Things To Do in Cooperstown

Value Pass -- If you're planning on visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Farmers' Museum, and the Fenimore Art Museum, buy a multiple-entry pass at the first one you visit. Entrance to all three costs $30.50 for adults, $12.75 for kids. Entry to the Hall of Fame plus one other museum costs $22 for adults, $8.75 for kids.

In his novel Independence Day, Richard Ford describes Cooperstown's main street thus: "Shops on both sides are selling baseball everything: uniforms, cards, posters, bumper stickers, no doubt hubcaps and condoms." We can't vouch for the last two items, but it's true that the main drag is almost entirely devoted to trinkets of the trade. From autographed baseball cards and inscribed bats to baseball bracelets, you'll find it here. Get your wooden bat personalized at Cooperstown Bat Co., 118 Main St. (tel. 888/547-2415; www.cooperstownbat.com). Pioneer Sports Cards, 106 Main St. (tel. 607/547-2323), has an excellent selection. Outside of the baseball realm and 3 miles from town, Fly Creek Cider Mill & Orchard, 288 Goose St., Fly Creek (tel. 800/505-6455; Apr-Dec), offers samples of cider, salsa, fudge, and tasty cheddar cheese, and a chance to tour the 150-year-old water-powered cider mill.

Performing Arts -- Glimmerglass Opera, north of Cooperstown on Route 80 (tel. 607/547-5704), has evolved from performances in the auditorium of Cooperstown High School in 1975 to an internationally acclaimed summer opera house. With four operas in July and August, it produces new, little-known, and familiar operas, among other works of musical theater -- all of which are performed in the original language with projected English titles. The 900-seat theater, open since 1987, sits on 43 acres of farmland with unusual sliding walls that allow everyone to enjoy fresh air and views of the countryside before performances and during intermissions. For a fun and easy way to get there, take the Cooperstown Trolley from the Otesaga hotel -- round-trip tickets are $5.