Saratoga

[BW]

Here is a good website that will give you plenty of places to stay in Saratoga Springs.

[balletmama]

I can vouch for the Apple Tree inn, which is on BW's list...

[Mel Johnson]

And I've often found the Gideon Putnam and the Grand Union Motel adequate to my needs when in Saratoga. They're older, but scrupulously well-kept, and would make one think of public accommodations in Canada, where the structures may be older, but the preservation is incredible. The Adelphi still retains its flavor of what it must have been like in the Great Era of the massive wooden hotels, but financially, I've had to content myself with afternoon tea there.

[Guest twas a delight]

Originally posted by scoop

My other big passion is baseball (are there any other combo ballet/baseball crazies out there?!)

Oui! I thought I was the only one...I'm really quite ridiculously obsessive. About both

[Farrell Fan]

I guess it's time for me to come out and reveal that I, too, am a baseball fan, and have been since before I got to like ballet. I've been around a long time, since the days Joe DiMaggio patrolled center-field at Yankee Stadium. Sitting in the bleachers in those days (admission 60 cents), I grew quite familiar with the number 5 on Joe's back, but every so often he'd turn around to look at the scoreboard while messaging the pocket of his glove with his fist. Later on, I had a similar view of Willie Mays at the old Polo Grounds. He was the only player who measured up to Joe and, indeed, surpassed him. The only other performer comparable to Joe and Willie in my experience was Suzanne Farrell.

My feeling about New York City Ballet is comparable to a baseball fan's about his team. They are the New York Yankees of ballet, and I've stuck with them through season after season, in good times and bad. I even stuck with them after they they betrayed me and Suzanne. But I'm a Mets fan now.

End of digression. Back to Saratoga, where I look forward to being again in July.

[scoop]

...but glad to find at least two other dual b/b fans here! Ballet and baseball strike be as engaging for many of the same reasons -- the sense of narrative that propels both a company and a team's season, the potential that at any point in a ballet or a game, you'll witness something just amazing and jaw-dropping on the stage or field, etc. I envy New Yorkers, home of my favorite team and company -- there's never been much ballet in Baltimore, but at least I always had the Orioles. In recent years though -- they've been self-destructing...

Anyway, to make amends for going off track, I can recommend in Saratoga Springs, the Westchester Bed & Breakfast. Charming owners and a beautiful garden -- I still have a picture that the host took of us on a sun-dappled morning out there that brings back the utterly magical atmosphere of Saratoga Springs in the summer.

[rkoretzky]

I'm a pretty avid baseball fan myself. Nothing touches my passion for ballet, but the Yankees can come pretty close. FF and Bobsey can attest to some of our discussions of last summer. Poor Bobsey. He is a Red Sox fan. FF: I can't say that your Mets are doing too well right now either. Be strong: my son is a Mets fan too--I think only to annoy his dad, the most avid Yankee fan ever. And I had to choose between them...reminds me of my youth when my (then) boyfriend was pulling for the Dodgers and I hate to choose between LA and the team that my entire family supported! Talk about tough....

So...all of you baseball/ballet people: I expect you in Saratoga this summer. We'll have a picnic and softball game, then we'll go to the ballet. Who's in?