed there in a newly created roundhouse.  This carousel was the dream of a NYS history teacher, Gerry Holzman, who is also a professional woodcarver. In 1983 Holzman got the idea to build a carousel as a tribute to the carousel building industry that was important in two opposite parts of NYS, North Tonawanda and Coney Island. He expected the project to take 5 years, but instead it took 23 years and included artists and artisans from all over New York State. What’s unique about this carousel is that most of the animals are not horses, but animals that have a connection to NYS, such as Sal the mule of Erie Canal fame and a loon from the Adirondacks.  

Other parts of the carousel have murals highlighting people, places and folklore of NYS. I was surprised to see Rochester’s own Sam Patch up there on display. If you’re ever in Cooperstown check it out.

Day 293: 11,301 Steps YTD: 2,683,057 Steps Goal: 2,761,000 Steps