Just as Cooperstown has a long history of baseball, my family has a long history of going to festivals in Cooperstown.

We no longer attend their Winter Carnival annually but we've managed to continue to make the trek to the Farmers Museum for the Fall Festival - which happens to be this weekend and coincides with my dad's 70th birthday.

As with most festivals, our family seems to like the tradition behind it. We go, look around at the interactive exhibits, and enjoy the food and entertainment. There was a juggler that my siblings always especially liked as kids, and he was there even last year. The chili is always fresh and meat-filled. The yellow corn is salted and buttered to perfection.

Not much has changed there, except us.

(from our 2013 trip)

We'll be going there again this year but, instead of making it a day trip, which it can be very comfortably from Troy, we're staying overnight at a place called the Lake N Pines Motel just about a mile from the museum.

When I was looking around at hotels and motels, this seemed to be the best option and bang for our buck. The $85-$95 rooms (since it's off-season now) include access to the waterfront of a lake, paddle boating, inside/outside pools, a jacuzzi, a sauna, and the size/type of rooms that we were looking for.

And, though I don't remember, my sister informs me that we likely stayed there a long time ago when we went for the same festival.

I'll let you know how the overall stay is but it's shaping up to be a fun, nostalgic time.