Saratoga Springs NY.

I do like to find a souvenir from each trip. And I know it when I see it. I know that it’s just right when everyone I am with looks at me like I am crazy. Yesterday, I went in to a tobacconist (how often does that happen?), and gave the man five dollars. I walked out with three beautiful, but empty, cigar boxes. How neat is that?

The biggest event of the day was our visit to the National Horse Racing and Hall of Fame Museum. None of us were particularly excited about going, which is probably why we only spent about three hours there. Another way to put it of course would be to say we were there for almost an Oppenheimer.

Tickets are $20, or $15 for seniors 55 and older. That was us. But one of us asked if we could get a group rate. The answer, after much conversation was a very polite “no”. On the other hand, three of us qualified as veterans (including me), which meant we only need 9 15 dollar tickets, or $12.27 per person. But then it turned out that another three of us had North American museum reciprocal cards (something like that), and that each card allowed four to get in free, so our group price was reduced to $Zero. Pretty good deal, I’d say.

What makes such a good museum? First, the building and the flow work well, sending you a long a nice circular route, which ends where it started. Second, it has just the right amount of material, not overwhelming you (like the railroad museum in Scranton), and not too little, but just enough.

You start out with a collection of Saul Steinberg race track drawings, each one more clever than the last. Steinberg, the famous New Yorker cartoonist – did you know he followed the horses? The Steinberg exhibit, according to a sign posted in the room, is being sponsored by the Oak Tree Racing Association. Wow! Did you know that oak trees were so competitive? I also didn’t know they could do more but stand there and spit out acorns. But I guess they have branched out.

Next come the sculptures of horses and jockeys, then you go through a real track starting gate, and YOUR’E OFF!!

You see a large collection of track pictures by a track photographer, which are really well done. And then you are taken through rooms depicting the history of racing in America.

So much I learned. How the first horses were brought from England in the 17th century and racing was going on in, I think, the 1660s, with the horses below deck for over a month strapped so they would not fall as the ship lunged. Who said exercise is important?

I learned how and where the sport grew in America, how it was concentrated at first in a few areas (Maryland, Kentucky) and spread, how racing took off before the 1860s, until the Civil War intervened. And then it pretty well stopped and then later started again from scratch. Then how gambling excesses closed it down again until it became apparent that states could make money themselves by running and controlling betting on the horses.

You learn about race tracks, and health and safety practices and more. And you learn about the horses, the trainers and the owners. You see a special exhibit on Secretariat, one of the 13 horses which have won the Triple Crown and see each of those races on video.

And through interactive displays you can learn about horses, jockeys and trainers who are in the Hall of Fame, and there are many of them. And you get to see a 16 minute film.

Following the museum, another good dinner at The District. Edie and I split salmon (with hummus and spinach) and a mushroom risotto. A delicious lemon cake/custard combo after.

Back home and to bed early. Big doings tomorrow.