Day 22

Today the Diamond League went from four members to three, temporarily. Andrew is taking a short break from the trip to attend and participate in a wedding in Milwaukee. He is playing the trumpet during the ceremony for one of his friends. He will be back, don’t worry. He had an early flight out of Tampa and made it safe and sound into Milwaukee. 

The rest of us slept in a bit and eventually found the motivation to roll out of bed. Tim went to take the car in for its second oil change of the trip, and we’re sure the Jiffy Lube guys questioned how we could accumulate another 5,000 miles in less than two weeks from our last oil change. They got the car road ready, and that’s all that matters. 

  It was also laundry day round 2. After a few tries, we found a laundromat, and did laundry, grabbed some groceries, and enjoyed lunch while watching Gilmore Girls and our clothes dry. 
The drive from Tampa to Miami isn’t too terrible, and we made it in great time. Being on the coast we decided to go for a seafood dinner. We ended up at Casablanca on the Miami River. It was a pretty snazzy place. The waiters would even open up and offer you a wet wipe to clean your hands. The food was tasty and being out by the water was nice, but a little humid. 
  We got to Marlins Park and really liked it. The park has a retractable roof, similar to Miller Park, and it was done really well. Marlins Park is the youngest park in the MLB right now, built in 2012. We are pretty sure it will be around long enough for the four of us to get back for a game eventually! Marlins Park is home to some pretty cool stuff, including The Bobblehead Museum and the Home Run Monstrosity (Tim’s words)! 
  We sat in the outfield for this game, and while we were a bit of a ways away from the game, it was probably Megan’s favorite. We were seated in Section 137, Row 7, Seats 1-3. Megan really likes the number 37, it was a pretty big deal. 
  We were able to see the Home Run Monstrosity go off 3 times, but there were only 2 official home runs. The first hit (believed to be a home run) was reviewed and deemed to be a foul ball. But we still got to see the show. Marlins Park is definitely a few flights of stairs up from Tropicana Field. 
  The Marlins took on the Rockies tonight and won 5-1. It was a great night for baseball. We even got a fireworks show at the end of it all!

 After driving around for a while, we made a pit stop at a Wal-Mart for night driving provisions and aloe lotion (we are still pretty sun burned) and began the long, long, drive to New Bern, NC, our next rest stop.