Say cheese!

So, before our baseball game at Wrigley Field, we had about 1/2 hour to wander around the stadium.

I knew there was a Harry Carey caricature right above the press box. I walked down (pretty close to the field and snapped a photo).

<-- see the cartoon Harry Carey?

Then, a nice, old lady usher asked if I wanted my photo taken. I figured, what the heck, and handed her my camera. I assumed it was obvious what I was taking a photo of, I mean, Harry Carey is pretty famous. My back was turned away from the field.

She takes my camera in her shakey hands and I think, "well, this will be a blur-fest." Then she keeps slowly lowering and lowering my camera.

"What is she possibly taking a photo of?!?"

After she snaps my photo, she hands me my camera and says, "is that ok?" I look at the photo and say, "yeah, it's great - thanks!"

Here is the photo I got. Pretty sweet huh? *ha ha ha*

Go Cubs go!

Our last baseball game was a noon-er in Chicago. We had to leave Detroit at the crack of dawn in order to be in Chicago by 11am. We all wanted plenty of time to walk around Wrigley and take it all in.

I had been to Wrigley Field over 10 times, but I hadn't been there since 1998. Jonathan had never been there. The stadium is over 95 years old, so it's a pretty special place full of history.

We had rockin' seats in section 216. We were under the overhang, so we were in the full shade. I could see everything except 2nd base, thanks to those famous Wrigley Field poles.

The Cubs pitcher had a no hitter going into the 7th inning ... but no hitters are boring. Bring on the runs!

The Cubs beat the Reds 3-1. Queue the music: "Go Cubs go ... go Cubs go ... hey Chicago, what'd you say? The Cubs are gonna win today."

I am officially exhausted and pretty darn dizzy from the bus ride. I haven't gotten sick all trip, so I'm pretty proud of myself. So I'm sitting here in a Milwaukee hotel, trying to recover.

What am I doing in the hotel ... watching baseball of course!!! The Brewers are crushing the Cardinals.

Adios Lame-Ville

Ok ... I'm being a little hard on Detroit. I mean, I guess it's not there fault that all the jobs disappeared. But how many people can harass me while I'm walking around the baseball stadium.

No, I don't have any extra tickets.

No, I don't need to buy tickets.

No, I don't want your American flag pin.

No, I don't have any spare change.

Comerica Park (Tiger's stadium) was super cool. There were giant tigers everywhere, and lots of fun history stuff to look at. They also had a small ferris wheel made of baseballs!

The fans however ... pretty lame. It took us forever to finally get the wave going. And they were just so quiet. "Do, do, do do, do doooo ... *silence*". Where's the 'CHARGE'?!?

Well, we're off to bed. We're leaving the hotel at 7am to haul buns to Wrigley Field by noon tomorrow.

Free Stuff!

The stadium and team I was least looking forward to was the Pirates. Nothing against the Pirates, but I just have no feelings towards them ... good or bad, just no feelings.

It was free t-shirt day, and they actually had size S t-shirts. Normally freebie t-shirts are always 'one size fits all', so I was quite excited to get a shirt I can actually wear.

Then, they had a roulette type wheel, and I won a super cool stars and stripes Pirates hat! So I was decked out in head to toe Pirates gear. Enter 1 ice cream in a helmet later, and I'm a happy camper.

Also, enter 1 ice cream helmet I found on the ground after the game, and I'm an even bigger happy camper.

Tomorrow morning we don't have to leave until 10am, which is a big change from leaving at 8:30am ... so I get to sleep in a tad! Yee-haw!

Tomorrow, Detroit!

Broken Promises

Well, it's day 3, and I didn't have a hot dog today. I broke the 1 vow I made for this trip.

For the Indians vs. Blue Jays game we had "party deck" seats. So we had a huge FREE spread of food from 6-8pm. I had a pulled pork sandwich and mac 'n cheese ... and 3 cookies. The cookies were garnished with blueberries, and I also ate 2 lbs of blueberries.

The Indians Stadium (Progressive Field) was my least favorite so far.

A - it was just kind-of boring

B - there was nothing featuring the movie Major League

C - they didn't sell ice cream in a helmet

It was Jonathan's favorite stop so far, because:

A - he bought a t-shirt for $6

B - he got a free Shin-Soo Choo bobblehead

C - he got to see a Shin-Soo Choo homerun

D - free food!

Tomorrow we have a short 3 hour drive to Pittsburgh for the Pirates vs. Phillies. Go Pirates!

Home run!

Woah - we just saw an awesome game in Cincinnati!

The Reds were down by 3. 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth. 2 men on. Votto, the Reds best hitter is up to bat. I'm complaining that nobody has hit a home run yet because I want to see the smoke stacks shoot off fireworks ...

Boom!

3 run home run to straight away center! Reds tie the game!

Phillies score 3 runs in the top of the 10th to win ... but who cares! It was a great game.

Plus, the Red's mascot, Mr. Redlegs, is such a cutie with his handlebar mustache.

It's 11:09pm, and we have to wake up at 7am tomorrow morning to move on to Cleveland.

Zzzzzzz ...

Go Brew Crew!

One baseball game down, 5 more to go!

Jonathan and I are in full vacation mode. We're doing a Jay Buckley baseball trip. We flew into Milwaukee yesterday morning, went to a Brewers game last night, and now we're headed off to Cincinnati.

Eventually we'll also make stops in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Chicago (Cubs).

Contrary to what you're probably assuming ... I picked this vacation! My dad used to get a Jay Buckley brochure every year in the mail, but we never went on a trip. So I'm finally going!

My goal is to eat a hot dog in every stadium (although, last night they gave us free brats at a tail gate party, so that kind-of counts) AND ice cream in a helmet!

Let me tell you, the ice cream at Miller Park (Brewers) was enormous! The mini helmet was filled to the brim. The first thing I did was spill chocolate sauce on my tennis shoe. So now it looks like somebody pooped on them.

Well, it's 7:15am, and we have to board the bus to Cincinnati. I've got some pretzels, Back to the Future 1 & 2 and my Snuggle. Let's roll!