Places to Visit »Farmer’s Museum, Fenimore Museum

farmers museum cooperstown nyIf baseball doesn't thrill you, there are other museums in Cooperstown, NY that might just. Located across the street from each other, and with a discount if you buy tickets to each are The Fenimore Art Museum and The Farmer's Museum.

Unfortunately The Fenimore didn't allow any photographs. But I can share images from their website with you. They featured some special exhibits including Through the Eyes of Others: African Americans and Identity in American Art which featured harrowing work and some less memorable, Gilded Lions and Jeweled Horses which featured carousel horses and lions from carousels and synagogue carvings, and the small but quaint Bits of Home which featured everyday artifacts from people's homes. I was most inspired and blown away, though, from their unexpectedly first rate folk art collection. The paintings from Edward Hicks and those lovable creepy portraits of children and pets, that lined the museum's grand staircase were among my favorites.

Much fun was to be had across the street at The Farmer's Museum, where they set up an old town with people in costume to answer your questions, just the way I like it. They too had a couple exhibits: The Cardiff Giant and an unnecessarily in depth exploration of ice cream.

Outdoors we saw a magnificent carousel before trying our hand at old fashioned games under the guidance of an awesome theater girl doing well in her summer job. Next stop was the store where we didn't buy anything, but walked away with priceless information about nearby attractions to visit from the friendly shop keeper. Other interesting spots were the printing press office, the blacksmiths where a cute boy was making an ax, the medical office and herbal remedy garden, and the farm house where employees made lunch out of eggs and vegetables in their own yard.

It was a little disappointing that the stable animals were out grazing, but we did see chickens and a clan of ugly turkeys and their cute turkey babies. And any disappointment was made up for by the historic homes and their beautiful wall paper, interiors and maze garden.


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Posted on September 15, 2008

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