There are only two rules on the Baseball Trip:
1. No interstate highways.
2. No chain restaurants.
Indiana is still flat, but at least the corn looks better this year.
Before we started out this year, we filled up on eggs and sausage at the Salt & Pepper on Clark Street near Wrigley Field. When I say we, I mean me and my friend and navigator, Randy. (By the way, there were hundreds of people milling around Wrigley at 9:00 am on game day.) Randy and I like to make lists-you know- to while away the time as we drive across the country. It's a perverse version of the license plate game, if you will. We count things. We have counted Walmarts and cemeteries and women on riding mowers and war memorials and shirtless drivers and money for gold stores and many other signs of the apocalypse. This year we will count creepy church names (ccn) and weird encounters with animals (wea).
We are rolling through Indiana toward Ft. Wayne. Tonight the Ft. Wayne Tin Caps take on the South Bend Silver Hawks in a Midwest League A Ball confrontation. I know what you're thinking...Tin Caps? team name explained later...
Oh I have seen things. Northwestern Indiana what have you done, super mega strip mall mania town after town of auto parts stores, big box franchises, fast food emporiums lining construction littered streets 4 lane highways to hell Merrilville, Scherrerville, Highland I thought we were clear of this suburban claptrap visual noise. I can run, but I cannot hide. 80 degrees feels like 120, my internal compass spins as my brain fails to process information that should take seconds to analyze free me free me from this pain.
Random observation from Randy:
I have plenty of food for this trip, but these are not energy bars. These are white frosting covered chocolate paste.
Cool relief, finally, as we roll out east on Rt. 8 from Hebron. There is nothing special happening here, and I guess that is the point. Farm machinery and grain silage and cars for sale line the highway. Old men wait for the traffic to clear to cross the road and gather the mail.
We decide we will have BBQ every day. I don't know why. Except, it's BBQ. It is a goal, dammit!
Weird animal encounter:
"For Sale: Pygmy Goats"
Random observation from Randy:
Pygmy goats? I saw two goats and they were normal size. This is a scam!"
Creepy Church Names:
-Friendly Church By The Side Of The Road
-The Slice Of Life Church
Who would have thought that east central Indiana would be horse country? Miles of white fenced pasture home to prancing stallions and twitching thoroughbreds?
Fort Wayne. Not much happening here. But Parkview Field is home to the Tin Caps, and here we are.
Tin Caps? Apparently, Johnny Appleseed is big in Ft. Wayne. The Tin Cap refers to the pot he used to wear on his head as he was sowing apple seeds across America. What's up with that? Here's the logo:
Awesome. An apple with a pan on his head.
But hey...it's superhero night at the ballpark! Everybody dresses up as their favorite superhero! I'm not kidding, and I can prove it:
Anyway, here's a couple of views of the ballpark. It's a pretty cool place for A ball:
So, I get some nice folk to take my picture with Johnny Appleseed, statue-wise:
Okay, he's a goof. But what about the real mascot?
Anyhoo, this dude looks sedated, like most mascots. I am over my mascot fear and finally feel like I have a better job than they do.
Favorite Signs:
Stain Shop
Shigs in Pit BBQ
Stoner's Costumes
Favorite town names: Indiana Edition:
Bippus
Tunker
Toto
Leroy
Kouts
Random Observation from Randy:
'Realistic Taxidermy.' No! I want abstract taxidermy.
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