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[baseballjourney]

09.10.22

Our second trip in 2022 would be taking us to our final new stadium in Arlington, Texas, the new home of the Texas Rangers, Globe Life Field.  Chris, Brendan, and myself had some company on this trip as we were joined by Michelle, Jackie, and Shannon.  Michelle had taken an earlier flight than us so after picking up our minivan rental we found her at a near by Starbucks.  As is usually the case, we were hungry and there is one place we just can’t miss when we can visit it.  That place is, of course, In-N-Out Burger.  

Double Doubles (some animal-style) and fries filled our bellies and was the perfect way to start a trip filled with great food and good times.

From there, we still had some time before we could check in to our hotel so we visited Division Brewing, which is in Arlington, for a beer or two.

Finally after checking in around 4 we took a short uber ride over to Globe Life to get the party started.

We started off with some drinks at an outdoor bar at Texas Live!  Texas Live! consists of a few different restaurants and a few different bars loaded with TVs showing all the games and is a real hot spot during Rangers or Cowboys games.

The roof would be open since the heat that day wasn’t so bad.  We would find out that this would be the second day that it had been open since summer was coming to an end.

I was impressed with the stadium from inside and thought it had some decent character.  Talking to a few locals, I received mixed reviews but they were all in agreement that having a retractable roof was a blessing and the days and nights of sweltering summer games were thankfully over.

The concourses were wide and there were plenty of food and drink options.  heading up to the upper deck, the seats seemed close to the field and even the view from the last row behind home seemed on top of the field and not too far away.

As for the game itself, it wasn’t the best... especially if you were a Rangers fan.  They would let up four runs to the visiting Toronto Blue Jays in the first inning and would be behind the rest of the game, losing by a score of 11 to 7.

Home Team Record: 17-16

Box Score

[baseballjourney]

06.29.22

Our last full day in Denver started early with a walking tour of Coors Field.  We toured some of the clubs, the press box, and were able to walk into one of the dugouts.

After the tour at Coors Field, we ordered up a ride for a lunch we’ve been waiting for for a few years now.

No trip out west is complete until we get to an In-N-Out Burger!  As always it didn’t disappoint and is always a highlight of a trip.

After lunch we got another ride to Cerebral Brewing for a few amazing beers.

After around two hours or so at Cerebral we headed back to our hotel to rest a bit before our most expensive meal of the trip.  We had a 6pm reservation at the Buckhorn Exchange, which was originally established back in 1893 and is one of the oldest restaurants in the United States!

As you can see from the above pictures this place has a lot going on!  For the table we ordered their famous Rocky Mountain Oysters.

From the wikipedia page:

Rocky Mountain oysters or mountain oysters,[1] or meat balls, also known as prairie oysters in Canada (French: animelles), is a dish made of bull testicles. The organs are often deep-fried after being skinned, coated in flour, pepper and salt, and sometimes pounded flat. This delicacy is most often served as an appetizer.[2]

It’s definitely a dish that is going to turn people off just from knowing what they’re made of.  But if you didn’t know I’m sure they would be a much bigger hit.  They weren’t half bad and dipped in the horseradish or cocktail sauce made them even better.

The dinners came with a starting salad and also had a choice of sides.  I had ordered the buffalo prime rib, Brendan had the broiled quail and elk medallions and Chris ordered the strip steak.

The meal was amazing and we all left the restaurant full and needing some rest.  There was an attempt at another beer at a bar near the hotel but it ended up being an early night.  

The next day we said good bye to our downtown Denver hotel and headed back to the airport.  Concurrently the city was having their parade for the new Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche.  An airport breakfast (with beer, of course) was had and we would be headed back to New York City.

Next up for us will be another trip to Arlington, Texas to see the new home of the Texas Rangers, Globe Life Field, in September with a couple of new faces to our Baseball Journey.

[baseballjourney]

06.28.22

Another ballpark done.  Today we said goodbye to Kansas City and hello to Denver where we would watch our last of the 30 MLB teams play a home game.  We just have to get there.

::insert return the rental car / get to airport way too early / jump on a 90 minute flight story here::

After landing in Denver around 3:00 pm we secured a Lyft ride to our downtown hotel and checked in.  Earlier in the trip we decided to go to the game this night not the next as originally planned so we headed to Coors Field to watch the Colorado Rockies take on the Los Angeles Dodgers.  We bought our tickets at one of the windows and headed inside.

Coors Field opened up back in 1995 situated right in downtown Denver.  Surrounded by bars + breweries, restaurants, shops, hotels and residences the area around the park is lively and exciting when the Rockies are in town (at least when they’re winning or if the Dodgers are in town - there were a lot of Dodgers fans in attendance).

As many ballparks have done through the years, they too here at Coors Field have taken out seats in the upper deck to add in bars and restaurants with standing room areas and some seating areas too.  Again, not the best place to watch the game but a great place to get a bite to eat and a beer to drink before the game.

Come game time we were off to our seats to see future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw (of the Dodgers) match up against Kyle Freeland.  Kershaw didn’t have it going this game and the Rockies were up 6-2 by the start of the fifth inning.  

It was a hot night in Denver and our saving grace was that we were seated in the top row of the park and we were able to catch a breeze which kept us cooler.  Coors Field has a row of purple seats about 6 rows from the top row marking a mile above sea level so we were above that.

Needing a break from the heat we walked down to the main level to grab a beer at The Sandlot Brewery.  The Sandlot is the home of the original Blue Moon beer.  The air conditioning felt amazing but we soon returned to our seats to watch the final few innings of the game.

The Rockies would go on to win the game by a score of 7 to 4 sending home (by my guessing) about 60% of the crowd happy.  

We made the 20 minute walk back to the hotel to call it a night.

Box Score

Home Team Record: 17-15

[baseballjourney]

06.27.22

Monday morning we started off with our hotel breakfast and made a quick drive over to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum which was very close to our hotel.

We all learned a lot about the different leagues and the many great ball players who came up through them.  An hour or so was spent looking at some game used items, personal jerseys or belongings, perusing the lockers that contain the Hall of Fame players plaques, videos, and other interesting bits.

After the museum we drove over to the Kansas side of Kansas City for lunch at the famous Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que.

Joe’s opened up back in 1996 in a gas station and has since expanded to multiple locations.  As typical for the good BBQ there was a line (even at 11:30 am).  We ordered a couple of beers and our food and then sat outside in the tables nestled among the gas station islands.  I ordered their famous Rocket Pig sandwich which is pulled pork tossed in a sweet-hot competition BBQ glaze, bacon, pepper jack cheese, and a BBQ mayo, topped with fried jalapeños on a kaiser roll. Burnt ends were also ordered at the table by the guys.  The food here was amazing and probably the highlight of the trip.

After Joe’s we drove over to Boulevard Brewing (back in Missouri) where we would have a 2pm tour of their facility.  We arrived early so we sat at their taproom and enjoyed some of their beers beforehand.

The tour took us to their original brew house and then to their newest and much bigger brewhouse as well as some other buildings there where we sampled four different Boulevard beers.

After finishing off our samples it was time to head to Kauffman Stadium which was just outside of the city.

We enjoyed some beer from BKS in the parking lot while we waited for the park to open.  Around 5pm we headed in to the park to take it all in and to watch a game between the Kansas City Royals and the Texas Rangers.

Kauffman opened back in 1973 and while it may show its age in some places it is a cozy park with some updated amenities.

The Royals would have a rough night with the Rangers and would lose by a score of 10 to 4.  

Box Score

Home Team Record: 16 - 15

[baseballjourney]

06.26.22

Sunday morning we got one last look of St.Louis out of the hotel window and got in the car and started our drive west to Kansas City.  After hitting a serious rain storm we arrived in KC a few hours later.  We were unfortunately unable to check-in early so we headed over to Q39 which is a newer BBQ restaurant but has become one of the best in KC.

I had ordered a brisket dip, and yes while it was covered in provolone, but the meat was juicy and melted in your mouth.  The toasted hoagie stood up well to the au jus and was spread with a horseradish aioli.  Truly an amazing sandwich!

After Q39 we drove to Alma Mader Brewing for a couple of beers.  After the passing rain storm the air temperatures dropped enough that we were able to enjoy the beer on their patio (for a little bit at least).

But it was still June after all and the hot sun drove us inside to the air conditioned taproom for our final glass there.

We had one more brewery in our sights for today and that was BKS Artisan Ales.

Both breweries had amazing hazy ipas just like we’re used to and we weren’t disappointed.  We even grabbed some BKS cans to go!

Now it was 5pm and our eventual plan was to end up back at the hotel room to watch the AEW show Forbidden Door so we had decided on taking some dinner back to the room.  Culver’s was stop for that dinner.  

A midwest-favorite, Culver’s is famous for their ButterBurgers (yup that’s simply a burger with a lightly buttered toasted bun).  The food was good, but we also had a 20 minute ride back to the hotel, so perhaps the freshness of the meal had lessened.

The rest of the night was spent enjoying some BKS beer and a couple of free bud lights from Saturdays Bud tour and a kick-ass AEW show.  Not a bad way to spend a few hours.

[baseballjourney]

06.25.22

After waking up on this Saturday morning we would get in the car and take a short drive over to the Anheuser Busch Brewery where we would take a 10:30 am tour of the facility.

As you can imagine, being one of the largest breweries in the world, this place is massive and sits on 142 acres of land.  We would start out by seeing a few of their famous Clydesdale horses and their stable and then on to the various buildings where the beer is made and packaged.

Of course there was sampling of their freshest beer and everyone went home happy! Truly a great way to start the day off and I highly recommend the tour.

Around noon we had built up an appetite so we had decided on one of St. Louis’ famous BBQ joints, Pappy’s Smokehouse, for lunch.  Now typically where there is good BBQ there is probably a good line to get it and this place was no exception.

We waited about an hour or so to place our order but thankfully most of that wait was inside where it was cooler than outside in the 90 degree heat.  Finally at the front we ordered a rack of ribs, brisket, burnt ends, and some sides for the table.

Now I will say the ribs and burnt ends were very good but the brisket was lacking, the brisket we had the day before blew this out of the water.  The meal overall was great though.  Worth the wait but skip the brisket!

After lunch we took a further drive to Narrow Gauge Brewing to have a couple of beers there which were amazing.  Always on the hunt for a great hazy IPA, these guys didn’t disappoint!

Back into the car we went after an hour or so and headed back to the hotel to drop off the car before taking an Uber over to the Side Project Cellar for more drinking.  The place wasn’t too crowded when we arrived and sat ourselves at the dimly lit bar and were handed small binders with their available beers on tap, bottles to share, and whiskeys to drink.

Side Project did not disappoint in the slightest!  Their sour beers were amazing and the vibe and collection of bottles inside was on point.

After our fill, we walked over to a nearby Imo’s Pizza which I had read was a St. Louis staple.  With a thin and crunchy crust and topped with Provel cheese (a cheddar, swiss and provolone blend), this pie hit the spot after a long day of drinking.  We ordered a large meat pizza topped with sausage, pepperoni, bacon and Canadian bacon.

With our stomachs full we got into our Uber ride back to the hotel as the lightning lit up the sky in the distance.  Tomorrow would bring some much needed cooler temperatures and a drive across Missouri to Kansas City.

[baseballjourney]

06.24.22

Yesterday we made the drive from St. Louis to Chicago and today we’re going to drive right on back to St. Louis.  After a quick hotel breakfast, we were on the road early and got to our hotel just after noon.  Again we were able to check-in early and relaxed for a bit before we walked to Busch Stadium for a tour of the ballpark.  While it was only a 20 minute walk or so, the heat was on with temps in the 90s.

Just outside of Busch Stadium they have twelve statues for all of the players whose number they have retired.  The tour was good but unfortunately we were unable to get on the field as they were filming an interview.  We toured a press box, some of the clubs, and got to see the different views of the park.

After our 2pm tour, we wanted to stay local and see what the area around the ballpark known as Ballpark Village had to offer before tonights game.  The streets around the park were closed off and had multiple bars, restaurants, outdoor seating areas, stages for entertainment and shops, as well as the Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum.

As this would be a trip filled with a multitude of barbeque we started off the day at Salt + Smoke which is located in Ballpark Village.  While it was busy the food and beers arrived fast and it was amazing.  I had myself a brisket sandwich topped with fried onions and burnt end mayo and it was truly to die for.  Brisket was cooked perfectly and the sandwich nearly melted in your mouth.

As quick as we were seated and fed we were out of there.  We stopped next door at the Budweiser Brew House for another cold one and then checked out the Hall of Fame Museum.

It truly was an amazing museum with great items from Cardinals history.  They had models of the ballparks, plaques for the players, World Championship trophies, and many other great pieces.  You can even hold game used bats from such players as Stan Musial or Yadier Molina.  We also were able to listen to a great talk with former Cardinals player Brendan Ryan, as seen in that last picture.

While we were in the museum the ballpark opened so we walked through the crowd of Cardinals and Cubs fans and went back into Busch Stadium for the game between these rival teams.

We did a quick loop of the lower concourse to see what we missed during the tour and headed up to the Budweiser Terrace for $5.25 Busch Lights which is a pre-game special for every game.

The Budweiser Terrace is open for all ticket holders and is a great spot to hang with friends and catch up but maybe not the best place to watch the actual game.  However, as it was such a hot night and there was little breeze at our seats we lingered up there through the first couple of innings and enjoyed the breeze we had up there.  Busch Stadium has a lot to offer and is easily a top ten ballpark to visit and enjoy a game at.

Finally getting to our seats we would see the continuation of what we saw the night before where the home team did not muster up much offense and the Cardinals would lose to their rival Cubs by a score of 3 to 0.  After the game we made the short walk back to our hotel stopping briefly at a local bar for one last cold one before ordering up some Rally’s courtesy of Uber Eats and heading to bed.

Box Score

Home Team Record: 16-14

[baseballjourney]

06.23.22

06.24.12.  Almost ten years ago to the day we headed to Chicago to start off our mid-west baseball trip.  I was thirty years old.

Ten years later I’m over the hill and also heading to Chicago to start off our central baseball trip.

...looking out my airplane window... that’s not Chicago.

We got the email the day before that our morning flight into Chicago was cancelled.  JetBlue had cancelled that and the next days flights.  Scrambling to catch a flight there we settle on a flight into St. Louis.  We would leave New York earlier than expected and we rented our car in St.Louis and took the 4+ hour drive north to Chicago.  It was a panicked way to start our trip but thankfully it was “smooth sailing” from there on out.

The original game plan called for a day of brewery hopping but with this new time table we were able to hit one brewery and lunch before hitting tonights game.  

We were able to check in early to our hotel in Romeoville, Illinois (about 30 minutes outside of downtown Chicago) which was wonderful so we could drop off our bags and get settled in to where we would spend the night.  Hungry as we were we headed to the closest Portillo’s we could find.  Have to get that Chicago-style Hot Dog!

We didn’t get to try Portillo’s ten years ago instead we opted for ballpark Chicago-style dogs.  Portillo’s, which has been around since 1963 and has expanded to over 70 locations since, has been a Chicago staple and they didn’t upset.  For those unfamiliar with a Chicago-Style hot dog, it is a jumbo hot dog on a steamed poppy seed bun topped with mustard, relish, celery salt, freshly chopped onions, sliced red ripe tomatoes, kosher pickle, and sport peppers.  And its amazing.  Truly a one-of-a-kind hot dog!

After filling our...oh here I am forgetting my basic story-telling manners...I never introduced the main characters for this trip.  For this central states trip which is also our last multi-ballpark trip and also two years delayed (thanks Covid) we’ve got myself, Eric, along with Chris and Brendan.  So, where were we...

After filling our stomachs with delicious food you know where we were going for next.  Have to wash it all down with a delicious beer and for those we drove into Chicago to visit Half Acre Beer Company.

{photo credit to Chris and his finger}

The beer was great but unfortunately we only had time for one beer before we had to head down to the White Sox game at Guaranteed Rate Field.

We made the drive to the park and parked in one of the lots and walked over into the game.  Chris wasn’t with us last time we saw the White Sox play at home so we got into the park early so he can see what he missed ten years ago.

Strange thing about this park is that the upper deck ticket holders aren’t permitted to walk around the main concourse.  We didn’t realize that last time so we sat and were stuck in the upper deck then.  We got ourselves some field level tickets for this game against the Orioles so we could walk around the ballpark on the field level and see what it had to offer.  Below is the view of the outfield from our seats and some shots from the concourse.

There were quite a few statues in the outfield, the one above is the one of Frank Thomas.

They have taken out seating and added standing room bar tables (the first rows had seats) as many ballparks have done.

Settled back at our seats, we would see the Orioles pretty much shut down the White Sox and would send the local fans home sad with a 4-0 win.  

It felt good to be back on the road and great to be back in a ballpark.  As I mentioned before this trip will conclude the main portion of our ballpark journey.  By the end of this trip Brendan and myself will have seen every Major League Baseball team play at home, Chris will be missing one last team down in Miami.

We left before the end of the eighth inning to try to get a head start on parking lot traffic and get on to the hotel.  By this point I was awake for 19 hours so the bed was calling my name.

Box Score

Home Team Record: 16-13

[baseballjourney]

05.16.19

Welcome back to another edition of Here’s a Long-Ass Drive, Don’t You Wish You Flew!

This years edition would involve a drive to Cleveland, OH (from Long Island, NY) and then a drive back from Detroit, MI (we’ve got some time to kill before that so lets get to it).

We got ourselves a rental car for this trip and ended up with a brand new Nissan Altima.  The trip was supposed to be made by myself (Eric), Kris, Brendan, and Jackie (making her second baseball trip appearance).  However, Brendan, mistakenly took off the wrong days off for vacation so he wouldn’t be driving with us.  He would be flying into Cleveland the next night and missing out on Thursday and Fridays activities.

We left around 5 am or so and after some traffic and stops we made it 8 hours or so later to Cleveland, OH where we intended to stop for lunch and drinks.

The three of us had an awesome lunch on the patio at the Market Garden Brewery where we all had sampler flights of their beers.  We walked over to Great Lakes Brewery for a pint there before we would leave the city on our way to our final destination of the day, Sandusky, OH.

Thankfully it was only another hour and a half or so until we got to our hotel.  We checked ourselves into the local LaQuinta Hotel.  Nothing fancy there but with a convenient location to Cedar Point and breakfast included and a super-cheap rate it was perfect for us.

We spent the rest of the evening, stopping at a few places purchasing some local beers (3 Floyds and a few others) to bring home for us and eventually grabbed dinner at a small bar which served food at the local mall.  Not much to write home about on this one.

I’ll end this post with a picture from the LaQuinta Hotel breakfast area.  

[baseballjourney]

05.18.19

Good Morning and Good Bye Sandusky, Ohio!

We arose early and hit the road for a 2 hour drive to Detroit, Michigan, not without first stopping in the hotel lobby for some quality make-your-own waffles and eggs and sausage.

Having been to Detroit in the past, I knew not to expect much.  The city has long been known as a not-so-desirable location.  Even the highway (on the way into the city) was a disaster.  The downtown area of the city has actually come a long way though since my last visit!  Trendy boutique hotels and restaurants, rooftop lounges and clubs were on nearly every corner and at night that portion of city came alive.  We stayed at the Element at the Metropolitan, one of those boutique hotels, and were able to check-in early thankfully before we headed out to the game.

We decided to walk over to the Detroit location of Founders Brewing Co. for a beer or two before heading into the park.

We entered the ballpark and walked around the park on the concourse which has all of the luxuries we’ve come to expect at modern ballparks.  At times it seems you weren’t even in a ballpark.  Below is a picture of a circular area loaded with dining options and a carousel!

The ballpark really is amazing and is one of the nicest we’ve been to.  

The Detroit Tigers lost to the Oakland Athletics 4-1 behind a great pitching performance from A’s pitcher Dave Mengden who only let up 3 hits.  Despite the home team losing we enjoyed our time at the ballpark.

After the game, we knew we had to try a Detroit-style coney dog at American Coney Island.  A little disappointing but you can’t win them all.

And one last stop for dinner and drinks at another restaurant and we were done for the night.

The next morning we would “enjoy” a nice 11+ hour drive home to New York.

Pics

Box Score

Home Team Record: 16-12

[baseballjourney]

05.17.19

After a long day of driving, how about a long day of walking?

I’ll gladly take it if it means walking around Cedar Point all day!

Although it was a cloudy and sometimes misty day, we made the most of it with a Fast Pass purchase which enabled us to skip most of the really long lines and gave us the time to hit just about every coaster at least once.  Jackie did suffer a bit after hitting coasters one through three so quickly and she did have to take it easy after that.

We spent most of the day there and probably ended up leaving around 4 or 5 pm.  Once we had our fill we went back to the hotel to relax for a bit.

Looking around the Untappd app, I noticed a local restaurant, Small City Taphouse, that had quite a few beers on tap (over 80 to be exact).  Just what we were looking for, as we always make it a point to try beers that we don’t often get.  Surprisingly enough, Kris was on board, considering it is an Asian and sushi restaurant.  Our food was excellent as well as the beers.

After dinner, Jackie was exhausted, so we dropped her off at the hotel and took an hour drive back to Cleveland to pick up Brendan who would be landing at midnight.

Tomorrow we’ll be back in the car and driving two hours to Detroit for some baseball!

[baseballjourney]

09.15.18

Boston

[baseballjourney]

09.14.18

It’s been quite a few years since we we made it up to Boston, Massachusetts and it was good to be back!  A car containing myself (Eric), Brendan and my girlfriend, Jackie, headed up first thing to be met later that night by Kris and Aimee.  We braved the Friday morning traffic in order to get in line early enough at Tree House Brewing Co., which is an hour outside of Boston, in Charlton, MA.

Well known in the northeast and around the country for their top-notch beer, they are also known for their unique distribution.  You see, they don’t.  You have to go to them.  No drafts in bars and no cans on beer distributors shelves.  So people line up early and wait and then through a surprisingly orderly system you write down which cans you want and how many and you buy them resulting in something that looks like this.

Or something stacked much higher and wheeled out the door on a hand truck.  We quickly filled our cooler (severely underestimating how much beer we were going to buy) and had to improvise and create a cooled space with ice packs and those handy cardboard cases for what we couldn’t fit in the cooler.

We had passed by a Cracker Barrel on the way to the brewery off the interstate highway so we stopped there on our way back before heading to Boston.

With full bellies, we made the hour drive to our Airbnb that we had rented and unloaded our bags and filled the fridge with our 90+ cans of beer.

A short ten-minute walk away from our home for the weekend was the Sam Adams Brewery where we went on a tour of which is now their experimental brewery with a few samples to go along with it.  The tour was crowded but also free and made for a great way to kill some time.  

At night, we took an Uber into downtown Boston and walked around a bit and had dinner at one of the Legal Sea Foods in town.  We used to have one near us and would go there often for a great meal, but sadly it closed.

Kris and Aimee would arrive around 12:30 at night while we were all asleep (thankfully for them I heard my phone ringing and was able to let them in).

[baseballjourney]

05.26.18

This trip to Philadelphia, PA was supposed to happen two weeks earlier so that we could see the Philadelphia Phillies host the New York Mets but that was cancelled due to severe thunderstorms in the area.  That game was rescheduled for later in the year on a day that wasn’t free for us so we decided to get this ballpark out of the way and see the Phillies take on the Toronto Blue Jays.

We left our homes and drove down to Philadelphia at 8 am and arrived at 11 am.  We skipped the ballpark tour at Citizens Bank Park and found a parking garage in Philadelphia to do some sightseeing before the 4:05 pm scheduled start time of the game.  First stop would be at the famous Reading Terminal Market which is one of America’s largest public markets and has been open since 1893.

Here one can find fresh baked pastries, sandwiches, coffees, seafood, and pretty much anything else that one could want to eat.  We came for the roast pork sandwich served at DiNic’s which was voted Best Sandwich in America in 2013.  We order two sandwiches to split between the three of us topped with broccoli rabe and provolone.  Pictured below is one half of one.

Seating at the market on a busy Saturday was difficult.  We ended up finding three seats open around an older lady who ended up talking our ears off.  No wonder those seats were empty.  We hurriedly ate our lunch and left the table in search of a place to grab a beer.  But first, I wanted to check out Beiler’s Donuts in the market where you can watch the donuts being made right in front of you.  The line was long so I figured it would be worth it to get two while we were there.  No shots of the donuts but the coconut custard and vanilla frosted were awesome!

We had passed a restaurant on the way to the market so we headed there for a quick beer to wash the lunch down.  After leaving there, we hit another spot for another beer before a quick walk over to Independence Hall and a glance at the famous Liberty Bell.

After our sight-seeing trip we hopped back into the car and took the 15 minute drive down to the ballpark for the game.  We exchanged our tickets for ones in the first row of the 300′s and aisle seats for today’s game and entered the Citizens Bank Park.

As you walk along the wide concourses you can see down to the field most of the way around the park.  Plenty of varied foods and beers offered as well to make a great impression of the ballpark.  

The tiered bullpens are nicely featured in the outfield so that you can get a nice view of them as you walk around the park.

After grabbing beers, we walked up to check out our seats which ended up not being aisle seats at all.  Turns out seat 1 in section 323 is actually up against a concrete wall which you need to walk past 13 other seats to get to.  The humidity was high on this hot day, so sitting in our seats with zero breeze and the heat radiating off the wall next to us was not going to happen.  Not to mention there was standing water at our feet which smelled like it was right out of a swamp.  

It was a great view but it wasn’t going to work at all.  We ended up taking our seats up to the top row of the stadium and enjoyed the nice breeze on our backs.  There was a 15 minute rain delay during the game and the start was delayed by 45 minutes due to heavy rains.  The starting pitcher for the Phillies, Aaron Nola, took a no-hitter into the 7th inning with a 1-0 lead but a couple of walks and a hit tied the game up 1-1.  The Phillies scored a run in the 8th and ended up beating the Blue Jays 2-1.

After the game, we drove up to Pat’s King of Steaks for a cheese steak with wiz and onions which is always the highlight and must-do on a trip to Philadelphia.

With our bellies full, we drove home to New York.  Made it to Philadelphia and back on one tank of gas too!  Another successful trip.  Next up will be another road trip up to Boston in September.

Box Score

Pictures

Home Team Record:  15-11

[baseballjourney]

09.19.17-9.21.17

Aaaaaannndddd..... we’re driving back to Orlando.

Our trip to Miami concluded the baseball portion of our trip with the Mets loss to the Marlins.  The remaining two days were spent at Disney World for their Halloween themed night and a full day at Epcot Center.  

Upon returning to Orlando we met up with Kris and Aimee at Chuy’s, which is a great tex-mex place which we had back in Austin a few years back.

The must-have plate here is the Chicka-Chicka Boom-Boom chicken enchiladas smothered in their chili and tomatillo sauce.  There really is nothing like this and it becomes the most memorable meal of any trip.  After Chuy’s we checked in to our room and bided our time before heading over to Disney around 5pm.  

We arrived early enough that we were able to hit all of the rides at the park and covered the whole grounds before watching the firework show on our way out.

The next day we got an early start and took an Uber over to Epcot Center to ride the rides that they had there before the real fun started.  One of our goals (and reason) for coming to Epcot was to complete the unofficial drinking-around-the-world challenge, which is to have an alcoholic beverage at each of the country pavilions as you walk around the property.  An added bonus was that we were there during the Food and Wine Festival so that there were many additional “countries” represented with their own selection of food and beer or wine.  We were successful in this endeavor, hitting all of the main “stops” plus many additional stands along the way. 

We even made friends along the way!

Here I am in Germany!

One of the last stops in the park that night for one more group shot.

Very inebriated but not quite ready for our heads to hit the pillow, we headed to the poolside bar at the nearest hotel for a shot or two and more beer before relaxing lakeside when that bar closed.  At that point, some of us had had too much to drink and started making friends with people who didn’t necessarily want to be bothered ::cough:: Michelle ::cough:: so the night had to end and we called for an Uber back to our hotel.  

Last day of the trip consisted of stopping at a Local Burger Co. on the way to the airport for one last beer and burger before flying home.

Very good burger but a shame to end this great trip.  Brendan and myself would head home that day and the others would leave the next day.

To get a count on ballparks visited, we are up to 25 now with 5 to go.  Coming up in 2018 will be a trip to Philadelphia and Boston (we have already been to Boston though), a trip to Detroit in 2019, and then a big closeout trip to St. Louis, Kansas City, and Denver in 2020 to finish our journey of all 30 parks.  One other park that hasn’t been written about is Dodgers Stadium which we visited about 10 years or so ago.  Perhaps we’ll get back there to do a proper write-up of that park somewhere down the line.  Stay tuned!

[baseballjourney]

09.18.17

We slept in a little on this Monday morning and as we were packing up I received a message from a co-worker inquiring where I was.  “In Orlando, Florida” was the response, which was a surprise to him since I was scheduled to be at work.  So long story short, always check your work schedule despite having vacation approved months ago!

With that cleared up (partially), we left our room and got into the car and headed towards Miami.  A few hours later and we were checking into our hotel where we were met by a few animal friends.

Before the trip, we had decided on trying some authentic Cuban sandwiches so, after checking in, we drove over to a restaurant not too far from our hotel.  We sat at the counter and tried our best to order two Cubans and two Presidentes in our best spanish which, thankfully, Brendan remembered more than myself.

After lunch we parked our car back at the hotel, our feline and feathered friends still hanging around, and ordered up an Uber to take us to Marlins Park for tonight’s game.  

We arrived early in anticipation of finding some good local beers and food to enjoy.  Neither were found unfortunately.  Maybe we just missed them.  We found one local beer stand run by one brewery which left us drinking the bigger brands afterwards.  Marlins Park has a retractable roof which was closed for the game and, as was the case in Tampa, the game experience was lacking.  This was the first game played here since Hurricane Irma.  The upper deck was closed and it was a sparse crowd.  

As for the game, Matt Harvey gave up 7 runs and the Mets were never in the game losing it 13-1.  It was a horrible and forgettable game for the Mets which mimicked they’re season.

After the game and after waiting forever for an uber to get us, we called it an early night with the return trip to Orlando looming in the morning.

Box Score

Pictures

Home Team Record:  14-11

Mets Away Record:  6-6

[baseballjourney]

09.17.17

Waking up on Sunday morning, our time in St. Petersburg was more than half way over.  Brendan slept in and me and Chris sampled the hotel breakfast station.  We had planned on driving to the game and parking nearby the stadium but as we were checking out a shuttle bus to the game just pulled up.  In a mad dash, we loaded the car with our bags and jumped into the shuttle and were on our way to Tropicana Field!

Now I don’t want to say that Tropicana Field is a bad ballpark, because its not (Hello Oakland!), but in my opinion its for sure in the bottom 3.  We arrived around 11:30 am or so for the 1 pm game so we had some time to check out the park.  Some of the highlights include the Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame and the 35-foot, 10,000 gallon Rays Touch Tank.

There was also a large bar area in the outfield where you could watch the game.  Overall the stadium has a very unconventional design with a lot of staircases and escalators as you walk around the main level.  One thing we did find, tucked away in what seems like a basement, was the craft beer stand which had 10 or 12 local beers on tap.  We spent quite a bit of time here sampling the local stuff and after a few trips we definitely got our moneys worth.

As far as the game goes, the Red Sox lost to the Rays by a score of 3 to 2 in a largely uneventful game.  The seemingly older crowd was quiet for the most part, not sure if that was due to the end of a losing season or the median age of the ticket holders.  Thank goodness for that craft beer stand.

After the game, we hustled back to the meeting spot for shuttle and boarded up along with the same family of Red Sox fans we shared a ride with earlier in the day.  Back to the hotel and back into our car for the trip to Orlando.  

We did stop for a pint at Cigar City Brewing in Tampa, one of Florida’s more famous breweries.

We arrived in Orlando and subsequently at the Disney’s Beach Club Resort room of the Rachek’s just in time to see the sun setting on this busy day. 

We all went out to the ESPN club at the Disney Boardwalk area for dinner and drinks.  Walking along the boardwalk there were many places for ice cream or pastries and more drinks to be had.  We even were able to catch part of Guardians of the Galaxy while relaxing on some fake turf which was actually quite comfortable and nice.

Before we were to head back to our room at Disney’s All Star Music Resort was one last stop on the Boardwalk at Jellyrolls, a dueling-piano bar.  A good time and a few more drinks were had there. 

It was here that my rarely recurring food allergy showed up again so we needed our Uber driver to take us over to the local Walgreen’s for some Benadryl.  Soon after that we were back at our Not-remotely-as-nice-as-the-Rachek’s room for some shut eye.  And maybe some thrown pillows because one of us snores and the other can’t stand it.

pictures

BOX SCORE

Home Team Record: 13-11