Today’s narrative is much more straight forward, and has some contrast to it. Our bus left the hustle and bustle of mid-town Manhattan at about 9 AM and drove for four hours through the Catskills and on to Cooperstown, New York, population roughly 1700.

It was a very pretty drive through rolling hills covered in trees that would have looked at home in Rose Valley. Dairies, corn fields, small towns, and little creeks caught our attention. Eventually we came into Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame.

First off, I couldn’t have told you that the Cooper in Cooperstown was James Fennimore Cooper. There were plenty of roads and business names that made the connection…at least one Mohican campground. At least it wasn’t the “last of the Mohicans.”

The village was hopping, as we arrived during induction weekend. Lots of crowds, street vendors, and activity. I spent the afternoon exploring the museum and the neighborhood. It was fun seeing so many familiar names in displays and on plaques.

The Main Street ended up being closed at six PM for a parade. Hall of Fame members rode up the street in the back of pickups along with their wives, all having been led by a local high school marching band. The parade was rather sweet, in a small town way (since it is a small town). Again it was great to see baseball players we saw on television over the past 40 years; the oldest HOF member present was Juan Marichal, a SF Giant from the 60’s and 70’s.

Our bus returned after the parade, and we had a 90 minute ride to a hotel in Albany, NY. Tomorrow we come to the end of our trip; we drive to Boston for a tour of Fenway Park and Boston vs NY Mets in the evening (it’s the ESPN Sunday night game). More then…

We ended the day with more Sinatra: “Start spreading the news…”, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

The day began with climbing on the “4” subway train and heading to the 9/11 Memorial. I wasn’t quite dressed for the weather; I arrived at the memorial about 15 minutes before opening time and got drenched in a downpour. In a note of irony (or something), I bought an umbrella in the museum gift shop and saw no more rain all day. I guess I’m prepared for future rain.

The memorial was absolutely splendid. I found myself near tears, and at least at one point thinking I was going to throw up. The mass destruction, misery, and sorrow described were overwhelming. Sadly no photography was allowed of the bulk of the exhibits, so you’ll need to take my word for it.

The palate cleanser was across the street, in the whitest shopping mall I’ve ever seen. I caught some late breakfast there, then took a walk down the hill to Battery Park (Dana and Graham will recognize this. This park used to contain a part of the “ring of fire” meant to protect the mouth of the Hudson River. No emplacements to run around on though).

My plan was to catch a view of the Statue of Liberty there; I did, but discovered the telephoto lens on my phone wasn’t nearly good enough. So, I got the senior price on the boat ride out to the statue and to Ellis island and went for a short cruise. The statue was great, and the views of Manhattan and of the Brooklyn Bridge were nice too. Anyone want to buy a bridge?

I ran out of time and could not spend as long on Ellis Island as I wanted. I was really struck by how much a sacrifice immigrants made as they came to America, with no guarantee that they could stay. I hope we value our citizenship just as much.

Back to the hotel on the #5 subway, just in time to head to Yankee Stadium. We didn’t get there quite in time to get tonight’s bobble head, but saw a really good game; Yankees won (prompting the Sinatra song), but the Royals had the tying run on third base at the end. Close, exciting game.

No game tomorrow, but the bus takes us to Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame. Really excited about that…more then.

The Sinatra song lyrics just come at you as you walk around, crossing Broadway…if you can make it here you can make it anywhere! The hotel we’re in is on 42nd Street, giving you a whole different set of lyrics. I guess there must be a reason that Tin Pan Alley was here!

We left the hotel in Philadelphia at 9 this morning and took a leisurely bus ride north. The tour leaders popped a baseball movie into the DVD player…the trip was just long enough to play through “Trouble with the Curve,” starring Clint Eastwood.

Today’s baseball game was at Citi Field, pitting the Amazin’ Mets against the Chicago White Sox. The Mets didn’t put up much of a fight, losing 6-2. It was noted by multiple people that the home teams are 0-2 on this trip. I’m not sure what that says about us…

One more bus ride followed the game, getting us from Citi Field to the Hyatt next to Grand Central Station. The tour guide knew something we didn’t know…and popped “Sandlot” into the DVD player…we almost got through the movie in the better than two hours it took to drive roughly 7 miles.

But all is well now…all checked in. I spent the evening exploring the neighborhood. NY is a really busy place, even now I hear a constant din of horns and sirens outside. Times Square was a crazy place, Grand Central was what you’d expect of such a hub of transportation.

Friday is free time until 4:30 PM, when we leave for Yankee Stadium. I have a 9 AM ticket for the 9/11 memorial, and hope to do other sight seeing until game time. Talk to you tomorrow…

It has been a wonderful day of walking through history and of watching baseball. I’ve never been to Philadelphia before, and this short trip will stay in my mind for a long time.

Our hotel is attached to the airport, so the day began with a commuter train ride into the city. The national park area in old downtown has so much to see and to understand…we’ll just have to come back. I spent time visiting the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the US Mint, Benjamin Franklin’s gravesite, and just in general walking for about six hours.

The mindful part is this: first, just how perilously close the nation came to not becoming a nation. It took a remarkable series of events to win our independence. Secondly, just how fragile freedom is. One of the rangers quoted Franklin (and I’m loosely re-quoting): when asked what kind of government we should have Franklin answered, “a republic, if we can keep it.” The precious gift of a republican democracy faces pressures from both the left and the right, and deserves the greatest care in preserving it.

Enough politics, we move on to the sports desk. I met the travel group this afternoon and we went by bus to see Philadelphia take on the Milwaukee Brewers. Considering the Brewers once were the Seattle Mariners I had a vested interest, and it paid off…they won 5-3. It was a great game,and the rain held off until we were on the way back to the hotel.

At 9 tomorrow morning our bus driver takes us on to New York for an afternoon game, Mets vs White Sox. We’ll have the evening free, so I’ll have more to say tomorrow night.

This trip has been a long time in the planning, and fittingly it was a long day today. Between tomorrow and Sunday night I will see four baseball games and make a trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame. On top of that I will be visiting two cities I’ve never seen and getting a strong dose of history.

Leila was kind enough to give up some sleep this morning, and took me to the airport, arriving at about 4:15 AM. Easy flight to Minneapolis, followed by a four hour layover there, and an easy flight to Philadelphia…and here I am.

So, tomorrow the plan is to go into downtown and see Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, then enjoy the Brewers vs the Phillies. Details tomorrow…