Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY

The Hall of Fame was established in 1939 by Stephen Clark, who established his wealth by inheriting from his dad, an attorney who invested in the Singer Sewing Machine Co.

Clark sought to bring tourists to his home town hurt by the Great Depression and prohibition. 

Clark constructed the Hall of Fame's building, which was dedicated on June 12, 1939. And his granddaughter, Jane Forbes Clark, is the current chairman of the board of directors. 

Spoiler alert - civil war hero Abner Doubleday didn’t invent the game. It was invented hundreds of years prior. But we did get a smile at how the rules of the game have definitely changed. 

I loved the old uniforms and old catchers equipment. 

I am this sign!  We have boxes of baseball cards that I would gladly sell. 

Cooperstown is a cute town. We stopped for beer and OMG so crowded with the start of Octoberfest celebrations. 

Finger Lakes, New York

Fingers Lakes - a group of 11 long, narrow lakes in an over-deepened glacial valley.  Cayuga and Seneca are among the deepest in the US. 

Simply gorgeous fall weather!  We visited Muranda cheese for a beautiful tasting and lovely wineries - Weis and Dr Franks were standouts. 

Watkins Glen is an amazing state park. While in the area, we visited the Corning museum of glass. Well worth a stop. 

The Amish bake delicious breads and grow spectacular vegetables. 

Lots of great craft breweries! 

And the most amazing pumpkins and mums!  

I became obsessed with all the houses with “crows nests”. So many historic homes!  Beautiful. 

Watkins Glen State Park, New York

Before it became a tourist attraction, the strong glen creek waters were used as a power source. In the late 18th century the Watkins family bought the land and built mills. After inheriting the property in the late 1820's, Samuel Watkins damned the upper gorge and built a flour mill at the entrance to the gorge.

It was opened to the public in 1863 and was privately run as a tourist resort until 1906, when it was purchased by New York State.

Home to 19 waterfalls- I picked a few of my favorites!  Gorgeous hike up 800 stair steps and back down. 

Harrisburg, PA

I am a sucker for a state Capitol building. We hit everyone that we can. They are so beautiful and full of history. 

The Capitol was originally in Philadelphia, then Lancaster in 1799 and finally to Harrisburg in 1812. 

The current capitol, known as the Huston Capitol (named after the architect) is the third state capitol building built in Harrisburg. The first, the Hills Capitol, was destroyed in 1897 by a fire. The second, the Cobb Capitol, was left unfinished when funding was discontinued in 1899.

Theodore Roosevelt attended the building's dedication in 1906.    

After its completion, the capitol project was the subject of a graft scandal. The construction and subsequent furnishing cost three times more than the General Assembly had appropriated. 

The bridges over the Susquehanna River are really impressive. 

I also love churches. This Methodist church served as the Capitol building after the fire. 

The Cathedral of St Patrick was beautiful! 

Our last stop was Fort Hunter Mansion - Built in 1786- that is 237 years ago! The front portion was added on by Archibald McAllister in 1814.  McAllister built the tavern for travelers and a dairy barn for his successful milk business. 

Electricity was added in 1920. The owner, Margaret Meigs was 60 and had lived in the house for 30 plus years without running water or electricity. I can’t imagine. 

 Original bathtub - you sat on the cushion at the edge and sponged off. 

Original wedding dress. 

Dairy barn 

Tavern and distillery 

Covered bridge was originally in front of the house crossing a river that brought water to the distillery.