Looking for recommendations for making the trek up to Cooperstown in July to see my all-time favorite baseball player, Craig Biggio, getting inducted as the first Astro in the Hall of Fame. Has anyone been and can recommend places to fly into, stay and eateries?

I went to the HOF in 1999 about a month after Nolan, Ripken, Yount and Brett went in.

First, you have to realize there aren't any hotels or chain restaurants in Cooperstown, they don't allow them. You'll have to stay out of town and make the commute. Utica is probably the closet city with anything in it.

We actually flew into Hartford, then drove about 30 miles to spend a few hours at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield. We drove on to Albany, stayed the night, then went to Cooperstown the next day. We stayed in a little dump of a hotel (we were 25 and lolpoor) in a town called Sharon about 20 miles east of Cooperstown.

This is not hyperbole, you will not leave the HOF the entire day, even more so on an induction weekend. We were there in August and were in the place for 6-8 hours with only a break for lunch mixed in. Plus there are memorabilia places by the dozen all over Cooperstown.

Would also suggest turning it into a longer trip, you're so close to so much cool stuff. We went to Boston for the weekend and saw Pedro pitch at Fenway on our trip. You're also only 2 hours from Scranton, and if you'll recall, there ain't no party like a Scranton party, cuz a Scranton party don't stop.

Muck gives a lot of good advice. It is such a wonderful area and there is so much to see.

And when Muck a day isnt enough time in the HOF, well, I went two different days on my trip so I'd have to agree!

I'm planning to be there as well. Flying into Rochester on that Thursday and staying until Monday morning. Got a hotel in Utica.

Took my boys (11 and 13) to Cooperstown this past summer and it was awesome. It's a sleepy little town so not much else there but a badass brewery about ten minutes out of town called Ommegang.

We spent a week in the general vicinity from Niagara Falls to the Olympic sites at Lake Placid to Yankees/Red Sox in Boston. Beautiful area.

When is the induction? Also, do you need tickets?

Pedro is being inducted and my sister lives in Albany, so I might like to go based on logistics.

Thx.

According to the website you don't need tickets

I'm going to a wedding in October in New Jersey (not far from NYC) and have never been to that part of the country before. I'll have a rental car and am seriously considering making the Cooperstown road trip (about 3 hours one way). I don't know when I'll ever get the chance again.

Definitely make the trip. Just seeing how beautiful that part of the country is would be worth it.