Despite the fact that I abhorred it when I lived there, I now enjoy visiting Cooperstown. The land is still unspoiled by developments, so there's rolling hills covered with lush forests and fields. Perfect for all the "running, jumping, climbing trees" that I love to do. I feel very calm and refreshed when I visit, and I've often overcome with awe and nostalgia. I was really looking forward to showing this to Chris, as I know it's something he'd appreciate.
Sera: Breakfast is hard to do in Cooperstown as there's no real "winner" amongst the various places to go. I decided on Doubleday Cafe, as they always had tasty and reliable fare. The place itself has an interesting rustic/diner/sports bar vibe.
Chris: We walked to the Cafe from our parking spot about a half mile away and I became instantly aware of the influence of the Baseball Hall of Fame. The whole area was filled with baseballs fans, baseball memorabilia stores, baseball attractions, and in this case, a baseball themed restaurant. However, the Doubleday Cafe did it in a way that wasn't as silly as the rest.
Chris: Pictured above is my breakfast! I decided upon the Huevos Rancheros; a breakfast dish that I have become more fond of as I've aged a bit. It was actually very well balanced. I expected it to be a bit spicy, and it was, but not so much as to overwhelm the rest. The cheese looked less plastic in person than it does in the picture, I assure you.
Sera: My omelette of the day: ham, tomatoes and mushrooms. The eggs were well cooked yet still fluffy. The toast was great too; browned and lightly buttered.
Sera: Side of bacon. BREAKFAST COMPLETE!
Chris: I like bacon. A lot. Shut up. So after we had breakfast we worked up our lunch hunger by walking around a peaceful park and boat dock. We stopped at a farmers market and purchased some Welsh pastries to carry with us (which we had forgotten to photograph). The reason there are no pictures of these delightful cookies was...ducks. Lots of them. We stumbled upon a pack of the little guys and couldn't help but feed them. They looked so...hungry. One of them was a huge jerk, seriously. After the ducks had devoured our snack and we finished our tour of Cooperstown proper, we headed to lunch.
*DRAMATIC SWIRLY CARTOON LUNCH LOGO!!*
Sera: I decided that Brewery Ommegang was a must visit, as Chris is a fan of Belgian ales.
Chris: I am, yes. They are yummy. You should try them. The main difference with the Belgian ales is the use of cooking spices in the process. This leads to many interesting and complex flavors.
Sera: We took a tour and went to a tasting that was offered to the participants. Despite the fact that I don't like alcohol, it was fun to see how my chocolate "nose" dealt with the flavors of these ales. I liked the Rare Vos the best.
I found it funny that in the gift shop we spent more time looking at the chocolate than the alcoholic stuff. I also started to feel really woozy after that small tasting. Chris had to drive after that. Whoops.
Chris: Out of the beers that we tasted, I do agree that the Rare Vos was the best and I wasn't surprised to find that it was one of their best sellers. I'm a BIG fan of wheat ales, but was mildly disappointed with their wheat offering, the Witte. It wasn't bad but it certainly wasn't memorable either; I found it lacking the lighter complexities I had come to love about wheat beers. The Three Philosophers lambic was VERY flavorful and a great 'after meal' beer. However, it was extremely rich, thick, and filling that I couldn't see drinking a whole lot of it in a single sitting.
We returned to the house for a few hours and before we knew it...it was dinner.
*DRAMATIC DINNER SEGWAY!!*
Sera: Brooks BBQ is a local favorite. It specializes in a special molasses sauce based BBQ, with the BBQ chicken being a favorite. Brooks has been around for generations and when visiting Hillary Clinton and Rachael Ray both made a point to come eat here.
The only problem is that when coming here, you're bound to run into someone you know. We were soon joined by relatives and at the same time cowering in hopes of not being recognized by my high school art teacher.
We also saw a dude with a pretty rad mullet.
Chris: It was mighty! He was also jacked. REALLY JACKED. I think he was a stone mason. Pretty much the kind of gentleman that could get away with having such a profuse mullet.
Chris: I had the sampler dinner with some BBQ chicken, a rib, and some roast pork. It was all fairly tasty, but it was basically 'take our one sauce and slather it all over everything' and the items tasted somewhat similar. Additionally, I prefer a more smokey BBQ sauce with more of a tomato/vinegar base; this one was REALLY sticky.
Sera:
Breakfast: OM NOM
Ale: OM
Dinner: OM NOM NOM (biased!)
Chris:
Breakfast: OM NOM
Ale: Mixed, some OM, some OM NOM
Dinner: OM NOM
Doubleday Cafe
93 Main Street
Cooperstown (607)547-5468
Brewery Ommegang
656 County Highway 33
Cooperstown, NY 13326
(607) 544-1800
Brooks Bar-B-Que Restaurant
5560 State Highway 7
Oneonta, N.Y. (607)432-1782
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