The Magic of Disney at Night: The Main Street Electrical Parade

As dusk descends, Main Street sparkles with lights

In general, I cover the Finger Lakes region, but I also love to travel to other destinations, so I am covering this as a “Beyond the Finger Lakes” post.

Last summer, we took our daughters Danielle and Nicole to Disney World®  in Orlando, Florida for the second time in six years. The first was when they were five.  One week before we left, I broke a bone in my foot. Seeing Disney World via wheelchair was not in the original plans, but we made the best of it! I did forgo many of the rides because I tended to “stomp on the brakes” during the rides, but we enjoyed our trip nevertheless.

Danielle and Nicole "peep watchin'"

On one day, we stayed at the pool during the day and went to the park in the late afternoon to catch the Main Street Electrical Parade (“Summer Nightastic”) which we’d missed when the girls were 5.  The crowds start gathering early, strolling up and down the charming “Main Street America,” and a festive mood of excitement fills the streets.

If you have little ones and you’re wondering whether you should keep them up past bedtime, I advise you not to miss the parade because it truly is magical.  One word of advice…Disney does a wonderful job of moving people quickly and safely, but there are a lot of people and it is late by the time the extravaganza is over, so renting a wagon or having an umbrella stroller for getting the kids back to the car or hotel is a smart idea.  For dates and times of the parade, be sure to check the Times Guide at the entrance to the park, or you can go to any guest relations center.

When I started to take video of the parade (perched in my wheelchair), I discovered that my video camera was dead, so this was taken with a small digital Canon still camera.  Who knew a wheelchair could double as a tripod?!

A few fun factoids about the castle you’ll see here: At 189 feet high, it’s the tallest structure in the park, and it has 18 towers and 13 gargoyles!

My appreciation to Walt Disney World® for allowing me to share this video footage I took while there.

Photos and video by Carol White Llewellyn.  Copyright 2011 © Carol White Llewellyn. All rights reserved.

 

Induction Weekend at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY – Planning the Trip, Getting There and Autographs

For 2011, The Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Weekend takes place on July 22-25.

Please note: Although Cooperstown and its Baseball Hall of Fame is not within the Finger Lakes region, I felt this would be of interest to local residents and travelers coming to this area. So, it is with pleasure that I share this contribution by guest author, Peter F. Eder. Peter is Senior Editor of The HUB magazine, a marketing publication, and Contributing Marketing and Communications Editor of The Futurist magazine.  Peter, a Darien CT resident, enjoys travel and writing about destinations in the U.S., Canada and Europe. 

To read part II of this article about the ceremony and other things to do, Click this link.

Induction Weekend at the Baseball Hall of Fame

Planning Your Visit

Induction Weekend at the Baseball Hall of Fame recognizes baseball's legends

The decision to attend a Hall of Fame Induction weekend requires advance planning.  For one thing, all the hotels, motels and upscale resorts are booked solid every year, by the sporting goods companies, major league teams, media outlets, etc.  So it’s a choice between driving long distances or finding a nearby bed-and-breakfast.  The latter is a wonderful option.  Our stay at Day Lily Dreams, a ten minute stroll to the Induction site provided a perfect solution to being near-at-hand, and in a wonderful environment.

A second complication is the size of the entering class and the notoriety of the new Famers.  In 2007, when the inductees included Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn more than 82,000 fans flooded Cooperstown.  [In 2008], Goose Gossage, and Dick Williams drew about 14,000 visitors, putting less strain on the town and the fans.

Getting There

While the New York State Thruway offers the quickest (and most expensive) option to getting to Cooperstown, the town is served by an excellent network of well paved, scenic, two lane roads.  The traveler will pass an occasional Amish farm (and perhaps a buggy), and numerous fruit, flower and ice cream stands.  Pick any one of them and you’ll find wonderful flavors, and typically benches or tables where one can take in the lovely rolling hills vistas, peppered with farms, fields and wooded lots.

Collecting Autographs

The Friday and Saturday before the Sunday Induction Ceremony were days of a carnival like event in the town.  It was an example of organized disorder.

A focal point of active attendance is getting a Hall of Famer (or aspiring Hall of Famer) to autograph something – not just a baseball or baseball card.

Hall members, (this year more than forty) were sitting at outdoor tables up and down the streets, or in hotels and restaurants, with their hours of appearance and locations pasted on building sites and listed in the newspapers and flyers.”  Prices varied dramatically by Hall of Famer – reflecting perhaps age, team, record, availability, .etc.

Collectors bought tickets and then waited in informal lines.  Prices varied by the type of item being signed – the bigger the item, the higher the rate, and new to the process, many are also charging extra for “dedications”.

In a short period of time, I saw a man carrying what turned out to be an encased blueprint section of the 1923 Yankee Stadium, covered with gathering signatures.  An even more striking example was the fan who had built a mobile device to roll two wooden, old time stadium seats up and down the streets, acquiring additional appropriate autographs

Senior Famers (like Yogi Berra, Bob Feller) sat side by side with recent inductees, bantering with each other and the fans.  Both the signers and the requestors were all having fun – polite, reminiscing, hand shaking, picture taking, back-patting and even an occasional hug.

My wife commented that she had never seen so many men dressed and acting like boys.  And with players being more mobile these days, (moving from team to team) the array of jerseys, caps and accessories were mind-numbing.  Serious collectors mingled with ordinary fans of all ages – all enjoying the experience.

For more information on visiting Cooperstown, visit This is Cooperstown.

If you enjoyed this article, you may also want to read Genesee Country Village & Museum that covers information about the 19th Century National Silver Base Ball Tournament and league there.

 

Maple Weekend: A Sweet Event for the Whole Family – March 19-20, 26-27, 2011

Looking for information on the 2012 Maple Sugar Weekends? CLICK HERE to read “A Sweet Time at NYS Maple Sugar Weekends 2012” on our new Finger Lakes Travel Maven blog.

 

Warming weather causes maple sap to flowWhen I was a kid, my family occasionally vacationed in Vermont. A treat I always looked forward to were the little packages of maple sugar candy found in most gift shops that were formed into shapes. The heavenly taste melted on my tongue, all too fast. Fast forward many years, and I realize we could as easily have purchased the candy here in New York State, since we're the third largest producer of maple products in the U.S., following Vermont and Maine.

Thinking about maple products, who would imagine you could get a sweet tasting liquid from a tree? According to Iroquois legend, it happened by accident one spring when Chief Woksis planted his tomahawk in a tree above a spot where the family always left a container for water. Sap from the gash dripped into the bucket and when his wife retrieved it, she thought the liquid it contained was water. When she  cooked with the unsuspected ingredient, the family discovered the delightful sweet taste of maple sap.

Now, maple producers across New York State celebrate the arrival of spring and maple sap collecting season with Maple Weekend, which will be held this year on March 19-20 and March 26-27.  The event is free, fun and educational for the whole family because at each participating producer, you’ll have a chance to watch the process of maple sugaring, from tapping the tree through to boiling the maple sap down into syrup. This is a long process because it takes 45 gallons of sap to make just one gallon of maple syrup! You’ll discover that some producers continue to use the traditional method of bucket and spigot, called a “spile”, while others have adopted more contemporary and efficient methods involving vacuum pumps and plastic tubing that leads to a central collection location.

Many of the locations also offer traditional pancake breakfasts with prices varying by location.

Because there are over 100 participants across the state, I won’t list them here, but you can discover the maple syrup producers nearest you by clicking on the following link and looking up participants in your county: Maple Weekend Participants by County.

Click on the following link to discover the closest pancake breakfast: Maple Weekend Pancake Breakfasts.

The event runs on March 19-20 and March 26-27 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days, but times for some participants may vary,  so be sure to confirm hours for the destination you plan to visit.