August 06, 2005
the 2004 baseball trip - photos & more
(harrisburg, pa)
With less than two weeks until the 2005 baseball trip, I'm happy to have finally posted the photos from the 2004 trip. Sure, there were a few blog updates, but now you can view ten dozen snapshots from a trip that took three of us from Brooklyn, NY to Minneapolis, MN and back.
Here's the story with a few thumbnails and captions.
And here is the first page of the index (photos only)
August 31, 2004
no wave zone (midway stadium, st. paul)
should one expect anything less from a team partially owned by bill murray?
but how did we miss pillow fight night?
for another photo of the signage at midway, check out dan's fotolog.
friendly cops, not so great merch
Ahh, Erie, Pennsylvania. Home of the SeaWolves. On a fantastic afternoon we arrived in downtown Erie and found the stadium without any sort of problem. Then we magically found free parking across the street in a parking deck. Okay, saying that it was magical to find free parking on a Sunday afternoon is probably overkill, but it still felt pretty good. We got into the game right as things were getting underway and I decided to revisit the ballpark hotdog situation (more about this sometime in the future...basically I went on the trip wanting to have one dog at every park. That plan went belly up when I encountered a monster dog in Minneapolis). With a dog and a tasty pretzel tucked away for lunch, I decided it was time to take a few photos.
There was no camera power. I'd left the battery in the car! Talk about afternoon drama! The ballpark had a clear no re-entry policy, but the police offers at the front of the stadium were kind enough to initial my ticket and let me go to the car. Feeling the urge to take a lot of picturese, I started with the three cops. They immediately asked if the photo was going to be on the internet. My answer? "Yes, of course." And now it is. On the internet.
Lots of great photo taking took place at the SeaWolves game and I was ready to buy a t-shirt but found nothing that looked like something I'd be comfortable wearing. I kind of like the Wolf Pirate logo, but it shouldn't be so huge on the shirts! And there should be more colors available, too. I'm much more likely to buy a dark colored shirt than a white or light grey one. Other than that, I'm ready to head back to Erie next summer.
August 30, 2004
the baseball road trip from a dif. camera
dan has completed posting his photos from the baseball trip on his fotolog (just click the "next" button to advance in the series). they're quite fantastic and make me wish i wasn't so exhausted by the time we got to detroit - all those tiger statues are terrific.
August 26, 2004
an 8th inning haircut in st. paul
(photo by jamie)
August 25, 2004
the twin cities wouldn't be any fun without KFAN
While in the midst of the great baseball roadtrip 2004, which, by the way, never got any sort of official party trip name, we stopped at an internet cafe and I made an appeal to readers urging them to fax us the list of things to do in the Twin Cities that was created by the readers of bat-girl.
We went to sleep dreaming of the number of faxes that would pour in the following morning. My bloated ego told me to expect hundreds of pages from dozens of different readers. The fear was so overwhelming that when I requested a wake up call I asked if there was a charge to receive faxes. My cautious, nervous and always bumbling side (the one that convinced me it was best to avoid the dancing at that Rockford, IL bar) told me that we'd leave the motel empty handed and in the mind to find an internet cafe with a working printer at our next stop.
Dan, Jamie and I couldn't have been happier that morning when during check-out the clerk produced a healthy seven or eight page fax from all-around great and helpful guy, Kfan. Kevin came through in a big way and we all feel a great debt to him. That man knows how to support the internet! When we saw this billboard for KFAN radio in Minneapolis outside the Twins game, shivers ran down my spine. How great is it that the station with those call letters was based in the city where we were headed? The city that Kfan had printed info about? That meant picture time! Thanks, Kevin!
the vendor who didn't think you actually wanted that beer
At "U.S. Cellular Field" in Chicago Jamie's friend Gary joined us. And we all had a few beers while watching the Chicago White Sox.
The beer vendor pictured above was in no rush to "up sell" anything. He was barely intereseted in selling beer at all. I don't remember the exact line he used at one point, but it pretty much involved him telling us that we didn't want a beer. He was very monotone and after five innings I finally felt like I was in on his joke and he became my favorite vendor of the trip.
the vendor who didn't think you actually wanted that beer
At "U.S. Cellular Field" in Chicago Jamie's friend Gary joined us. And we all had a few beers while watching the Chicago White Sox.
The beer vendor pictured above was in no rush to "up sell" anything. He was barely intereseted in selling beer at all. I don't remember the exact line he used at one point, but it pretty much involved him telling us that we didn't want a beer. He was very monotone and after five innings I finally felt like I was in on his joke and he became my favorite vendor of the trip.
the story of the stone arch bridge
After Thursday night's Twins game, Dan, Jamie and I tried to make the most of our time in Minneapolis and St. Paul. One of the things suggested on the internet was a 3am drunken trip across the Stone Arch Bridge. After a drink at Grumpy's (where the doorman was very friendly and helpful) and a stop for cash at a gas station, we headed toward the bridge around 11:30pm.
As we weren't exactly sure where we were going, we realized that maybe the ATM visit before a trip into a dark, underpopulated section of town wasn't the best idea in the world. At one point the sidewalk split with one part following the road and the other section going down into the trees with no apparent exit. We tried the downhill trek first. After a few more jokes about getting mugged, and with me brandishing my tiny pocketknife, we turned around and folllowed the sidewalk next to the road. That took us directly past a few old mills and right to the entrance of the bridge. And then more walking. Oh, and I was saying "hello" to everyone we passed. I think that bothered Jamie and Dan, but I was trying to figure out how to be Midwestern and whatnot. After crossing the bridge we took a right and eventually crossed through Dinkytown. One guy we passed even said hello to us first. I felt vindicated. This late night walk eventually served as a warm-up for the bicycle ride we'd take the following afternoon.
(Please note that all my entries about the baseball trip may contain half-truths. I often try to capture the spirit of things and fail on getting the details correct. Sometimes I miss the spirit of the event as well. In this case I didn't tell you that Jamie suggested we buy a few beers for the walk across the bridge. I declined. About halfway across the bridge I realized the error of my ways. I almost left that out of the story in order to make myself look better. If there are more stories from the trip, you can be certain I'm leaving things out but only doing so to make myself look better or because I have a terrible memory.)
August 23, 2004
"it would've been a long trip if... whoa"
i was about to say that we're not that drunk, but dan just tripped on the bed and lost his train of thought. we're back at the ramada. we're in altoona, pa. and there's wireless internet. i'm pretty sure we're staying here on a senior citizen's discount. we didn't even need to show alex's cane to the hotel clerk, not that mr. johnson is with us on this trip. but if he was, he'd be having one swell time. we showed up to the ramada because that was the hotel that advertised at the altoona curve baseball game - it was fireworks night tonight! our second fireworks night of the trip. last night in detroit was the first. inbetween those two games we made a stop in erie, pa for a few innings of seawolves baseball. the altoona curve and the seawolves had sucky merchandise. so far i've failed to buy a shirt or a baseball cap. it's kind of annoying. tomorrow afternoon is little league world series action. and then it's back to brooklyn. it feels like we've been on the road for three or four weeks. and the car's mileage surely reflects that idea.
st. paul is possibly the most amazing city in the midwest. i'm going to campaign that instead of renting a place on fire island next summer we rent a giant place in st. paul. there are bridges and bars and gambling nearby. we crossed the stone arch bridge by the old mills in minneapolis around midnight and it was a lot of fun. from there we ended up at a bar in st paul. there was an internet jukebox (aka dj machine according to one of the women i met outside the twins game - she was with a few friends and all four of them were drinking fourties - it was awesome. i don't know why i didn't take a picture. and i really don't know why i didn't get any phone numbers). anyway, the jukebox was internet style and we couldn't find any songs from erick bachmann on it. no archers. no barry black. no crooked fingers. i tried to hit up the machine for a track from grandaddy, but last call reared it's ugly head and we took off. and i stopped at burger king for some kind of angus burger concoction. which reminds me - dan is right when he says that fast food in the middle of the country is much better than fast food on the east coast. i'm considering going to grad. school to study whatever sociological aspect of that needs studying. why??????
(instead of exclamation points, this entry will be all about question marks)
(also, donovan - we're sorry we didnj't consult you regarding the twin cities - all of us forgot that you once lived there).
but back to the questions -
why did i suggest taking the highway through the middle of chicago on saturday afternoon? we got to detroit late. but the game went into extra innings, so it was okay that we got there during the fifth inning. standing room only seats were all that was available.
for a guy who hadfive or six bourbons plus two "orange slice" shots i'm making a remarkable coherent entry. i guess that's what happens when you've been away from the computer for almost a week. there's some sort of mathematical relationship there that i won't even try to get into.
another question - why did we walk to the bar tonight instead of taking a cab or accepting the offer of an 11pm ride from the hotel front desk attendant? the cab cost money which isn't an issue- but that lacked the spirit of adventure. and waiting for the hotel clerk for an hour didn't seem like a fun time. she was cute and fun and friendly but she wasn't quite yet drinking age. and the hotel clerk last night off the ohio turnpike was a friendly red haired dude who was kind enough to give us a late night discount. the night before that we ended up at a hotel that kept the pool and jacuzzi open all night. lots of good hotel luck, that's for sure.
umm,,,,,,,,,ooh - commas! now i'm rambling.
total thanks to kevin for faxing the list of things to do in the twin cities. it came in totally helpful. the st. paul saints game was awesome!!!!!!!!! we met a great guy named scott there who TOTALLY HOOKED US UP. we got to go into the bowels of the stadium and meet the pig mascot. i'm sure dan will have all of it in his end of year right up and there will be hundreds of photos between the two of us. keep an eye out for all of that. plus, i got a haircut at the st. paul saints game. how rockin' is that?????
yeah, so that's the teaser update. there will be more to come in the following weeks. and i will work on writing some jokes over the next twenty hours so that from now on you'll have some things to laugh at.
jamie and dan are both watching tv from bed and it's not even a sports show. it's some movie with lara flynn boyle before she got super skinny. before she starred in twin peaks. that's what road trips are all about. last call tonight was 12thirty. ridiculous. we played five games of darts at the bar. everyone there was friendly.
okay, time to log off and join the mst3k show going on next to me here.
UPDATE - it's five minutes later. i just read those last few sentences. this is even more boring and unfunny than i thought. maybe i'll update tomorrow morning from the lobby.
time for summer school. whatever happened to mark harmon???????
August 19, 2004
there are guys behind me "fragging" things
jamie, dan and i are at an internet cafe in rockport, illinois. we saw a baseball game at us cellular field this evening. we narrowly avoided the rain. oh, and i'm a little bit drunk. we were at the bar next door...well, three doors down. we had a drink or two and then took a right at the stripmall and popped into what i'm calling an internet cafe, but what is really a place filled with black lights and people playing first person shooter games.
hmm, let see. so far the trip has involved a lot of driving. and i meant to dance at the bar next door, but neither dan nor i had our cameras, so that made the dancing totally unnecessary. although jamie claimed he'd be able to record it with the camera in his mind. no dice. boo yah!!!!!
okay, here's the thing. internet, I NEED YOUR HELP. bat-girl was kind enough to post jamie's request asking for things to do in minneapolis. unfortunately, the printer here doesn't work. would someone mind printing the comments and faxing them to us at the red roof inn in rockFORD (turn out rockport is a shoe company!!! - who knew???)???? red roof inn. rockford, il. we'll try to leave by 9am (right!) CENTRAL TIME. so that gives you some time...but, please, someone help us out. those suggestions sound good. sorry i don't have the fax number, there, but i'm sure you can find it. unfortunately, i don't know when i'll have internet access again. it's like i've been kidnapped on some kind of crazy baseball trip!!!! but i decided i wanted to do it. and i'm wholeheartedly embracing it, including checking my fantasy stats at this internet cafe. jamie just called the comments """ALLL GOLD"""". don't know why there are extra quotes...but that just means YOU MUST COME THROUGH FOR US. I WILL BAKE YOU COOKIES. thanks a millions, dawgs!!!!
UPDATE _____ MOST IMPORTANT _______
***** i am not that lazy, i found the fax number for the motel Fax: (815) 398-9761*****
attention marc balgavy - room 246.
now, it's time for steak n shake!!!!!
who are we kidding - we're not going to be out by 10 am eastern time, we're probably not leaving til 11 am. dan hates 'til. it only saves one character.
there are guys behind me "fragging" things
jamie, dan and i are at an internet cafe in rockport, illinois. we saw a baseball game at us cellular field this evening. we narrowly avoided the rain. oh, and i'm a little bit drunk. we were at the bar next door...well, three doors down. we had a drink or two and then took a right at the stripmall and popped into what i'm calling an internet cafe, but what is really a place filled with black lights and people playing first person shooter games.
hmm, let see. so far the trip has involved a lot of driving. and i meant to dance at the bar next door, but neither dan nor i had our cameras, so that made the dancing totally unnecessary. although jamie claimed he'd be able to record it with the camera in his mind. no dice. boo yah!!!!!
okay, here's the thing. internet, I NEED YOUR HELP. bat-girl was kind enough to post jamie's request asking for things to do in minneapolis. unfortunately, the printer here doesn't work. would someone mind printing the comments and faxing them to us at the red roof inn in rockFORD (turn out rockport is a shoe company!!! - who knew???)???? red roof inn. rockford, il. we'll try to leave by 9am (right!) CENTRAL TIME. so that gives you some time...but, please, someone help us out. those suggestions sound good. sorry i don't have the fax number, there, but i'm sure you can find it. unfortunately, i don't know when i'll have internet access again. it's like i've been kidnapped on some kind of crazy baseball trip!!!! but i decided i wanted to do it. and i'm wholeheartedly embracing it, including checking my fantasy stats at this internet cafe. jamie just called the comments """ALLL GOLD"""". don't know why there are extra quotes...but that just means YOU MUST COME THROUGH FOR US. I WILL BAKE YOU COOKIES. thanks a millions, dawgs!!!!
UPDATE _____ MOST IMPORTANT _______
***** i am not that lazy, i found the fax number for the motel Fax: (815) 398-9761*****
attention marc balgavy - room 246.
now, it's time for steak n shake!!!!!
who are we kidding - we're not going to be out by 10 am eastern time, we're probably not leaving til 11 am. dan hates 'til. it only saves one character.
my fotolog