Go Cardinals!

October is the post season for baseball, and the Saint Louis Cardinals are the team for the postseason. The excitement never lets up and Ryan and I have been frantic to find ways to listen/watch the games along the road. From a tiny bar in poo-dunk West Virginia to my computer in Ontario, we haven’t missed a moment of the Cardinal’s post-season action, which has been stunning to say the least. Now the Redbirds are in the Championship Series and we can’t help but think our support from the road is giving them the edge. ;)

Houses like this were all over the town.

October is also the perfect time to visit Cooperstown – believed birthplace of the sport of baseball and home to the baseball hall of fame. Between the postseason hype and beautiful fall colors, Cooperstown is on fire with speculation, excitement, and foliage. The town itself is located in rural New York, nestled among the hills and lakes with beautiful colonial mansions dotting large swaths of forestland. Not far from the town itself for instance, we noticed a beautiful home built of dark grey stone and boasting five fireplaces among its many sprawling wings. The name plate of the property, an iron sign with horse and carriage stated A. Busch – in other words, prime real estate!

The museum was almost overwhelming in all its information and exhibits for all things baseball. The history of the sport, early equipment, shrines to the best players, and modern statistics kept us busy in the three story historic building with a few of the coolest exhibits shown below:

Stan Musial's locker

David Freese' ripped jersey from the 2011 World Series win

Stan "The Man" in the Hall of Fame

I may not have understood all the information in the exhibits, being a rather green baseball fanatic, but for Ryan it was a top stop for the trip.

After the museum, we headed north towards the Adirondacks which unfortunately were a little past their prime for leaf peeping. Nonetheless our hike above Blue Mountain Lake still boasted beautiful views, and the towns within the mountains are the epitome of quaint. At our campsite that night, we had no choice but to listen to the radio for Cardinal coverage, when they won their second game of the five game series.

 The next night then, we had to find a bar, which we did in the middle of Lake Champlain, Vermont where we were camping in a lean-to. (Quick note: great idea Vermont. The lean-to was awesome, saved us from the incessant rain, and provided excellent views of the lake. All for under $30!)

 

Of course we were the only people in the bar who remotely cared about the game, but when Adams hit his home run that would ultimately win us the game, everyone seemed to be understanding of our excitement in our corner of the bar. Sure enough, the Cardinals beat the Dodgers (whose payroll outnumbers ours more than 2 to 1), for the second year in a row putting us that much closer to another World Series. And Ryan and I celebrated in the middle of Lake Champlain. Go Cards!

Adams! Our hero!