Saturday, April 26, 2008

NY Yankees @ Cleveland Indians 4/26/08 & 4/27/08

We drove to Cleveland this morning to see the Yankees play the Indians today (Saturday) and tomorrow (Sunday). We saw a good game, except for the fact that the Yankees lost 4 - 3 on a Victor Martinez walk-off single in the ninth. The Yankees have issues this year ... not enough clutch hitting and a very shaky middle relief. Oh well, maybe next year (unless something dramatic happens in a trade). Here's a link to the box score: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?id=2008_04_26_nyamlb_clemlb_1&mode=wrap

We saw Sunday's game. Much better (for the Yankees). They won 1 - 0 on Melky Cabrera's homerun and Chien-Ming Wang's pitching. Here's a link to the box score:
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2008_04_27_nyamlb_clemlb_1&mode=wrap


Here's a link to the pictures:
http://flickr.com/photos/14772189@N03/sets/


My general impression of Progressive Field (AKA The Jake) ... it's a very nice stadium. Good aesthetics. Great scoreboard. However, I was unimpressed with their amenities. Not enough bathrooms; long lines at the concession stands.

I was very unimpressed with their Hot Dogs! I gave it a "2". Very ordinary dog. We had one with grilled onions (little flavor) and one with sauerkraut (they charged $1.25 extra for it) and it came pre-packaged (so I had to put it on) and the kraut was cold. I did give them one extra point for having their own stadium mustard which was pretty good, but not great. Follow-up: Day 2 hot dog was better, but not enough to move it up the ranking! Nancy did, however, really enjoy her Leinenkugel Draft (The Pride of Chippewa Falls) ... yummy

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

April 23rd -- Trip #1 Summary

Well, we've been home for a week. I thought I'd put together a bullet point summary of the Southeastern baseball stadium trip.

-- We live in a beautiful country. There are so many things to see and do. I know I don't think about it often, but our drive thru the southeast was wonderful

-- We put on 4900 miles and spent just over $4000 ($600 on tickets; $160 on museums and gardens; $800 on eating out; $700 on gas -- average price $3.25/gallon; $1200 on hotels; and $550 on groceries and miscellaneous knick-knacks -- we bought a Budweiser mirror at Anheuser-Busch to hang behind our bar)

-- We have made great friends during the course of our lives. We met with many of them on our trip and will meet with many more as we travel the rest of the United States.

-- Minute Maid Park (Houston) was our favorite stadium followed by Busch Stadium (St. Louis), Turner Field (Atlanta), Arlington Stadium (Texas Rangers), Tropicana Field (Tampa Bay) And Dolphin Stadium (Florida Marlins in Miami)

-- The best beer and the best hot dog were both at the Florida Marlins game ... Brahma Beer and the dog from the Kosher Hot Dog guy

-- The strangest thing we saw (there was a tie) -- as we were entering Oklahoma (it was the first time I've ever been there), there wasn't a "Welcome to Oklahoma" sign. We saw a "Come on in to the Choctaw Nation Casino and Hotel". I suppose it's a sign of the times in the US. And, as we were driving north of Dallas towards Oklahoma on Rt 75 , We saw a statue of Sam Houston, the biggest statue I've ever seen on the side of the road (http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/TXHUNsam.html)

-- The song of the trip: Sara Bareilles -Love Song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR5xv3pt7KI) We must have heard it 100 times.


Thursday, April 17, 2008

April 15th St. Louis Tour

Before we went to the Cardinals game, we took in 2+ attractions in St. Louis ... the City Museum, a tour of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, and a drive around The Arch Park.

The City Museum is a combination of interesting art, an aquarium, weird memorabilia, and 3 stories of climbing and sliding that kids 8 - 13 can play in/on for hours. Nancy and I tried some climbing and sliding, but we just don't bend like we used to. I highly recommend the City Museum if you have the right aged kids.

The Anheuser-Busch tour is a free 1 hour walk thru their facility. They start with the Clydesdales' barn, lead you on a walk thru beautiful garden areas to see the architectural features of their 1800s buildings, show you their making rooms and bottling lines ( for you P&Gers, 1300 bottles/min. and floors you can eat off!!) and finish with samples in their brew pub. And, yes, I had my first beer in 21 years --- something called "Bare Knuckle Stout". It tasted great. This doesn't mean I'm going to start drinking. It was a one time thing. Nancy had a Michelob Ultra and a Sun Dog Wheat. As you'd expect, the beers were served at the perfect temperature with the perfect amount of foam.

We also drove around the Arch to take some pictures. Quite an impressive structure. However, the near flood stage Mississippi was just as impressive.

Here's a link to pictures:
http://www1.snapfish.com/photolibrary/t_=98074769

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Milwaukee Brewers @ St. Louis Cardinals 4-15-08

Busch Stadium is a very nice park in downtown St. Louis. It gets extra points for a spectacular center field view of the St. Louis skyline and the Arch. According to the stadium thermometer, the temperatures were in the low 60s at gametime and dropped to the mid-50s by the end of the game. I think they lied. It was cold enough to wrap ourselves in the Astros blankets. I bought Club Level seats ($60), glass enclosed area behind the seats with premium concessions, so we could have a warm area to sit if we needed it. WE NEEDED IT!

The game was close till the 8th inning. The Cards won 6 – 1 using good base running and lots of singles to score their runs. They got surprisingly good pitching from Braden Looper. It was Jackie Robinson Day throughout the Major Leagues today, so all the Cardinals wore 42. It made it hard for us out-of-towners to tell who the players were even with a scorecard.

Here’s a link to the boxscore:
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2008_04_15_milmlb_slnmlb_1&mode=wrap

Here’s a link to the pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14772189@N03/

The hot dog rating – an “8” mine was a “7” and Nancy’s was a “9”. Lots of veggies, fresh bun, mustard in a gravy boat to spoon it on. Mine got downgraded 2 points because the hot dog was a bit on the cold side. Nancy went to a different vendor and heat wasn’t an issue.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Toronto Blue Jays @ Texas Rangers 4-13-08

We left Houston early yesterday (Sat 4/12) morning and stopped by Steve and Pam Bell's home in Tucker, Texas. It's a very beautiful home in the middle of nowhere ... just the way they like it.

We stopped in Plano to see our friend Joan Pennella.

We arrived in Dallas (actually Mckinney) late yesterday and stayed with our friends, Ted and Pat Baumgartner.

Onto the game. We heard nightmarish stories about the traffic at the Texas Rangers stadium primarily due to the construction of the new Cowboys stadium. Not true. Easy in; easy out! We did, however, have the worst ticket seller ever. It took him 20 minutes to figure out how to use the computer to get our tickets. We ended up with great seats ... 4 rows from the field behind homeplate.

It was a gorgeous day and a great game, too! Toronto won 5-4 in 10 innings. An aside --- the Star Spangled Banner was sung by kids from the Levine Academy, a Jewish Middle School; which was only fitting since the Rangers' starting pitcher was Scott Feldman. For you Reds' fans, Josh Hamilton (ex-Red) hit a homerun and made several nice plays in right field.

Here's a link to the boxscore:
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2008_04_13_tormlb_texmlb_1

Here's a link to the pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14772189@N03/

The hotdog --- I rated mine a "6", good, but nothing special. Nancy rated hers a "3" -- it was cold, as was the Coors Light!

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Florida Marlins @ Houston Astros 4-11-08

Minute Maid Park in Houston is a beautiful and distinctive stadium in downtown Houston. Easy to get around, plenty of parking. The stadium doesn’t look like a stadium except for the numerous, bright lights. It’s gorgeous inside as well. Wide aisles, comfortable seats, lots of food choices. Two distinctive features …. The train that runs along the left field wall and an office building past left field that allows rooftop viewing of the ball game (and there were about 100 people watching this game from there). Oh, and they’ve put up a sign on the office building showing the build is 422 ft from home plate. Very cool.

They had a giveaway at this game. We are now the proud owners of 2 Astros stadium blankets

It was an absolutely gorgeous night. A beautiful sky; temps in the 70s at game time. The game was a homer fest. The Marlins out-homered the Astros 6 to 2 and won the game 10 – 6. Roy Oswalt, the Astros ace, gave up a career high of 4 home runs. My favorite was a Jorge Cantu (the ex-Red) shot that went out of the stadium over the left field wall. The left fielder never moved. The blankets came in handy as the temps dipped into the 50s by the 8th inning (I’d like to thank the Houston Astros for being so considerate).

Here’s a link to the box score:
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2008_04_11_flomlb_houmlb_1&mode=wrap

Here’s a link to our pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14772189@N03/

Now, for the all important hot dog rating: "8" -- lots of goodies, grilled peppers and onions. Slight downgrade because my bun fell apart and I had to eat the dog with my right hand and the veggies and bun with my left.

New Orleans 4-10-08

On the way to Houston, we stopped in New Orleans to recapture the memories of too many Mardi Gras weekends so many years ago. Nancy and I walked the French Quarter and the riverwalk. We heard some calliope music from the steamboat Natchez (I’ll bet most of you didn’t know I love calliope music – there’s just something about the sound that reminds me of summer and it’s just so light and bouncy). We stopped at Café Du Monde for coffee and beignets – the best. We then went to Pat O’Brien’s Piano, our favorite haunt during Mardi Gras. Nancy had a Hurricane; I had a Sprite (how times have changed). The old “trayman”, Eddie Gabriel, is no longer there. He passed away in 2005 at age 95. He’s been replaced by Alvin Babineau, so the tradition continues.

We then went to a new place, Café Beignet, an open air place for jazz and jambalaya and gumbo. We had a great time just sitting and listening and eating. I love New Orleans.

Here’s a link to our pictures:
http://www1.snapfish.com/photolibrary/t_=98074769

Friday, April 11, 2008

Bellingrath Gardens 4-10-08

If you ever pass thru Mobile, Alabama, take the time to stop at Bellingrath Gardens. Walter Bellingrath was one of the original Coca-Cola bottlers. He purchased land along the Fowl River. His wife decided to create the gardens. He later decided to build their home on the site.

There are 3 parts to the tour --- the acres and acres of gardens (very pretty); the home (well done with lots of antiques and surprisingly modern appointments); and a riverboat tour of the Fowl River (lots of native wildlife). The whole tour took about 4 hours.

Here’s a link to some pictures (an aside to my son, Rob --- I’ve decided to put the pictures of the museums and such on Snapfish and the baseball stadiums on Flickr so I don’t exceed the download limits on each site):
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=208649539/a=98074769_98074769/t_=98074769

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Seattle Mariners vs. Tampa Bay Rays 4-8-08

Tropicana Field was sold out for opening day. It happens so infrequently that they weren’t prepared for the crowd. Too few ticket takers and security guys. It took us 20 minutes to get into the stadium. Once inside, it was hard to navigate the narrow walkways. But, once we got to our seats, it was ok. We sat behind 3rd base on the first level for $26. A bargain. The Trop is a domed stadium so it was nice inside despite it being a hot Florida night.

Nancy enjoyed the Ted Williams museum at the field and the aquarium filled with Stingrays (get it?)

The game was actually pretty entertaining. It was close all the way. A couple of questionable umpire calls riled up the crowd. We saw our first ejection of the tour (TB manager Joe Maddon for arguing an out call at 3rd base (BJ Upton beat the throw, but Adrian Beltre blocked the base – I thought he was out).

Seattle won 6 – 5. Here’s a link to the box score:
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2008_04_08_seamlb_tbamlb_1

Here’s a link to our pictures (the non-baseball pictures are from the pier in St. Petersburg):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14772189@N03/

As for the hot dog – an “8”. We had a footlong with sauerkraut. Good taste. One extra point for the freshest bun ever.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Ringling Museum 4-7-08

As part of the Mayflower Compact and the "Agreement de Baseball Stadium Trip", Nancy agreed to go on this trip if we also stopped at museums and National Parks. Today, on our travel towards Tampa, we stopped in Sarasota to see the Ringling Museum. This is actually a compound with the Ringling Estate (Ca d'Zan), the Circus Museum, an Art Museum (with John Ringling's extensive art collection), and Mable Ringling's gardens.

Given Nancy's penchant for roses, we spent a lot of time in the rose garden. The circus memorabilia was spectacular; the grounds were beautiful; and we enjoyed the 22 large galleries of art (the Grandma Moses exhibit was especially good). It was a very worthwhile stopover.

Here's a link to some pictures:
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=208633098/a=98074769_98074769/t_=98074769

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Pittsburgh Pirates @ Florida Marlins 4/6/08

We drove from Atlanta to Orlando on Friday (4/4/08). We went from cold and wet to hot and breezy. SHORTS TIME!!

On Saturday (4/5/08), we drove to Miami. We're staying with Steve and Charlene Dawes, friends from my RVI days. Charlene cooked a wonderful shrimp dish while we jabbered away.

Today, we went to Dolphins Stadium. For all your Northerners, it was 85deg and sunny. I wish we could bottle this weather and take it with us. Dolphins Stadiums a very nice football stadium, but a marginal baseball stadium. Attendance is very poor. We sat behind homeplate, 11 rows off the field and had the whole row to ourselves for $37 a ticket. No lines for food; no problem getting into and out of the parking lot. The Marlins aren't a very good team. Too many errors, not enough pitching. The Pirates won 9 - 2. Alfredo Amezaga made a highlight reel catch in center. I'm sure it'll be on SportsCenter tonight.

Here's the link to the boxscore:
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2008_04_06_pitmlb_flomlb_1&mode=wrap

Here's the link to the pictures we took today:
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=208624331/a=98074769_98074769/t_=98074769

Now, for the all important hot dog rating: "9" -- you have to buy it from the kosher hotdog guy, at a kiosk near section 146. Hebrew National dog, sauerkraut, peppers, and onions with a fresh bun. Yummy!

We leave for Sarasota tomorrow (on our way to Tampa). We'll be stopping at the Ringling Bros. Estate and Museum. It should be interesting.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Pittsburgh Pirates @ Atlanta Braves 4/3/08

Temperature at game time 55deg -- made much colder by a 10mph wind and a steady mist.
Temperature in the 5th inning 50 deg -- made much colder by a 15 mph wind and a heavier mist.
Game tied after nine innings -- the cumulative effect of 9 innings of cold, wind & rain made it arctic-like. No feeling in my toes and fingers.
Mercifully, the Pirates score in the 10th inning and hold on to win 4 - 3.
I love spring baseball!!

Link to the Box Score:
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2008_04_03_pitmlb_atlmlb_1

Link to Turner Field pictures http://www.flickr.com/photos/14772189@N03/sets/72157604392405995/

The Turner Field hot dog rating: "4" ok dog with sauerkraut, peppers and onions. Mustard pump instead of packets always a plus. 2 points off for a stale bun

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Thursday Morning April 3rd

Jerry Huffman and I golfed yesterday. It was 100 deg. and I shot a 75. No, wait. It was 75deg and I shot a 100. Not my typical score, but I hit a few shots that will make me play again (in about 2 hours!)

Pittsburgh vs. Atlanta tonight. Temps in the 50s and the possibility of showers. Welcome to April baseball.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

The Trip Begins

April 1st, Tuesday

The preliminaries are over. The official trip has started!! We’re on our way Atlanta.

The Number 2 Son move to DC (actually Arlington, Va.) began on Friday. We caravanned ... Steven in his filled-to-the-brim Budget Rent-a-Truck; Nancy in Steven’s Volvo (stick shift so Dad can’t drive it); and, me in the Honda Odyssey (our home away from home for the baseball trip).

Saturday → we unloaded the truck and got Steven’s stuff up to his apartment in record time … 3 hours. Before we started organizing, we turned in the truck, ate lunch (great Veal Parmagiana), and went shopping – the first of many of many trips to buy stuff for Steven’s apartment. We figure we’ll be saving money with Steven out of the house so we bought him whatever he needed. Besides, Nancy likes to shop for someone else.

Food, bathroom paraphernalia, kitchen stuff $500
Getting a kid out of the house and on his own Priceless

(just kidding, Steven)

Steven also has his first houseguests … Aunt Sara and Uncle Karl Wokan.

Sunday → organize, organize, Nancy and Sara go to the Cherry Blossom Festival, organize, nap, organize, dinner @ Chili’s, organize.

Monday → more food shopping (Harris Teeter is a very nice grocery store), more organizing. The quest for good pizza in Arlington begins – a place called Mom’s Pizza. Not bad, but not like Dewey’s (for those in Cincinnati) or like good NY pizza. The quest continues. We also celebrate Steven’s birthday 5 days early. The oven gets used for the first time for Steven’s birthday cake.

Today (Tuesday April 1st) → Steven cooks breakfast and after some chitchat and hugs, we’re on our way. Atlanta here we come. To Cinde and Jerry Huffman’s house we go!