| Play ball! |
Summer can mean only one thing: baseball. Here we celebrate and document our 2008 pilgrimage.
Come along, won't you? |
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| Thank god for hybrid technology |
posted by Kristina @ 8:06 PM   |
| Friday, June 27, 2008 |
Here's a rough map of where my car traveled between June 10 and June 22. Note that Jason and Google Maps differ on some preferred routes so this is not 100 percent accurate. By my quick calculations we probably could have trimmed a few hours off our driving time if my navigator had bothered to look at the atlas once in a while instead of blindly trusting Jason and his antics, but she was too busy trying not to stab herself in the jaw out of boredom from listening to me drone on and on and on and on and on and on and on. And on.
CAR STATS
Total miles recorded on the ol' Civic hybrid: Around 3,600.
MPGs: 48.
Gas burned: Approximately 75 gallons.
Most expensive gas: ~$1.34/liter in Canada.
Exchange rate during our visit: $1CA = $.97US
Cost of being bad at math and metric conversions: ~$5.21/gallon.
Total gas cost: Approximately $300.
What it would have cost to fly instead of drive: $1 kajillion. Each.
BASEBALL STATS
Stadiums visited: 5.
Home team wins: 4.
Number of times our respective favorite teams played: 3.
Number of times our respective favorite teams won: 0.
GENERAL STATS
Kristina/Shalar tiffs, smackdowns or other conflicts: 0.
Fun had: Infinite.
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| Fin |
| posted by Shalar @ 9:09 PM |
| Wednesday, June 18, 2008 |
Well, as we anticipated, midwest flooding has caused our trip this year to end a bit early. Despite the graphic, as Kris said, we didn't intend to attempt the White Sox at Cubs game this weekend because we can kind of go to Chicago anytime so didn't feel very into paying hundreds of dollars to get tickets for that. We were to end in St. Louis, however, at the new Busch Stadium which is located near the river. The Cardinals don't seem worried about being able to continue to play there this week, but we were worried about trying to navigate the trip south to get there. Many of the towns near the Mississippi down that way are evacuating and/or otherwise gearing up for bad times as their crests are expected Thursday and Friday. We just decided it wasn't worth the risk, and honestly it gave us headaches trying to keep up on road and bridge closures due to flooding. Plus all it would take is someone's levee to break and it would mess everything up. We hope to be able to catch it another time soon, it looks gorgeous. A big bummer is that my sons were supposed to join us for that game then we were going to have a little weekend vacation in St. Louis and they're very disappointed, but what can you do?
Good news is that I'm home, and Kristina is visiting family down near Burlington for a bit before heading home herself.
I'll take this opportunity to thank Kris for the really nice words on this blog for my birthday. She is an awesome travel partner as well. We have similar styles and preferences for tripping - sleep in when possible, no big concern for getting to games necessarily on time, listen to and sing 80s music on the XM radio, etc. Our one sore point of having to share a computer last year was eliminated this time, so no issues. Anyway, I'm glad we have this baseball interest to share and neither of us thinks the other is crazy for wanting to take a trip like this. I literally couldn't make this trip without her (mostly because I'm very poor and she does pretty much all of the planning. And driving, which we've covered, since we wanted to use her hybrid vehicle). So thanks, Kris, love ya! |
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| Game photos and Our Amazing Hotel Room |
| posted by Shalar @ 12:07 PM |
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I took a couple of photos at the Nats/Twins game - the first is a bad photo of Twins first baseman Justin Morneau but you can't tell so much if you don't enlarge it, so don't. The other is St. Paul native son and catcher and cutie Joe Mauer. His photo is better because I gave up on the action shots.
 
We've just gotta mention how awesome our hotel room was in Bloomington. Because of our Choice Hotels hook-up (thank you SO SO much, you know who you are!) we got an amazing rate on an expensive suite hotel room. Here's a taste of the decor of the place. The bed was the most comfortable bed I've ever experienced - super pillowy mattress, perfect pillows. You never want to get out of it, I'm serious, no lie (shout-out there to The Chicks there).  The bathroom was very posh and had awesome Bath and Body Works toiletries.  I loved it so much I already have another stay there booked, and the staff was very helpful getting that organized as well. They even have a free shuttle that takes you to the light rail station that takes you many places you'd want to go - airport, downtown Minneapolis, Metrodome, or the shuttle will take you to the Mall of America if you're into that. And picks you up when you call! It also has free wireless internet, free made-to-order hot breakfast, and free parking. One minor quibble: we're sort of sticklers for correct punctuation, and a sign requesting guests turn off lights on their way out had an apostrophe in the word "TVs" where there should not have been one. So Kris removed it. See new and improved sign below.  All in all, way thumbs-up on the accommodations. |
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| Frankie say: Welcome to the Metrodome |
| posted by Kristina @ 11:14 AM |
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Shalar says that because my friends joined us at the game Tuesday night, it's my job to post about the Metrodome Experience. (This was not the rule in Detroit, where the Butters clan enriched our visit to Comerica Park, but whatever.) Here's my take on the Metrodome Experience:
In short: BOOOO!!! HISSSSS!!! BAD TWINS! DON'T BEAT MY NATS AGAIN!!!
Aside from that, it was a most fantastic night. We caught up with my friends Beth and Casey and Beth's baby-filled belly (she's pregnant, not a carnivore!), as well as Joy and Steve and their three delightful children (all post-belly age), Louisa, Sebastian and Elias. The company was grand. The stadium was ... quiet. Not inside, by the field; Twins fans are as enthusiastic and loud as any I've come across in my travels. But out by the concessions, navigating the food and souvenir stands was a total breeze and you could've heard a pin drop. This made for an awkward moment when Justin Morneau's hit that became a two-run homer traveled across the TV screens as we were out there seeking beer and I started yelling, "NO! NO! NO! NO!!!" This gave the Twins the 2-1 lead that they eventually used to declare victory over us.
Fun fact: Our beloved Dmitri "Heavy D" Young has a brother who plays for the Twins, Delmon Young. The two faced off last night, both sporting #21, which I think is kind of cool. If my brother and I ever both become professional athletes in the same sport but on different teams, I hope we too will wear the same number.
It was a fast-paced game, and our quest for the best food in the stadium led us to miss the 7th inning stretch, which is a total bummer because I love to yell "root root root for the NATIONALS" when watching them at an away game. But the time with my friends was fantastic, even if it meant that I was responsible for the blog post later, and Casey surprised and delighted us with Twins caps that we could wear home as a souvenir of our travels to his home team's turf. Shalar put hers on immediately. Afraid of jinxes, I waited until after the Nats lost to wear mine. (Note to readers: I do own a Twins cap, a faded dark brown one that I really love, but I chose not to bring it on this trip because doing so would surely doom my Nats to a loss. It turns out I could have brought it.) Also! That gem Casey was wearing a cap of the old Washington Senators, an extremely classy simultaneous nod to baseball in D.C. and baseball in Minnesota, as our Senators became their Twins in 1961.
I didn't take many photos, so this is where the readers suffer because of Shalar's crazy new rule about me having to do the post when I've also arranged the game-time entertainment. Below is our official Metrodome photo, where I am smiling and happy because a) the game wasn't over yet and b) I didn't yet know about Shalar's crazy new rule.
Minneapolis is due to get a new stadium, sans roof, in 2010. On behalf of Twins fans everywhere, I cannot wait. Domes stink. |
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| They built it and we went |
| posted by Kristina @ 10:32 AM |
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Since we overnighted Monday in Dubuque, trying to avoid flooded roads and closed sections of interstate between Davenport and Minneapolis, we figured it was wise to get up early and swing by the Field of Dreams movie site, about 25 miles from Dubuque near Dyersville, Iowa.
     The site was pretty cool. The most awesome thing about it is that it's there and the owners of the land have decided to maintain it as a free-admission site for baseball lovers, movie buffs and tourists from everywhere. There's a souvenir shop packed with reasonably priced items and if you bring a bat and ball (we didn't), you can hit on the field.
We had a slight adventure getting there; Mr. Jason decided that paved, named roads are unnecessary and took us down a dusty gravel trail to our destination. I am not sure about Shalar but I felt pretty certain we were going to end up in the middle of nowhere with J declaring, "You have arrived at your destination!" This is basically what happened, but past experience with Jason told me to drive on a bit and sure enough, around the bend or up the hill or whatever it was, we found our goal.
There were a few other people there when we visited, including a child wearing a cap bearing the insignia of ... the Washington Nationals! I asked an adult male accompanying this child if he was a Nats fan or if this was random, as I was decked out in my Nats gear for the contest against the Twins that night. The father/uncle/brother/kidnapper/whatever he was said they have friends in Maryland who always bring the kid Nats hats. So, yeah, random.
Anyway, when you're in northeast Iowa, and I know most of you often are, the Field of Dreams site is definitely worth a detour.
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| Happy birthday, Shalar! |
| posted by Kristina @ 12:47 AM |
| Tuesday, June 17, 2008 |
Let me be the first to wish my very, very good friend and most excellent travel buddy, Shalar, a happy birthday! 39 never looked so good!
Last year my birthday fell smack in the middle of our baseball trip, and it was a fantastic day. It didn't hurt that we were on Martha's Vineyard for that leg of the trip and many friends were there to toast the happy occasion and everything was just right. This year we were aware during the planning that Shalar's birthday would be part of our experience, so let me take this opportunity to make sure she doesn't have to post her own birthday balloons.
A few words about Shalar, our birthday girl: She's awesome. I am so lucky to have known her these last, I dunno, 28 years? I can't imagine a better friend to travel with on a trip like this. She's so laid back and mellow about everything, including the many incidents of lateness that I force upon her, and even though she isn't driving an inch of the shared travel time (wait, that's not true -- she did drive us to dinner last night), she hasn't slept for even a second of the miserable hours we've spent on the road. She keeps the exhausted driver company and listens to the exhausted driver tell really tedious stories that have already been told before, often just a day earlier. She just all around rocks, and if you are reading this and you're fortunate enough to know Shalar and have her in your life, too, it'd be appropriate to take several minutes and think about how danged great she is and how much better the world is because of her.
Happy birthday, Shalar! |
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| That reminds me! |
| posted by Shalar @ 7:15 PM |
| Monday, June 16, 2008 |
Thanks, Casey, for your comment on ballpark food, because we meant to post the article from the New York Times on the best and the worst of food available in baseball venues. We keep forgetting to refer to this before we visit one, but thought their review of US Cellular was kind of funny (that nothing was worth eating). Hard to believe, though, that 1) they could not find good sausage at a ballpark in Chicago and 2) they sampled enough different foods to be able to really make that claim. Plus I like the corn, like I said. Here's the interactive graphic:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/06/08/travel/20080608_BALLPARK_GRAPHIC.html |
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| The Cell |
| posted by Shalar @ 12:23 PM |
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I meant to mention that the parks we've visited this year don't have as good nicknames as last year. Last year we saw The Bank, The Yard, etc. This year there have been a couple that don't lend themselves as well to a pithy name. Apparently at first they tried to gear up enthusiasm for Comerica Park to be called "CoPa" but it never caught on for obvious reasons, that sounds stupid. So they just mostly call it Comerica, in the Fenway tradition of just not bothering to say "Park." SkyDome is not really the SkyDome anymore since Rogers Communications bought the naming rights and it's officially "Rogers Centre." It's too bad because the name Skydome was coined by a fan in a naming contest in 1987. It seems to be most people still refer to it as that anyway. I saw the Toronto Raptors play there in like 1996, by the way. PNC is short enough already.
"The Cell," however, or US Cellular Field, has a pretty decent nickname. Our experience there started out really well when we cautiously parked in a lot that seemed official (had signs for "event parking" that were not spray-painted on pieces of plywood but real signs. But there was no price and no attendant. We parked in the shade and just felt uneasy because it seemed too good to be true - we were within sight of the park, a few blocks away. We asked some people who were there too and they said they thought it was okay, they'd done it before and it was fine. So this may be the best-kept parking secret for the White Sox. Email us privately if you plan to visit the Cell and want the scoop, we're not gonna print the location. ;)
After being accosted by several homeless people on the way in, we got inside the park and I immediately got in line to get some of that yummy corn off the cob that Steph and Brad introduced me to last time we went there.  It tastes better than it looks. You can get salt, butter, lime, parmesan cheese, red pepper, and/or mayonnaise mixed into it, oh yummy.
The White Sox were playing the Rockies Sunday and I was relieved to see that my favorite former White Sock, Scott Podsednik (look up his photo and you will see why he was my favorite, oh, and of course, he was a very important offensive power for the White Sox during their World Series run and all), was in the lineup for the Rockies, where he landed this season. Here is Pods at bat.  The White Sox fans were very supportive of him, probably because it's not like HE chose to leave them or anything. He'd been scuffling (that's for you, Ed!) and on the DL quite a bit, and the Rockies took him for their minor league team but now he's back in the big leagues. Lots of White Sox fans still wearing Podsednik jerseys too.
I really like The Cell - I wish, though, I had been able to go to (Old) Comiskey Park, upon whose parking lot the Cell was built (The Cell's parking lot is where Comiskey used to stand). US Cellular has been open since 1991. Actually, it was still called Comiskey when it opened until 2003 when US Cellular bought the naming rights, but I would have liked to have seen the old park. I remember when I went there the first time I was going to my seat and hadn't looked at the field because I felt I had to concentrate on navigating the super steep rows of seats. But when we got to our seats I turned around and was amazed at how pretty it was. It was at night and it looked gorgeous and green and I was already happy with the place because it had escalators. This was a day game, and it was still a very nice-looking park. Something new this season is this bronze and granite sculpture outside in the center of a brick plaza that celebrates the 2005 season and depicts Paul Konerko, Joe Crede, Orlando Hernandez, Geoff Blum, and Juan Uribe. 
We sat next to another Cubs fan who was trying to remain undercover. I couldn't quite shake this odd feeling that I was out of my element because I wasn't in Wrigleyville. On the way out we followed some people decked out in full Cubs gear which I think is a little weird, it's not like the Cubs were playing there that day. The Sox lost 5-3 but it was a nice, hot afternoon in Chicago. It had stormed quite a bit earlier in the day and some suburbs were out of power and had some tree damage. After picking up my car at a Midway parking lot, we went to the hotel then met friends for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory, which was awesome. It's been nice to have some down time.
Off to my home (Davenport), to drop off my car, visit my lonely kitty, and make a quick Bettendorf library stop. We might try to stay somewhere tonight close to the Field of Dreams so we could visit it Tuesday on the way to Minneapolis. But our plans are always fluid so don't hold us to anything, readers. Before heading home I need to make an important detour to Oakbrook Center to pick up a little birthday gift they have for special customers of Sephora. I can't believe tomorrow I have to start saying I'm 39. |
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| Prediction and hope (please please please) |
| posted by Kristina @ 12:06 AM |
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I predict that our six games will end up breaking down like this: Three home team wins followed by three visiting team wins.
Just a prediction. By the way, the Nats swept Seattle!! White hot, they are! |
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| Photo collage |
| posted by Shalar @ 10:16 PM |
| Sunday, June 15, 2008 |
I had a few photos to share from Detroit — click on the thumbnail to enlarge:
1) the Ambassador Bridge that took us from Canada back to the U.S.
2) Magglio Ordonez at bat
3) OMG, they have FOUNTAINS in Comerica Park! They shoot water into the air when good Tiger stuff happens! (A few of you will understand why this bothers me).
4 & 5) A couple of the cool tiger sculptures they have there. Did we publish a photo of the scoreboard yesterday? The eyes of the tiger sculptures on those light up and there's a growling sound when Tigers hit home runs or win. The balls in the mouths of the tiger heads like the one shown also light up at night.
    
We did like Comerica quite a bit, it was just a nice experience all around. We found parking around the corner basically from the stadium, on the street, and only had to feed the meter. When we parked we didn't even realize how close we were to the park because we couldn't see it at all but Jason had told us we were there. Then we heard a huge roar and realized it was the crowd at the game because the Tigers had been down 4-1 but scored six runs on seven hits in the fourth (including two 2-rbi home runs one of which resulted in the crowd noise) and right before we took our seats, a triple. As we predicted, we missed most of the good stuff though they went on to win 12-7 against the Dodgers. It was cool because the pitcher, Eddie Bonine, had just been called up from Toledo and so got a win in his major-league debut.
Comerica is one of those cool right-downtown sorts of parks that makes parking (usually) a pain in the ass. It's right next to Ford Field - when Kris asked Jamie what happens there he replied, "That's where visiting NFL teams come to pummel the practice squad we provide for them." (That little anecdote is for you, our Lions-loving friend from Baltimore). It's very family-friendly, and has a carousel and a ferris wheel. |
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| Clarification |
| posted by Shalar @ 9:15 AM |
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I think it is necessary to point out that I (Shalar) am not doing any driving because the vehicle we are using has a manual transmission and I never learned how to drive a stick. I understand this is still my fault because it may have been requested that I learn prior to the trip. But there was life and whatnot and it never happened. Anyway, I wanted to point that out lest readers think I'm just directing Kristina around like a chauffeur and eating bon-bons. (I may have eaten a donut in Canada, however). I can't even say I'm navigating because we have Jason.
Speaking of Jason, last year we meant to give him a blog post because he's such an important part of the experience. He is the name of our GPS unit.  Lately, however, we wonder if something's wrong with Jason - maybe he's tired, or has a fever. He'll occasionally tell us to get off a road, maybe go a block, then get back on. We're a bit worried. Usually, though, he makes travel so easy, and he helps us in such a friendly and nurturing manner. Except in Canada. Jason doesn't know Canada. He dropped us at the Peace Bridge and said, "You're on your own. Good luck with those wacky French highway signs." Ooh, that reminds me. On the 401 from Toronto to Windsor there are very funny signs intended to help drivers stay safe by giving suggestions like, "Fatigue kills. Take a break." (and are then repeated in French 300 yards later).  They reminded me of the flood warning from the National Weather Service I read the other day at home that said, "SAFETY MESSAGE...IF YOU ENCOUNTER A FLOODED ROADWAY...TURN AROUND AND FIND AN ALTERNATE ROUTE. TURN AROUND...DON'T DROWN." Wow, thanks, I might otherwise have drowned.
More on Canadian signage, Kris was very bothered by how the font used on this McDonald's sign in Mississagua was not the true McDonald's font:  Just another example of the things that felt just slightly off in Canada.
Funny moment when we passed a lighted road sign that prompted Kris to say, "ZOOM ahead??" I said, um, it's "200 m" ahead. She thought it was giving permission to speed (they have crazy high penalties for speeding there, too, by the way). Next we saw one that looked like "goom ahead" (600m). Ah, good times.
One more thing about Toronto before there's more to say about Detroit - when we were leaving the hotel room I said, "You have the tickets?" but no, they were sitting on the table in the room. Crisis averted. Readers from last year may remember when we weren't quite on top of it ticket-wise: http://the-noreaster.blogspot.com/2007/07/moments-of-panic-or-why-keisha-is-most.html |
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| Three down, three to go |
| posted by Kristina @ 12:22 AM |
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We've seen three of our six regularly scheduled games (not counting the White Sox @ Wrigley game that we can't afford unless we sell Shalar's children). Some observations:
- Pirates fans are really rude to fans of the visiting team, and they oughta cut it out. I saw the Pirates at Nationals Park and I didn't say a single rude thing to any Pirates fans. Rather, I felt a sort of pity for them. Or maybe it was empathy.
- Blue Jays fans aren't that excited by all the fans of the visiting team infiltrating their stadium, and I really can't blame them, since I survived a Nationals game that was absolutely infested with Chicago Cubs fans, and it's quite an unnerving feeling.
- Still, those Blue Jays fans should not taunt Cubs fans after the game, saying nasty things and leveling rather inappropriate personal insults, especially when they'd just won.
- I have to confess that I did say some rude things to a Cubs fan at Nationals Park; this was because I was brimming with anger about how many of them were at my team's park, and about how we were losing the game, and also because my friends had forced me to shotgun a beer before the game and my judgment was impaired. Mind you, I did not make any personal attacks. I just gave him crap about how the Cubs had been beaten by the worst team in baseball (at that point in the standings) the night before. So really I was insulting my own team. Sort of self-deprecating taunts. Also note that I immediately felt bad and immediately made a peace offering by giving him five when the Cubs scored the next two of the 260 runs they would score against the Nationals that night. And by the end of the game we were pals, and he told me that he too had shotgunned a beer just before the game! We bonded over that and our mutual Midwesternism, and I told him I really did hope this was the year for the Cubs. (Here I must tell you all how one of my colleagues likes to say that he hopes the Cubs do win the World Series this year so the Cubs fans will finally quit whining about how it's their year to win. Hear, hear!)
- If you like a team, it is maybe not best to buy tickets several rows behind their dugout, because then you end up with a really great view of the other team's dugout and a really stupid view of the top of the dugout of the team you like.
- I really don't like dome stadiums. I am clearer on this than Shalar is with her vague distaste. They feel small and artificial. Toronto was my third (see photo of the inside of Toronto's roof), having attended games at Chase Field in Phoenix back when its name was still BOB and Miller Park in Milwaukee.  - At all three of my dome games, the roof has been closed. (All three are retractable.) On Tuesday we will be in my fourth dome, the Metrodome, where open ain't an option.
- Detroit's stadium is pretty and has jillions of amenities and also lots of statues of Tigers (and a whole carousel of tigers!) and it was so great to see my college pal Amy and her husband Jamie and their three most adorable girls. Good baseball, great company. A+ for Detroit.
- It has been pointed out by an observer that we have missed 9 innings of baseball on this trip. Let me just remind you all that we're not in it for the batting practice, we're not in it for the first pitch, we're not in it for anything but the experience. Part of the experience is being late, at least in our experience. And we stay until the end ... OK, it's true we left the game at Yankee Stadium last year a bit early, but it's also true that the Yankees were beating the Rays 406-3 and we wanted to beat the traffic. Also we were driving up to a hotel Connecticut that night, making our way to Boston, and we didn't know this yet but we were about to get very lost trying to find the hotel. And we also didn't know this yet, but the hotel would suck. Anyway, we almost never leave early.
- One of us has done all the driving. I won't say which one, but I will say that I'm tired from doing all that driving.
- We're averaging 47.6 mpg. Rock! We've driven (ha ha, "we") about 900 miles. On the first mini-leg of the trip, driving from Baltimore airport to Frederick, my mpgs were 53. Yes you read that right. 53.
- Please note that any money I have saved by driving a hybrid and achieving such stellar mileage has been completely undone by buying a tank of gas in Canada, where they charge you about $14.50 a gallon, but they break the price down to Canadian dollars per liter, so you have no chance of figuring out what you're really paying unless you happen to be really smart, which I don't happen to be.
- It's getting to be time to sleep so that we can wake up early and then we can drive (ha ha, "we") to Chicago and see the Rockies @ White Sox game.
- Oh! A note to the two curmudgeonly readers who pointed out that my genius graphic is inaccurate because the home teams should be listed second in a vs. formation: Shut Up. I was trying to achieve an effect where the home teams are listed at a glance down the column on the left. GOSH.
-PS: My Nationals are, at this writing, enjoying their longest winning streak of the month: 2 straight games. Go Nats! |
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| I <3 T.O.! |
| posted by Shalar @ 3:41 PM |
| Friday, June 13, 2008 |
I wrote this earlier tonight but then had to go:
"A couple things before we head out to Ride the Rocket (http://www.toronto.ca/ttc/) to Skydome. This is the first time I've stayed in a suburb in the six times I've visited Toronto since the very first time. That time we stayed in like Yorkville and decided, "This sucks, everything we want to do is downtown" so since then I've never stayed further than a few blocks from Eaton Centre. But this is fine, especially since we have a car to use to get around."
I will now confirm it's nicer to stay downtown because the train ride from out here was danged long - probably an hour. As bad as that ride to Shea and back last year. Well, this was simpler at least.
ANYWAY, Skydome/Rogers Centre - I have no complaints. I feel a vague distaste for domes for baseball although I understand the reasoning for it, especially in those northern cities who have them. I just feel like baseball should be outside, but other than that I guess I don't really have a valid reason for opposing them. So, tonight it was good that Skydome has a retractable roof that consists of three panels, two movable and one stationary, and covers 340,000 square feet but can be opened or closed on steel tracks at a rate of 71 feet per minute (Leventhal 47 - as if a librarian wouldn't cite her source) because it ended up raining. Luckily downtown Toronto has an awesome skywalk system that took us down to Union Station for our train without getting terribly wet.
The game - well, the Cubs lost, 3-2. I'm working really hard on trying not to get tense during games because there's no need to stress out, and usually they manage to pull it out for a win. So I stayed pretty relaxed even when Gallagher allowed two home runs back-to-back in the third, because that's early, and even though so far the Cubs hadn't been very inspiring.
Reed Johnson had one at-bat and everyone got excited, because he used to be a Blue Jay. Cubs fans were hoping he'd be the one to get us out of this tonight, but alas, not to be. I found myself actually thinking many times, hmm, I think maybe Soriano would be able to do something here. I don't want to admit it, but maybe we need him. I just hate it when there's a game in which I'm thinking, you know, this isn't working, they're just not getting it together. I hope the rest of the series goes better. There were a LOT of Cubs fans there, just everywhere. Probably this weekend there will be even more. It's great to have so many showing up for them. I wasn't sure what to expect in Canada. We had Cubs fans all around us, and no one even got into a fight though there was a lot of chatter back and forth among them and the Blue Jays fans. It's fun to bond with fellow fans away from home. So I'm trying to be in a good mood despite the loss. Like me and the Cubs dudes outside after the game said as we gave each other knuckles: "We'll get 'em tomorrow."
I have to say how much I really like Toronto, and Canadians. Obviously, or I wouldn't have visited here so often. I like how they eat gravy and/or vinegar with their fries. I like how being here makes me hungry for donuts. I like how they're hockey-crazy. I like how their beer has higher alcohol content. I like how everyone is polite and friendly. I like how they talk. I used to like how good of a rate we'd get when we exchanged US dollars for Canadian (not true anymore). Raise your hand if you know why this reminds me of a Moxy Fruvous song:
Here are a few photos from the game - D. Lee at bat, Fukudome at bat, the really impressively huge Jumbotron.
Tomorrow morning at a fairly reasonable time we'll be off for Detroit. I promise Kris will write something again one day...
Source: Leventhal, Josh. Take me out to the ballpark: an illustrated tour of baseball parks past and present. New York: Workman Publishing, 2006. |
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| We are in Toronto. |
| posted by Kristina @ 1:16 PM |
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Some readers are confused about our location. We rolled into Toronto in the wee hours, stopped at an ATM to get funny money to give to the nice man with tickets at 8:15 am, and then went back to sleep glorious sleep omg sleep. Now we're maybe, possibly, it might be it could be it is, up for the day.
Shalar is impressed by the recycling bin in the bathroom. I am impressed that the hotel check-in guy chatted me up about Iowa ("Are you a Hawkeyes fan?" "Why are there more Hawkeyes fans than Cyclones fans?") and informed me that the Nationals, whose spring training stadium shirt I was wearing, had moved to DC from Montreal. I had no idea.
We're aiming to visit the Golden Griddle in a few minutes here to check out the Canadian cuisine. Mmmmm, just like Mum used to make. |
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| It's 4:30 a.m. - why are we not asleep? |
| posted by Shalar @ 3:51 AM |
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This is the second night in a row we've been up this late. We are seriously too old for this kind of stuff. I am feeling a third wind about now, though, mostly because I'm comforted by the fact that we really don't have to do anything tomorrow except wake up for the dude who's bringing our tickets by on the way to work (in about 3 hours) and manage to get to the game in the evening. I wanted to write because otherwise stuff will get forgotten (the age thing again).
The day started when we arrived in Frederick, Maryland where we were staying the first night. The hotel was very nice, too bad we were only there several hours really. I had driven to Chicago for a 9:30 p.m. flight, arriving in Baltimore around midnight. Anyway, if we wanted to get to Pittsburgh while a game was still in progress we had to get up and get going with too little sleep.
Here is PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, built in 2001.  It's just beautiful. The view actually distracted us from the game because it's so gorgeous, and the park has that old-style feel while having lots of modern conveniences, which makes it my favorite kind of ballpark even though my heart is still attached to the truly old-school like Fenway and Wrigley. It's in north Pittsburgh, right on the Allegheny River. Kristina noted that it was probably the closest and least expensive parking for a baseball game she's ever experienced. We parked about a block away in a ramp that charged about $7 for the time we were there. To get to the park we walked across the Sixth Street Bridge (see photo).
By the time the game ended (Bucs 7, Nationals 5, despite Kris' support), we were completely exhausted from the travel and the heat (about 90 degrees). We were supposed to drive to Toronto today, but seriously considered changing that plan. We'd missed the cancellation deadline for the hotel, though, and by the time we'd spent some time cooling off in a nearby Starbuck's we felt better and decided to get some food and head out. Jason (not Bay, not Michaels, but the GPS who guides us always) found us a good Chinese restaurant in the trendy Squirrel Hill section of town where the sushi, fried rice, and chow mein revived us. Traffic was horrible that time of day, but thanks to some good signage  we got our food. From there we headed out for the drive to Toronto via Erie, PA and Buffalo, NY.
There's much more to say, but I need some rest. More later today from at least one of us.  |
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| Speed-blogging |
| posted by Kristina @ 8:50 AM |
| Thursday, June 12, 2008 |
The trip is under way! (two words, except in nautical usage: an underway flotilla)
Please forgive my brief foray into copy editing geekery. We're on the road, albeit not that far down the road. We spent the "night" in Frederick, Md., about an hour down the road from the airport ... although somehow the superslow driver made it stretch into much longer, and we have slept very little.
But! Today in Pittsburgh we have the WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. the PITTSBURGH PIRATES as the Nats hope to save a tiny bit of face after the embarrassment of a homestand they just played. Please, baseball gods, please. Let the Nats win another one today.
I have to put on my driving cap and grab some free continental breakfast and hit the road. Readers, thank you for joining us today. |
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| A different kind of lake effect |
| posted by Kristina @ 7:07 PM |
| Wednesday, June 4, 2008 |
It's been raining in DC the past couple of days, so the field at Nationals Park is becoming lake-like. And last night's T-shirt Tuesday became Wet T-shirt Tuesday, which sounds more interesting but isn't.
 This has nothing to do with our trip, but reader demand suggests that I should address how the Nats' stellar third baseman, Ryan Zimmerman, is injured and the team has called up Kory Casto, another KC like me, to fill the spot vacated by Zim on the roster. Kory did a great job in his return to the MLB last night, helping the Nats score the only run they've recorded in three games.
Kudos to Kory, pictured at left in his Columbus Clippers gear. |
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| Also |
| posted by Kristina @ 1:36 AM |
| Sunday, June 1, 2008 |
A good mother would pull her children from school for the day to celebrate an occasion as important as the Nationals playing whatever team that is that plays at Wrigley Field.
(Just kidding! I think Shalar is an awesome mom, even if she says "poop.") |
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| Poop, I was confused about the August weekend |
| posted by Shalar @ 12:34 AM |
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| Man, I don't know what I was thinking, but the August Nats @ Cubs series isn't until later in the month, after school starts. I remember the discussion now about how it's after school starts but that I would try to make it work anyway. Promotions are happening that Friday and Sunday as well, but since school will have started neither my boys nor I will be able to be there for the cool Friday SpongeBob plush toy for kids 13 and under. Sunday there's a key chain giveaway for fans 21 and older (is it one of those alcoholic beverage slash keychains? I mean, people younger than 21 can drive vehicles. Hmm...) |
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