Editors Note

With the completion of the first 20 parks, we are boarding the Disney Fantasy on Saturday for an 11-Day Southern Caribbean cruise, which was scheduled prior to planning the baseball excursion. 

We will return to Florida July 11th and will resume our adventure with a visit to Miami for park number 21. 

We will also continue our side efforts to visit each of the lower 48 states. We have been to 32 so far and will provide a more detailed update later in the trip.

More soon. 

Game 20: Rays 3 - Astros 2

We made it to Orlando on Thursday night. Friday we got new shoes (tires) for the baby car. We had found a Discount Tire in Orlando and called ahead about a week ago to arrange for tires and a time to replace. She is happier now.

Today we board the ship and we are leaving her with the Audi shop in Melbourne to let them perform some TLC. We also arranged that in advance and our planning is solid so far.

Late Friday we ventured to Tampa for our 20th park visit. Turns out our friends Sam & Caroline just purchased a condo in Naples and decided to drive up to meet us for pre-game festivities.

We had such a nice time catching up. They are doing well and look fabulous.

We had read and learned from many sources that Tropicana Park is the least desirable park in all of baseball. It did not disappoint.

The game was good. Tampa won 3-2. However, with a crowd of just over 15K and many of them Astros fans, no one seemed to care.

The dome is an interesting feature. However, the whole arena feels like something out of a small town in the Dakotas (no offense intended to the Dakotas).

Our seats were nice and we had a good time ... unlimited drink refills too.

With 20 complete, it is time for our cruise break. More in a couple of weeks.

Game 19: Mariners 3 - Orioles 2

Heading out of Philadelphia, we journeyed to Lancaster for a long-late lunch with an old friend, Frank, whom I have not seen and/or broken bread with for 20 years.

It was so nice to catch up and exchange stories of life. Must not wait another 20 to do this again.

After our three hour lunch we journeyed south to Camden Yard, home of the Baltimore Orioles. Love Camden Yard! This is a beautiful park. As with last night, it was perfect baseball weather.

I will confess that I love the more traditional brick and exposed beam parks, and the brick wall beyond right field did not disappoint.

Great seats and great food (BBQ from Boog's) rounded out our experience.

The game was very close and, adding to the excitement, was back and fourth with the Marlines taking a late lead for a 3-2 victory. 

The next two days we will be making our way to Florida. Our next (20th) game will be Friday in Tampa and Saturday we board the Disney Fantasy. We also have some tasks to attend to and will share more details later this week.

Game 18: Yankees 4 - Phillies 2

Monday morning we headed for Annapolis and had a great lunch at Chick & Ruth's. After lunch we made a short tour of Annapolis (see the capital dome in the background) and then took the bay bridge across the Chesapeake Bay.

During the afternoon we wandered through rural Maryland and Delaware on our way to Philadelphia. The game tonight is a rare inter-league game with the Yankees visiting the Phillies. This match up only happens once every three year and the park is sold-out (a first for the summer) with about half the crowd made up with Yankee fans.

It was a perfect night ... 80 degrees with a light breeze. We sat in the upper deck, at the rail.

And, our view included the downtown skyline.

The game was close throughout. However, the Yankees pitching was strong and they took an early leading. Never really threatened, the Yankees topped the Phillies 4-2 (our second Phillies loss witnessed in two consecutive nights).

Tomorrow is our final outing in the mid-Atlantic (Orioles) before we make our way south for the three southern teams (Tampa, Miami & Atlanta), along with our mid-baseball trip Southern Caribbean Cruise (6.30 - 7.11).

Game 17: Nationals 8 - Phillies 6

Spent Saturday traveling from Cleveland to D.C. Along the way made a surprise pop-in to see Ken & Laurie again.

We encountered more crazy-rain in Maryland and made our way to D.C. for a late bite to eat ... chili Saturday at Woodmont Grill ... yum!

Sunday we walked the Mall of our Nation's Capital. It was a beautiful day and the mall was filled with a National BBQ event. We enjoyed a few pictures and found a great spot for a late lunch right by the Navy Memorial.

The Nationals game was the Sunday night game and began at 8:08 PM. We toured the park, found our seats, met some seat mates and settled in for the evening.

The park was OK. Lots of growth in the area. We could see seven construction cranes from our seats, just over the left field wall.

The game was very entertaining. As it moved back and forth, we experienced a 50 minute rain delay in the fourth inning, just in the midst of a National's rally.

In the end, overcoming a 6-2 deficit, the Nationals prevailed. We departed the park at 12:42 AM.

On to Philadelphia.

Game 16: Indians 10 - Tigers 0

Our drive from Cincinnati to Cleveland was "top-down" gorgeous for the first half and dark rain cloud with lots of rain for the second. We arrived in Cleveland about 4:30 and joined our friends Ken & Laurie for pre-game festivities.

It had been way too long since we had seen them and we had a fabulous time catching up on their activities and those of their three awesome kiddos. I should say, catching up, while it was raining outside. 

Scheduled game time was 7:10 PM. We left them about 7:15 and walked toward the park. After our normal park exploration, which typically takes about 45 minutes, we snapped a picture of the surroundings.

Tarp still on the field, it was then that we learned that first pitch had been re-scheduled for 8:50 PM. We grabbed a $1 hot dog (you have too when it is $1 hot dog night ... this is our fourth such encounter).

At 8:48 PM, first pitch was thrown and we avoided our third serious threat of a rainout! Feeling pretty blessed. 

By the way, check out that screen ... 221 x 59 (feet) ... the largest in MLB.

We really liked progressive field and it was a great game for the home team (10-0). Among the nuances of the park is that fact that they play classic rock-n-roll for all of the stadium music (makes sense given this is the home of the rock-n-roll hall of fame).

 

The game was followed by our second set of fireworks (the first being in Detroit), set to the music of the women of rock. It was great ... even a bit better that Detroit. Given that it was already late, we had no problem deciding to go ahead and stick around.

Off to Washington D.C.

Game 15: Reds 6 - Cubs 2

After departing Minneapolis, we headed for Chicago. Turns out our friends from Lubbock, Mark & Pam were in Chicago for the week so we met for an early dinner.

We had a great time, dining on Michigan Avenue.

Just as were were finishing dinner, Pam looked up and said, "do you know that Jacob is in Chicago?". Turns out that Even, Pam's son is connected to Jacob via social media. Jacob had just arrived for a work trip and after some texts and a phone call, we learned his was just blocks away.

We parted with Mark & Pam and then met Jacob for an unanticipated gathering.

Great stop off!

Game 15 in Cincinnati represents the halfway point in our ball park visits. Traveling from Chicago to Cincinnati we crossed the 10,000 mile mark. We also drove through crazy rain. (For those of you who don't know, for Beth, rain is similar to Disney character encounters and bears.)

Every forecast said rain. Nevertheless, we forged on.  Below is the photo of the sky just before first pitch. It was amazing how is cleared.

We enjoyed Great American Park. The Cubs lost 6-2 to the Reds, which was the only sadness. The park is in a great area and we like downtown Cincinnati. However, the park is otherwise fairly unremarkable.

In the 6th inning the rain returned.

However, with our rain gear we endured to the bitter end, completing our full outing at the 15th park, including the Reds "redzilla" celebration. (Note: This thing shoots t-shirts into the upper deck!)

Game 14: Twins 5 - Red Sox 2

Monday was our first no-baseball day in a week. That was both a little sad and a welcome respite. We journeyed from Kansas City, and the very warm hospitality of Lynne/Mark (sister/bro-in-law) to Omaha to have dinner with our friends Jim and Mandy (and their three adorable children ... see what I mean):

It great to catch up! After a long dinner (the kids were remarkable), we headed off to overnight in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Tuesday we journey up through North Dakota and then headed back east, toward Minnesota.

We arrived in Minneapolis to a very pleasant evening for baseball. The Twins hosted the Red Sox at Target Field.

We had nice seats on the first base side.

And, the highlight of the night was catching up with and obtaining a delicious hot dog from our friend Mark (during spring training in Mesa each year he is "the beer guy" ... his home park in Minneapolis, he is "the hot dog guy").

We enjoyed our experience at Target Field. It was aided by another home town win, in fact, a big upset of the league leading Red Sox.

Wednesday is another travel/off day as we head toward Cincinnati for Thursday. Looking like lots of rain. We'll see.

Game 13: Astros 7 - Royals 4

Happy Fathers Day!

Today we were treated to Game #13 by Lynne (Beth's sister) and Mark (her husband). It was a nice day game, but a bit on the warm and sticky side.

Lynne did an excellent job with seat selection! Great view, complete shade and on the same level as the main concourse, providing a nice breeze.

We all enjoyed a very entertaining game ... sorry for the loss to the home team (Royals). I am sure our hosts were disappointed, by they kept smiling.

Thanks for a nice Fathers Day ... and, thanks for all the well wishes.

Next stop will be Tuesday evening in Minneapolis.