The Baseball Hall of Fame

Each major sport has their own Hall of Fame and I had the chance to visit baseball's in Cooperstown, NY. I was in Rome, NY, accompanying my wife to Capitol Fest, a minor film festival. There was an afternoon my wife's afternoon was filled with movies, so I headed to the Hall. I remember driving east on Route 90, then exiting onto Route 28 south, then driving and driving through farmland, open fields, and rolling hills. Really beautiful countryside and after a while I start asking myself, where the hell is this place? After about 50 minutes of driving, civilization starts to emerge little by little. I stop at an intersection, take a left, then a right into downtown Cooperstown, and then the GPS announces I have arrived! I look up and there it is. Ok, I was expecting a monolith on the edge of town with 3000 parking spaces to accommodate the masses. Nope, just a regular building right in downtown. I find a parking spot and head in.

The Baseball Hall of Fame

I was impressed with the Hall as soon I stepped inside. It is three modern floors of well curated memorabilia. 

I'm sure many people want to know why is the Hall located in Cooperstown, NY?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Here are some of the Boston Red Sox contributions to the Hall.

I must have taken 60 photos at the Hall. Here is a small sample of them:

 

I was throughly impressed with this display!

There was a section dedicated to memorabilia from baseball themed movies. 

These two highly detailed figures of Babe Ruth and Ted Williams are made entirely of wood.

One of Norman Rockwell's most famous paintings is on display here, quite fitting for the subject.

Whoops!

There is a piece of incorrect information in this depiction of Yankee Stadium. Can you spot it? The clue is this photo was taken in 2016. I called over an employee and pointed it out to him. He looked at it and said he would look into having it fixed.

Everyone inducted to the Hall has their likeness imprinted into a bronze plate. I chose three Red Sox players.

I found this outside of the Hall. It gives perspective of the distance between the batter and pitcher.

The Norman Rockwell Museum

Living in Massachusetts has cultural advantages. We are lucky to have several high-caliber museums such as The Museum of Fine Arts, The Institute of Contemporary Art, and The Norman Rockwell Museum.

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) became famous for his paintings and illustrations of both the simple American life and hotly contested issues of the day.

From an early age, I was interested in his work. Rockwell was beyond talented when it came to conveying expressions in a subjects face. Not to mention the depth of detail in not only the subject, but around them as well.

The museum is located in bucolic Stockbridge, in the western part of the Commonwealth. Rockwell lived here for 25 years.

The Norman Rockwell Museum

"The Problem We All Live With"

The actual dress used for the above painting

Downtown Stockbridge, MA

Rockwell's chair and easel

Rockwell's studio

The Condo Kitchen Remodel

I was living the typical bachelor pad for 6 years before I started dating a women. She moved in and we lived there for almost another 5 years.

Now the pad had its perks, walking distance to downtown, close proximity to two major highways, and acceptable commute times. The pad also had glaring disadvantages, one deeded parking spot, 714 square feet, one bathroom with pink tiles from the 1970s, and cave-like lighting.

We made the decision to start looking for a non-bachelor pad with two deeded parking spots, more square feet, two bathrooms, and more natural lighting.

Living in the suburbs of Boston and attempting to find a decent home under $600,000 is quite a daunting task. Eventually after a year and a half and 8 towns later, we found a townhouse condo in the town we were living in.

We went to the listing and realized if we purchased this condo, it would require several major upgrades namely the kitchen, two bathrooms, paint job on two floors, shaved ceilings, and new recessed LED lighting throughout.

We purchased the condo and waited few years so as to have enough equity for the cost. We received 3 quotes and they were all about the same time and cost.


Here is the kitchen before the remodel...

and here is the kitchen after...

The kitchen now is far more functional with more counter space and the hood vent expels fumes outside.