Songwriter: Eric Johnson
Original Release: Venus Isle
Year: 1996
Definitive Version: None
After Vs. was released in
1993, I looked forward to no other album more than whatever Eric Johnson’s next
album was going to be. Little did I know that I would have to wait another 3
years for its arrival. The good news was that when it finally did come out, I
had just the thing for a new album—a long drive.
As I mentioned a while back,
when I organized the vacation that Debbie and I would take in 1996 to New
England (she had done all the plotting for our California trip the year
before), I knew it had to be a driving trip. That’s because I hate to fly, but
more important, it was because we needed a car for everywhere we were going.
When I had made my trek to
Cooperstown in 1990, one of my favorite parts was the drive along US 20 from
Buffalo, and I thought we should take the same route this time. Unfortunately,
my timing wasn’t as good, because Fall decided to start a week or so after we
were there, so the trees for the most part were still green. Still, it was a
nice way to start the trip.
We, meaning I, drove to the
outskirts of Buffalo the first night. The next morning we got up fairly early
to make the winding, hilly drive to Cooperstown after having breakfast at a
restaurant where the outstanding feature was a weathered shrine to the Buffalo
Bills in one of the windows. Our agenda was only to get to Cooperstown as soon
as we did. There was no reason to get there any sooner.
That allowed for things like
stopping a few times as we passed through the Finger Lakes district, which, in
many ways, can be considered the western border of New England. It’s quaint,
old and scenic. Because I timed our travels—or tried to—to the Fall, we
actually were traveling off-season to an extent, so everything was less
crowded.
We stayed in the Finger
Lakes for dinner, although I can’t remember anything about where we stopped,
and proceeded on our merry way with some regret that we couldn’t stay longer.
It seemed like an area ripe for further exploration, but even though we had a
loose schedule, we still had a schedule. We had a hotel reservation in
Cooperstown, so we had to keep moving. Maybe next time.
We arrived at our hotel at
night, and although I said it was in Cooperstown, it really was outside of town
closer to Ostego Lake, the Lake Glimmerglass of James Fenimore Cooper.
It was an old-school strip
hotel along the side of the road, but the rooms had been upgraded a bit. It had
an indoor pool (not open after Labor Day as we found out after we got there)
and a free breakfast (eh). But the rates were decent, and what the heck, we
were a 3-mile drive from Baseball Valhalla, where we would spend the next day.
We did a little shopping in
town before heading to the Hall of Fame. Debbie bought me a sweet 1951 Bowman
Lou Boudreau that matched one of the images on my baseball-card posters at
home. I actually bought, believe it or not, a Yankees cap. (And if you’re going
to buy a Yankees cap, where else would you buy it BUT Cooperstown?) It wasn’t
just any Yankees cap, however, but one of those eight-panel caps of the type
that The Bambino wore. Everytime I had seen one of them on sale, the dealer was
asking for at least 25 percent more than your typical cap, but in Cooperstown,
I found it for the same price—$20. Sold.
I was pleased to see not
only the Hall but also the town was almost exactly the same as it had been when
I was first there six years before, down to the same stores in the same places,
with the main exception of the Burberry five-and-dime being gone. Even better
was being in Cooperstown with another person this time, so I ended up with
photos that actually meant something to someone else.
Finally, it was time to move
on. Our next stop was Boston. And that seems like a good stopping point for
this here tale of adventure, until next time …
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