As my favorite, all-time player, I'm thinking about possibly attending Andre Dawson's induction to the HOF on 7/25. I've never been to the HOF, so I had a few questions for those of you that had, especially if any of you have attended on an Induction Day.

 

1) What's the best Airport to fly in and out of, both in terms of cheapest flights and proximity to Cooperstown? I've seen some comments about Albany and Syracuse. I don't have to worry about a place to stay bc my wife has tons of family up there.

 

2) What other good things are there to do up there? Best places to eat?

 

Finally, for those of you who've been on Induction Day, how si it set up? Where do you park? Do you have to pay to get a lawn seat? Is the museum open after the event? re there other events going on that weekend? I would think w/ so many HOF's comign into to town, they'd have a card show/autograph signing or soemthing.

 

Thanks!

I've only driven to it, but I hear that Albany is your best bet for price and proximity for airports. Also Syracuse for major airlines is another possiblity. As for things to do in Cooperstown, there is a lot things in town to do, such as Farmers Museum and shoppes, great places to eat too. I saw the sign for the Fu King Chinese Restaurant but didn't eat there, cool name though. From my understanding the take the induction ceremony out of the main village to a big field outside of town, thats all I got for you, let me know if you go I might be up for that trip too! Once you get to Cooperstown, you'll find it hard to believe how small the town is! I mean its tiny, but the population for that weekend swells.

I was in Cooperstown when Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn were inducted together in '07. I can't offer any insight on flight arrangements because we drove (I was in New Jersey at the time). The closest we could find for hotels was Albany. Parking was an absolute mess. If you have a membership with the HOF they have designated parking areas, but if not ..the locals charge $20, $30, even as high as $50 to park in their front yard. We ended up finding this old farmer who let people park on his land for free, the only problem was we had to walk about a mile (literally) to the induction area. There were an estimated 75,000 people in attendance when I was there, and we were so far away we couldn't even see the podium (there are large jumbotrons set up so people can see). There won't be nearly that many there for Hawk's induction though, so you will probably be able to get a little closer to the action. The HOF and Museum is indeed open on the day of the ceremony. For food..there are lots of restaurants to choose from on Main Street. We ended up going to this little dive directly across the street from the hall of fame (I don't even recall the name of the place, I want to say Shortstop Cafe or something like that)..you go down these stairs and into some basement..the atmosphere was obviously baseball-oriented, posters, clocks, memorabilia, etc. The food wasn't anything to write home about. It was basically snack bar quality stuff, but I just remember how cool it was being in a place where everyone had one thing in common--baseball. Everyone was talking baseball. Like fanofthefish said, you will be amazed at how small the town of Cooperstown is.The entire surrounding area is all mountains, it's unbelievable. I just remember being astonished at how an entity as big, as powerful, as historic as Major League Baseball has its HOF in this tiny town in the middle of nowhere. It truly is a magical place for a baseball fan and I'm sure you will love it if you decide to make the trip!