Let Us Go Twins!

 Minneapolis, MN

Target Field for a Twins Game

The other night Donna and I went to a Minnesota Twins game. It was a little over a year ago, when we were staying here, that I realized that the Twins stood for the Twin Cities.  I guess I thought the team was named after some wealthy white guys twin children or some other Twins thing but no, it has TC right in their logo.  Anyway we went to a Twins game and had a great time.

We are able to walk there.  We took the Google directions on the way there which took us through parking lots, across stroads, and through industrial areas to save 1 minute.  On the way home we simply walked the way everyone else walked, down a bustling 7th street to Nicolette Plaza, a pedestrian thoroughfare.  Get better Google!

The team store has many beer coozies to choose from.  You can put your $16 can of beer in one if you like.

The stadium has a very popular area with cornhole and mini golf.  People were hanging out over there the whole game.

Behold!  My $16 can of beer!  Donna did her best Vanna White impersonation but the lighting wasn't great.

I guess they sell State Fair food here but I am skeptical.

I finished my Beer and Cheese Brat before the game even started.

Our Twins (named after The Twin Cities) were playing The Miami Marlins.  I knew them as the Florida Marlins.  Also we will be in Miami in about a week!  More on that in another blog post.

We climbed to the top of the stands and could see our apartment building.  It's the brown building in the center of the photo just to the right of the tall building.

As the sun set over the ballpark, the neon sign looked cooler and cooler.

For most of the game The Twins were trailing The Marlins, the team with the worst record in the league.  We tied up the game 4 to 4 going into the 8th I believe and finished regulation all tied up.  This meant extra innings!  We are going to get full value!

Donna and I watched as the teams switched up getting ready for the 10th inning.  We both thought we blacked out because before we knew it there was a runner on 2nd base.  We both commented on not remembering any play that would have lead up to this.  It turns out that there is a new rule this year that places runners on 2nd base in extra innings to speed up the game.  It ended up making the game quite exciting.  The Marlins scored 1 in the top of the 10th so it was up to The Twins to score or the game would be over.

Carlos Santana (no not that one) was wearing a rally hat in his photo

So I tried to look cool in my rally hat.  It's working right?

Rally hats didn't work.  The Twins ended up losing and as of today they are relegated to the golf course for the playoffs.  We are just going to call this a rebuilding season and feel great about the possibilities come Spring. 

That's it for today.  If you missed, Soups On At The Supper Club, check it out.  No really, check it out.  There are great photos of Prime Rib in a truly midwestern venue.

We're Talking Baseball

 St. Louis, MO

I bet you can't guess where we are!

Busch Stadium

Today we took advantage of the nice weather and visited the 10th most urbanist ballpark in the US according to CityNerd.  We took the bus there and then did the walk up to the stadium with fans.  We grabbed a hot dog and then found our seats.  I chose the 400 level along the 1st base line because all of the research I did showed that this was the best area for shade the entire game.  I even took a few photos from The Gateway Arch to confirm the shade.

Check out that sweet sweet shade!  (taken the other day atop The Gateway Arch)

I got excited when I saw The Gateway Arch as we rounded the grandstands.

And then I saw The Gateway Arch from our seats!

We got to watch some tiny jumping spiders during the game.  We also did some birding and saw a Peregrine Falcon.

The Cardinals beat the Diamondbacks 14 to 5.  We saw singles, doubles, triples, home runs, and a Grand Slam Home Run.

It was a fun day in the shade enjoying the game. If you missed Missouri Botanical Gardens check it out.

John Waters, Car Repairs, and an Orioles Game!

 Baltimore, MD

The Bird Nerds in Birdland!

Morning 

This morning Donna had her check up with Kaiser.  She booked early so she was able to get an appointment in South Baltimore.  Her appointment was at 10 so we futzed around getting ready until a text came in saying she needed to be there half an hour early.  We had to kick it into high gear to make it.  We got ready and went to the car and as I did my U-turn to head in the right direction the car made an absolutely horrible noise.  The front end was whirring and squealing.  We didn't really have any other choice but to go and hope the car didn't break down on the way.  I haven't been in this situation since I was a kid.  We started the drive and then had to stop for about 8 minutes for a freight train to pass.  We weren't going to be half an hour early for her appointment.  Once the train passed we drove carefully to Kaiser.  I dropped Donna off and then went to get gas and take a look at the front end.  When I got to the gas station I looked and nothing was smoking or on fire so that was good.  I couldn't even smell anything that caused concern.  After filling up I drove to the parking garage at Kaiser and called Pep Boys and told them what was going on and they said, "We can help, bring it in".  By the time I was done with the call and heading to the waiting room Donna was done with her appointment.  We decided to drop Donna off at the house and then I would do the 6ish mile drive to Pep Boys.  The drive took me though downtown and I was able to see more of Baltimore which was nice.  I made it to Pep Boys and the guy behind the counter took our info and then asked about being from Washington.  I told him about our trip and another guy came over and we talked about camping for about 20 minutes.  They were really nice and gave me a lot of info that we won't be able to act on until next year at least.  I took a Lyft home and we waited to hear what the damage would be.  

Manny, Moe, and Jack are ready to help!

At noon I had signed up for a virtual event hosted by The Maryland Center for History and Culture.  They were doing a Zoom interview with John Waters about old Baltimore movie theaters.  Donna and I both love John Waters as a public figure and artist.  He is so funny and entertaining to listen to.  He is part of the reason why we are in Baltimore.  Most of his movies are set here and he makes Baltimore look like a very interesting place, which it is.  His adventurous spirit, I am sure, made it even more interesting for him.  He talked about old movie houses going through phases of being first run big title theaters, then B-move / Exploitation Film Houses, then "porno" theaters, and then back through the cycle.  It sounded like Baltimore didn't have true porno theaters due to it being one of 2 cities with a City Board of Censors until 1981.  The board would watch 3 movies at a time muted (because they couldn't cut dialog) and note time stamps of what content should be cut out of a movie to be shown in Baltimore City. It was really interesting the way he talked about it because many of his films were subject to this process.  He mentioned that the theaters that showed racy movies simply cut out all of the content that wasn't racy and showed that.  He is a big movie buff so he went to all kinds of theaters with all kinds of audiences.  There is documentary called "Sickies Making Films" that documents Baltimore and the Board of Censors.  It is on Kanopy and we will be watching it very soon.  The interview is called, "Talking Charm City Theaters with John Waters, the Baron of Bad Taste" and I hope they put it up online for all to watch.  I will keep an eye out for it and if I see it I will let you know.  It was really great.

Talking Charm City Theaters with John Waters, the Baron of Bad Taste

During the John Waters presentation I got a call from Pep Boys.  The van's whole left side rack and pinion steering is shot and needs to be replaced.  It is our first big car expense since before 2007 so that isn't bad at all.  When we get it back we will have a replaced front end and it will have been looked over by mechanics and safe for more road tripping!

Waling to Another Baseball Game

Later that evening we walked to Oriole Park at Camden Yards for an Orioles Game.  This is our third baseball game (others are here and here) on this trip and the third game we didn't drive to.  

Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a great stadium rising from the middle of downtown Baltimore.  It opened in 1992 and is known as the ballpark that forever changed baseball.  They decided to buck the trend of making multi-purpose stadiums and make a Baseball Stadium.  It turned out to be a popular decision and led the way for more baseball only stadiums to be built.  I was able to buy cheap tickets off of Stub Hub the day before and we ended up in the front row on the 3rd Base Line.  The game wasn't very well attended for some reason.  They appear to be above 500 so I don't know why.  It was a great game and the Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers 8 to 1.  

Pickles Pub gets busy before and during games

I shoulda brought peanuts!

The Orioles have many versions of their mascot

The Cal Ripken Jr. streak

The Kids Corner featured Cocktails and Cold Beer

Front Row!

Donna spent some time watching the spiders build webs in the net squares

They had a Simba Cam at one point and people enjoyed silly poses with children and not children alike

Donna got to model my new hat

Winning!

It ended up being a great day with a rocky start.  Tomorrow I pick up the van and life continues as normal or as not normal depending on your perspective.  If you missed yesterday's post you can find it here.  We went to the Capital of Maryland and visited the State House.