A boulder perched at the southern tip of a lake in New York state, which is known as Council Rock, once served as a meeting place for Iroquois Native Americans. The stone is one of a number of sites around Otsego Lake just outside the village of Cooperstown that bring to life pages from the area’s past.
That woodland-encircled body of water also has other claims to fame. It shows up as Lake Glimmerglass in the “Leatherstocking Tales” of James Fenimore Cooper, providing a reference to its pristine condition. The crystal-clear water that fills the glacially formed basin is ranked among the most unpolluted lakes in the country. Cooperstown is best known as home to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and I stopped by there and a number of other attractions during my recent stay in that hamlet. But some of my most rewarding and relaxing moments were spent rocking in a chair on the broad, porticoed porch of The Otesaga, one of the most magnificent resort hotels at which I’ve been lucky enough to stay.
