The Baseball Trip 2019

Day 12, Wednesday, July 24.

Yeah, we're going home. We are even breaking rule number one of the baseball trip: No interstate highways. We are taking 65 home to Chicago, 94 after that. We are done. No more 100 degree days, no more typhoons, no more closed exhibits. Home. Randy says we can get home in time for me to play with my trivia team at 7pm. Okay.

So that sucks for everybody, and I sped home as fast as possible...no pictures. But...I do have a picture that was not included along the way yesterday:

Me and Big L at Lexington. God, that was awesome. My life is now complete.

Favorite town names: Waddy, IN
                                      Simpsonville, IN

Favorite signs: Cheese and More!
                          Waffles and hi-fi!

Things we cannot hang around for: Rebecca Ruth Candy Tour.
                                                             Kentucky Good Vibes Festival

Random observation from Randy: Two days straight, 80 degrees and clear. We left one week too early. What the hell.


That baseball dope is Big L's friend Peewee. Whatever.

We did not even get the traditional end of the trip root beer float. Damn!

The Baseball Trip 2019

Day 11, Tuesday, July 23

Well, this night turned out weird. More about that later.

We emptied out of the Blue Ridge Parkway into Tennessee and drove north and west up into Kentucky to Lexington . Along the way we stopped to take pictures at the Big Creek Intake at Rogersville, Tennessee.

Also, we followed a crick alongside 347 North in Tennessee:

347 North

We rode into Lexington, anxious to see the Lexington Legends face The Kannapolis Intimidators in a Class A battle. The Legends are an affiliate of the Kansas City Royals; Kannapolis belongs to your Chicago White Sox. Lexington plays in Whitney Bank Ballpark:

 Front gate.

Big L greets you as you enter under his crotch.

 Left field.

 Center field.

 Last night was dollar hot dog night. Tonight is 25 cent hot dog night. This is about one-third of the line. It travels around the ballpark.

 Right field party deck.

Down right field line towards home plate.

Sunset over the ballpark.

Favorite signs: Frog Level Road
                          Stinking Creek
                         
Favorite town name: Middlesboro, TN (home of Lee Majors)

Things we cannot stick around for: Storage Auction, Corbin, KY

As we were leaving the game, there were various median strips in the parking lot we had to cross to get to our car. Randy stepped over a giant tree root, but he hit the next one and tripped. He fell into the lot and cut his face and scraped his knee. A bunch of people saw it happen and rushed over to see if he was ok. These people were saints, offering bandages, antibacterial lotion, etc. They asked if he was ok, and as he pointed at me said, " It was his fault."

Random observation from Randy: I said it was your fault so you would know I wasn't concussed.

Next : Home. Yes, home.

The Baseball Trip 2019

Day 10, Monday, July 22

Change of plans: Instead of Bluefield, Virginia, we drive through to Johnson City, Tennessee. Again, we pick up the Blue Ridge Parkway to take us there:

We arrived in Johnson City just in time for the game to start. They are the Johnson City Cardinals, and they belong to the St. Louis Cardinals. Tonight they play the Danville Braves - right - the Atlanta Braves. This is a rookie league, just below class A. The Cardinals play in TVA Credit Union Ballpark; here are a few shots:

 Outside the park.

 Left field.

 Right field.

 Caught this swing right at the moment of contact. It went for a double to right-center.

Me with Jay Cee, the Cardinals' mascot. See what they did there? Johnson City?

Random observation from Randy: Jay Cee is done handing out T-shirts. Now he's going downstairs for a smoke.

The Cardinals won rather easily, 7-4.

Favorite town names: Fries, VA
                                      Mouth of Wilson, NC

Favorite signs: Ham and Bacon Sold Here
                          Backwater Lane
                          Meadows of Dan
                          Peaks of Otter

Things we cannot hang around for: Lily Tomlin at Cape Fear Community College.

Next: Lexington, KY

The Baseball Trip 2019

Day 9, Sunday, July 21

After breakfast, we traveled south a few miles from the Baltimore area to Washington, D.C.

Random observation from Randy: That was a nice motel,,,,,sort of.

The temperature rose to 104 degrees by the time we hit DC, looking for the Library of Congress. Hey! Guess what? The Library of Congress is closed on Sundays. No History of Baseball Exhibit. The two main stops for this trip are a wash. Perfect.

Nonetheless, we also wanted to visit the FDR Memorial, and we accomplished that task:

 If his wheelchair looks pretty narrow, it's because he had it custom built to fit in the White House dumbwaiter.

The Great Depression Era and Roosevelt's words: "I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished." "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."

On the other side of the Potomac I spotted the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial:

After DC we again went south into Woodbridge, Virginia to see the Potomac Nationals play the Fayetteville Woodpeckers. The Nationals are a Class A team belonging to - you guessed it- the Washington Nationals. The Woodpeckers are part of the Houston Astros minor league system.

Because we took our time in DC, and because traffic in that part of the world is horrible, we did not arrive at the stadium until the sixth inning. Thankfully, the temperature had dropped all the way to 101 degrees. We did not stay long. We left after the sixth. Couldn't take it. There is no grandstand overhang and no concourse, so there was absolutely no shelter from the sun. But, pictures? Yes:

You can meet Uncle Slam at the front gate. That's not a typo.

 Left and center field.

 Right field and bullpen area.

 Press box area behind home plate.

From third base line.

So, yeah, we stayed about 25 minutes, in a pool of our own sweat,

Afterwards we drove the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Skyline Drive through the Appalachian Mountains. It's quite scenic and peaceful, except when you have to pull over when the typhoons hit:

Favorite town names: Pentagon City, VA
                                      Occoquan,  VA
                                      Steele's Tavern, VA

Favorite signs: Bohoc Bay
                          Back Lick Road
                          Ox Road

Things we cannot hang around for: Old Fiddlers Convention, Galax, VA

Counting items: 0

Next: Bluefield, VA

The Baseball Trip 2019

Day 8, Saturday, July 20

Move along, nothing to see here. Except that I lost more money. This time at a casino. With a race track next door to the casino. I didn't want to lose any more money, so I sat and watched the Cubs at the sports book. Randy wandered over to the track, and I said I'd meet him there after a while.

And the horses weren't running. It was too hot. 100 degrees. I guess he'd been playing the ponies at the OTB.

The place is called PARX Casino and Racetrack, and it's just outside of Philadelphia.

So...one suspended game, one rain-out, one cancelled racing day. The weather is not our friend.

Empty racetrack:

Empty paddock:

Favorite town names: Lester, PA
                                      Chester, PA

Favorite signs: The Pub Diner and Pub
                           Blue Ball Road
                           United Church of Prayer for Anyone

Random observation from Randy: It's is really hot and sweaty here. Good thing we're travelling south.

Things we cannot stick around for: Steve miller Band at PARX Casino.

Carnivals: 1 Yeah!

We head south to Lanham, Maryland, and listen to the Washington Nationals game on the radio.

Random observation from Randy: The Nationals are in Atlanta? We're not going to the game tomorrow night.

Next: DC

The Baseball Trip 2019

Day 7, Friday, July 19

Hey! We had breakfast in Asbury Park this morning, but we did not see Bruce or Southside Johnny.

We stuck around the area for a little bit after breakfast to catch the ponies at Monmouth Park. I lost $60.00, but it could have been worse if not for Gadget Man. The guy who lives across the street from me is called Ron the Gadget Man; he's a real gearhead. Apparently, he has patents that have something to do with fuel efficiency. You can look him up on YouTube. Anyway, a horse by the name of Gadget Man was running in the fifth, and I said, sure, I'll put some money on him. Well, that turned things around for me. I won the next race also.

Monmouth Park:

Entrance gate.

Grandstand.

Heading for the gate.

Paddock area.

That afternoon we headed west to Trenton, NJ, to see the Trenton Thunder play the Harvard Yard Goats. Yes, they are the Yard Goats. Trenton is a AA affiliate of the Yankees; the Yard Goats belong to the Colorado Rockies.

Only tonight, they weren't the Thunder. They were the Trenton Pork Rolls. I'm not making this up. Pork roll is a local (New Jersey) delicacy It's a processed pork product with some spice. You slice it up and have it with breakfast instead of bacon, or you serve it on buns with cheese. Every Friday home game the Thunder morph into the Pork Rolls in a tribute to their home state.

The Thunder (Pork Rolls) play at Arm and Hammer Stadium:

Front gate. Samuel J. Plumeri was the original owner, so they added his name to the ballpark.

Pressbox behind home plate.

Left & center fields.

Right field.

The line was pretty long to get a picture with Boomer, the mascot, so we photo-bombed him. Boomer is supposed to be a "thunderbird."

It was another record pace, two hours and 15 minutes! The Yard Goats won 2-0 on the strength of 6 no-hit innings by Hartford pitcher Heath Holder.

Favorite town names: Colts Neck, NJ
                                     Neptune, NJ

Favorite sign: Fight Like a Girl!

Counting items...0 again.

Things we cannot hang around for: Southside Johnny and the Jukes on Long Island.
                                                             The New Jersey Triathlon

Random observation from Randy: Four days in Jersey. It was really very...disappointing.

Next: More horses and a travel day..

The Baseball Trip 2019

Day 6, Thursday, July 18

Today we are taking a trip into Manhattan via the Staten Island Ferry. The object is to visit the new Jackie Robinson Museum. Except, there's one problem...it isn't open yet. It was supposed to be open now, I mean, they've been planning this for ten years. But no.

So we took the subway back to the World Trade center to take a look around:

 Looking back at the Staten Island Terminal

 Statue of Liberty from the ferry.

 Brooklyn Bridge from the Manhattan terminal.

 Inside the mall at World Trade Center.

Japanese wedding party, World Trade Center.

 One of several murals outside the tower.

 9/11 Memorial.

Afterwards, we drove out to Little Falls, New Jersey, to see the independent league New Jersey Jackals. When we arrived, we saw the sign: Tonight's Game Cancelled.

It's been a wicked couple of days as far as expectations were comcerned. It seems the field had been soaked by the recent typhoons and was unplayable. But hey, I still took photos:

 The front gate at Yogi Berra Stadium. The Jackals use Montclair State University's baseball field as their home field.

 This is the best shot I could get through the locked front gate.

 Yogi Berra. He looks like he pulled his groin.

Favorite sign: Do Not Pet Me (bomb sniffing dogs)

Favorite town name: Hackensack, NJ

Still no counting items!

Things we cannot hang around for: Red Bank Food and Wine Walk, Red Bank, NJ

                                                          Jazz every Wednesday Night at the Ranchero.

Random observation from Randy: I'm wearing jeans today instead of shorts. I don't want New Yorkers to think I'm a tourist.

Next: Monmouth Park to play the ponies & Trenton Thunder baseball.