Day 27

We had our last meal in America for a while. Andrew found us a cool coffee shop called Roasting Plant. It’s a cute little place with a ton of coffee options. The only one who was slightly disappointed with their order was Tim. His cookie dough shake turned out to be a coffee cookie dough shake, but the coffee cake made up for it. 

  Today we entered a phone free zone. We know we used them a lot, but not having service or data, through us through a bit of a loop. Our phones are our primary map system, and by primary, we really mean only. We got a little turned around in Canada on the way to Toronto, but we made it to the hotel safe and sound, after a scenic drive through the Canadian farmland. 
We checked into the hotel, and booked it to the park. We had a tour of the stadium set up with the Blue Jays, and we got there about 15 minutes late. Thankfully, they were still there waiting for us. We got to watch a bit of batting practice, and got a nice walking tour of the first few concourses. The roof of the Rogers Center was open so we could enjoy the beautiful day and our view of the CN tower. 
  We had a good view from our 500 level seats and the game was pretty entertaining and fairly short. The Blue Jays beat the Mets 8-0. We have seen this game twice, once in Toronto and once in New York and have gotten to see both teams win. Over the course of all three Toronto games we have seen over the last 4 days, we have seen the Blue Jays score 24 runs, which is huge! 
During the game we had a seat visit from some of the Blue Jays staff to welcome us to our first Blue Jays game. As we might have mentioned before, Tim has been scoring every single game we have attended. Not just keeping track of who wins, but marking down every hit, run, out, walk and pitch in an official score book. It is very legit. Megan has been watching him for the last 20-some days, and she got to score half an inning to practice for her debut at the Phillies game. 
  This was our fourth inter-league game, and the AL and the NL were tied 2-2 in our personal records. This was also our last inter-league game of the trip. 
After the game, we hit the streets of Toronto in search of pountine. We were told to try Smokes, and it was the right decision. For those of you who don’t know, pountine is a Canadian snack, consisting of fries covered in gravy and cheese curds. Pretty much the best snack ever. Smokes offered a lot of additional toppings as well so you could turn it into a pretty solid meal. We all loved it. Andrew topped his with caramelized onions, Megan had hers with bacon, Rebecca got traditional, and Tim got Smokes most popular topping: pulled pork. 
  No one left hungry, and after the walk back to the hotel, everyone was ready for a solid nights sleep. 

Day 26

After a tasty meal with Andrew’s family, we left The Garden State for The Great Lakes State. The drive was fairly uneventful. Megan and Tim got very excited when we passed Scranton and played 30,000 pounds of Bananas by Harry Chapin. 

We got to the Doubletree in Detriot, our first night of back-to-back hotels, checked in, dropped our bags and went to the game. We just a little pressed for time. We had purchased parking months ago, before we realized how close the hotel would be to the park. It might have saved us time to just walk, because the parking signs were severely lacking in providing direction. Lots of teams could work on improving that. Eventually, with the assistance of a very helpful parking attendant, we found Lot Y (why? Because we needed to park) and went into the game. We were joined by Cristina, a Marquette friend and Detroit local for the game. 
    Comerica Park was pretty cool. We got a nice view of the city from our seats including Whale Tower, painted by Robert Wyland, Megan is a big fan. The park doesn’t just have a baseball diamond in it, it also has a baseball Ferris wheel, and a tiger themed carousel. While we didn’t ride on either attraction, we appreciated both for their unique qualities. 
  We could definitely tell we were in The Motor City, Ford Field was right across the street, and Comerica had a huge advertising display for Chevrolet. 
The Tigers took on the Reds for game 22. This was the first time we have seen back-to-back home runs, hit by Reds players Todd Fraiser and Jay Bruce. We saw Aroldis Chapman pitch for the Reds, and watched him throw a 103 mph fast ball. In the middle of the game, Anthony Gose, a Detroit runner, was trying to run from third, which is a very regular occurrence in the game. He had a bit of an obstacle though, as there was a bat laying in his running path. He cleared the bat by maybe an inch and appeared to score his run. However, the ump called him out. We have been seeing a lot of over turned calls these last few days, and sometimes they are just a little hard to believe. In the end, the Reds beat the Tigers 5-2. 
  After the game we were serenaded by some local musicians, including one of the most impressive brass groups we have heard (their projection and range was phenomenal) and a really powerful saxophone player. The music was a great way to end the day. 

Day 25

Today, we got Andrew back! He had been gone for much too long. While he was in the air making his way to the rest of us, we enjoyed brunch at the Morning Glory Cafe with Tim’s grandparents and drove out to Laguardia to pick up Andrew. 

  From there we figured out our plans for our day in New York City. We parked the car for the day near Citi Field and took the subway to the Freedom Tower. We spent some time at the 9/11 Memorial and got to go up to the observation deck of the Freedom Tower. 

The security set up to get in was very similar to being in an airport. We had all of our stuff for the game with us, and for Tim, that meant he had 20 shot glasses in his bag. The security guard commented on that as the backpack went through the scanner, and when we explained the trip to him, he was very excited for us. 

  The tower is 104 stories (1,776 feet) tall. The elevator ride to get from the lower level to the observation deck took less than a minute, and wasn’t your typical elevator ride. The walls of the elevator were video screens that showed the innovation made to the area from the 15 hundreds to today. We saw the city develop before our eyes, up to the construction of the tower and then we were at the top. After a great opening presentation, we got to experience the incredible view. It was a little overcast but we were still able to see so much. After staring out the windows, taking plenty of pictures, and seeing a cool video presentation, we went back down to join the rest of the people on land. It was a much different elevator ride going down. The video screens made it so you could see the outside of the building as you were going down. It also made it feel as it you weren’t going straight down, which was a little strange. The most upsetting part of our time at the tower regarded one of our pictures. We have joked over the trip that eventually someone we ask to take our picture will say no. Well, figures it would happen in NYC of all places. Oh well, we eventually got it!

  After the tour, we went to John’s Pizza, a favorite of Andrew’s family and ate a lot of delicious New York style. For dessert we walked around the corner for some gelato. 

We took another subway back across the city to catch the game. The Mets were playing the Blue Jays and we got to watch our second extra inning game of the trip. We were also able to get on the jumbotron, which doesn’t happen as regularly as you would think. Andrew’s dad and Uncle Dave, joined us for the game. The Blue Jays tied it up 2-2 in the 9th inning, and the game went to 11 full innings. Bautista of the Blue Jays hit two home runs over the course of the game, hitting one in the 1st and one in the 9th. 

  Blue Jays pitcher, Mark Buehrle, threw four perfect innings during the game, but then the Mets got a base hit. The fourth inning was an active one. The home plate umpire was hit by a ball, and couldn’t continue umping the game. So for the first time any of us had seen, there were only 3 umpires for this MLB game: one at home, 1st, and 3rd. Because we were down an umpire, there is a chance that the Mets shouldn’t have won. But, who are we to question their decisions. 

The Mets ended up winning the game in 11 innings 4-3, ending the Blue Jays 11 game winning streak. 

  We made it back to the car, spent what felt like forever waiting for the valet to help us check out and drove the Chatham, NJ to spend the night at Andrew’s house. We were welcomed in with late night snacks and comfy beds. 

We are into the last third of our games, which is hard to believe. 21 games and 25 days down, 9 games and 12 days to go!   

Day 24

Today we drove from New Bern, NC to Boston. At one point in the scheduling, we considered driving straight from Miami to Boston. I’m sure everyone involved is glad we took a short break. 

The drive was fairly easy, and our last overnight one of the whole adventure. There were very few mishaps on this leg, including a bit of reverse driving near a toll booth, but it’s a laughable moment now. We made the drive a little longer than it needed to be so that we could drive into New Hampshire. With all of our maps and planning, we realized we would be driving through a total of 36 states on this trip. Well, 36 is very close to 37 and we will be on the road for a grand total of 37 days. Megan talked us into going a bit out of our way to get the 37th state, and she almost slept through the whole 30 seconds we were over the state line. 
  After paying a ridiculous amount of money for parking we rushed over to Fenway Park for our pre-game activities. We were greeted by Red Sox Ambassador, Carter Reed, who took us down to batting practice and gave us a private tour of the park. Since it was a Sunday afternoon game, we weren’t anticipating there being any batting practice, however, due to the recent lacking performance of the team, it was mandatory, which was nice for us. 
  We were able to see the press box, the club seats, and got to hang out on the Green Monster for a while to watch the rest of batting practice. During that, we saw some balls fly over the Green Monster and hit cars that were parked in the same structure we were. Thankfully we were parked on the lower level and there was no denting danger. Carter was even able to get us a seat upgrade. Coming into the park we had standing room only seats, which we wouldn’t really recommend. 
The Red Sox took on the Blue Jays today, and it wasn’t pretty. This was the first game we had been to where the fans were boo-ing the home team. The Red Sox have a lot of work to do, but it was an enjoyable game none-the-less. We saw three home runs during the game, and one of them went over the Green Monster. There were a few mistakes throughout the game, like two Blue Jays running into the Green Monster while running for a catch, and three Red Sox running, stopping, and missing a catch. This was also the most runs we have seen out of any one team this trip. 
  One of the funniest moments that didn’t really impact the game, were the two hooligans that ran onto the field. They were caught relatively quickly, but the crowd ate it up. The sound guy played “Drunken Sailor” as the two guys were carried off the field and one of them danced along with the music. It was very funny. 
  After the game we drove to Old Lyme, CT to stay with Tim’s grandparents for the night. We got our third “Made by a Grandma” meal of the week (lasagna) and had a very relaxing night spending time with the grandparents before being sent off to bed at a very reasonable hour. 

Day 23

Today was a day spent primarily driving and sleeping. It was one of our 7 free days, and was used to help us get halfway to Boston. 

We left pretty much right after the game in Miami to drive to New Bern, NC. It was planned to be about a 12 hour drive. We learned that while having the backseat to spread out while sleeping, only working with a 3 driver rotation isn’t ideal. We miss Andrew. 

The ride was spent sleeping, watching Netflix, listening to the number 1 song on the charts for the past 8 weeks (Shut Up and Dance), stopping for doughnuts, a little bit of backwards driving on the tollway, and being slightly delusional. All in all, it was a pretty normal ride for us. 
  We got into New Bern, NC to spend the afternoon with Rebecca’s grandparents. Megan and Tim were kind enough to let Rebecca sleep for most of the drive so that she could be up socializing with her family during the brief visit. We were all fed lunch and showed to our rooms. Megan and Tim both got pretty substantial naps, and Rebecca got some great quality time. 
  She was lucky enough to not only spend the day with her grandparents, but also with her great aunt and uncle, Kathy and Russ, and her great-grandfather. It was great being able to see everyone and catch up, even if it was just for an afternoon. 
The original plan was to go to church in town, but we were all too exhausted to make it. Sleep just had to take precedent this time around. 
We had a great rest of the night filled with happy hour and a delicious dinner. The table was filled with fun stories and laughter. It was nice to have dinner at a table again. 
We pulled out of New Bern around 8:30pm to finish the leg up to Boston for a 1:30 game. It wouldn’t take nearly that long to get to the city, but we planned a few detours. Thankfully this will be our last drive though the night, and our last long leg without Andrew. 

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. 

Day 21

The first few hours of our day were spent driving to Tampa from Atlanta. It isn’t too long of a drive, and we probably could have gotten a hotel in Atlanta for some sleep. But, we drove though. We made it in about 7 and a half hours, and it wasn’t even 6am. We have slept in the car as it was driving though the night before, but this was the first time that we actually all slept in the car at the same time. We pulled off at a rest stop and took a 3 hour nap. 

Our next stop was Andrew’s grandmother’s house. She welcomed us with a huge breakfast spread and sent us on our way to the beach. 

  We spent the afternoon at Clearwater Beach swimming in the Gulf of Mexico. We put on sunscreen, but still got a little pink around, well everywhere. We had a great time in the water and technically got to swim with a dolphin. We took a long walk down the waterfront and went back to Andrew’s grandmother’s place for a late lunch. It doesn’t matter whose grandma is cooking, but nothing beats a home cooked meal by a grandma. 

  We drove into St. Petersburg, checked into our hotel and walked over to the park. We were conveniently staying a mile away. Tropicana Field is a dome, which is good for the hot and rainy Tampa climate. It is pretty funny looking, as it has a tilted roof, which makes it look like it could be sinking. The field is turf, and a little patchy, and the fan base could use some work. 

  Megan and Andrew set on this trip determined to count the number of balls used during a single game, so they chose Tampa to count. The total number of balls used during the Rays-Angels game was 111. We almost caught one of the foul balls, but it was just a bit out of reach. Hopefully we have another chance at one of our remaining 12 games. The game moved pretty slowly and the two ball counters have decided they will need to count at another stadium as well to see compare the numbers. 

This was the second game that we almost saw one batter hit for a cycle (a single, double, triple and home run [in any order in the same game]). Mike Trout of the Angels was very close, but couldn’t get the triple. We will keep hoping to see someone achieve that, and a perfect game. 

  We made up four of the 10,000 fans that came out to the field and it was a pretty quiet experience. Most of the teams have great sound crews that pump up the crowd and we didn’t really get any of that here. Regardless, we cheered on the home team, and the Rays inevitably lost to the Angels 6-2. 

After the game we went back to the hotel, where we did what we could to help our sunburns and most of us looked forward to a good nights sleep before continuing on to Miami. 

Day 20

The drive from Baltimore to Atlanta is about 10 hours. We decided in the planning stages that we would drive through the night and stop in Greenville, SC which was only 8 hours away, take a nap, and then drive the very short drive to Turner Field for our 17th game of this trip. Tim’s older brother, Joey, offered us his apartment for the morning, and even did some grocery shopping for us. Rebecca and Andrew took care of the driving and everyone slept very well during our daytime nap. 

  We didn’t get to do our customary walk around the concourse before the start of the game, but we got to do something a lot better. Before the trip, Rebecca reached out to all of the MLB teams telling them about our adventure. The Braves thought it was a cool idea, and Chandler Faccento, a Guest Services Coordinator with the Braves, made sure we would have a great game day experience! He arranged for us to get field access before the game so we could watch batting practice, and promised us some pretty cool Braves gear. Needless to say, we were excited to go to the game. This was our fourth and final time seeing the Braves on this trip, and it was also our third and final time seeing the Padres. These two teams have given us some of the best game day experiences so far on this trip, and we wish we could continue to see them over the next 17 days. 

  When Chandler brought us down to the field, he mentioned that his boss, Erin Sheehan, was a Marquette grad as well, and was very excited for us on our trip. She came down to the field to meet us and we got to talking about the trip and Marquette. She asked us where we were sitting for the game, and we told her in section 415. She said no, and pulled some fancy Guest Services strings and we were upgraded to section 108! She took us on a little tour of the offices where we got to see some pretty unique Marquette gear, and talk about the construction of the new Braves ballpark: SunTrust Field. If we had more time in Atlanta, we probably would have been able to see some of the construction in person. As if the Braves and our Marquette connection hadn’t already spoiled us enough, we were also given field passes for the Charlie XCX concert post game, and the promises of H & F Burgers at some point during the game. 

  We found our amazing seats, met up with Joey and sat down to enjoy the game. This was our third time seeing Ross pitch for the Padres. We were a little worried for the Braves going into this game. We always cheer for the home team, and we are keeping track of our home team record. The Padres have hurt that record twice. They lost at home when we saw them against the Pirates and beat the Reds in Cincinnati. But today, the Braves won 4-1 and our home team record moved to 10-7. 
  We were surprised with some amazing Braves gear bags, filled with tshirts, hats, bobble heads, and tomahawks. They were a welcomed surprise. After the 7th inning stretch (which the Braves announced very well) we got to try H&F Burgers. Erin told us they aren’t as good as Sobelman’s in Milwaukee, but they are pretty tasty. We determined that they are a very different burger, and delicious. H&F is a restaurant in Atlanta that doesn’t have burgers on the menu, but is famous for them. The owner will sell 24 of them each night at 10pm, and that’s it. They are all made the exact same way, and they are pretty coveted by restaurant goers in Atlanta. 
  After the game we stayed for a bit of the Charlie XCX concert and then went for a drive around downtown Atlanta. It was pretty late so we couldn’t stop and do much, but we made sure to drive past the Georgia Dome and were very surprised to see that they are building a new stadium across the street, which is scheduled to open in 2017, the same year as the new Braves park. We will have to come back to Atlanta sometime in 2017 to experience the Braves in a brand new place and see the new football stadium.
  

Day 19

Our hotel in Pittsburgh conveniently had a Panera Bread in it, so we got a hot breakfast there before driving to Baltimore. It is only about a 4 hour drive from one park to the other, but we had big plans for Baltimore. The Orioles were kind enough to give us complimentary stadium tour passes, so we needed to be ready at the park by 1pm. 

  We planned it out leaving plenty of time, but once again, we came across a park whose parking signs threw us off a little. We found the spot and booked it to Camden Yards. Rebecca’s dad and brother were joining us for the game and the tour, we found them and caught the tour just as it was heading out.  

We learned all about the history of Camden Yards, which used to be the home of various warehouses and a train station. The park was built in the last 30 years, but was built to feel old. The designer wanted a ballpark, not a stadium. We have seen plenty of both on this adventure, and Camden Yards really feels like a ballpark. We were able to sit in the dugout, check out the clubhouse, see the media spaces, and we heard quite a few stories about Babe Ruth, who started on the Orioles. He grew up in a saloon that geographically was in the same space as right field, and Ruth grew up to be one of the best right fielders in baseball history. That is pretty cool. There is a statue honoring Babe Ruth outside of the park, and we were let in on a little secret, there is a mistake. We won’t tell you what it is, but we challenge you to figure it out the next time you are in Baltimore. 

We were kicked out of the park for a while so they could set up for the game. We moved the car and then took a walk to the harbor with Rebecca’s family. We got a great view of the city and it was a nice walk. 

  Mr. Dempsey treated us to dinner at the ballpark that night. In the eighties, the Orioles had a Rick Dempsey on the team, so it was the obvious dinner choice for us to go to Dempsey’s. The food was great, and the table got to experience bacon on a stick. It was the thickest bacon we had seen, covered in maple syrup. Dinner was great and we made our way to the seats. In addition to Rebecca’s family coming to the game, Tim’s dad was able to come down from DC to catch the game with us too. He was on a business trip, and the timing worked out perfectly. It was great to have so much family with us tonight. 

Before our trip started in all of our planning, we really wanted to get tshirts for our group. They are perfect and list our tour dates on the back. Through a connection of Megan’s, our shirts were made and given to us from Marshall Sign out of Plymouth, Wisconsin. On the days we wear the shirts, we get the best responses from people who see us. They are always full of questions about our crazy adventure. We are so lucky to have such a great local business help support us on this trip and make the experience even better! 

  The Orioles were playing the Red Sox and there were plenty fans for both teams in the stands. Game 16 was a very low scoring one. The Orioles one and only run was scored on a wild pitch. We saw three plays go under review during this game, and two of them were back to back. 

When we were getting ready for the 7th inning stretch, and heard Take Me Out to the Ballgame start, but it was never announced. We joined in about a third of the way through and then sang along to Thank God I’m a Country Boy. 

The Orioles helped our home team winning average, and made Rebecca’s dad very happy with an Orioles win, and made Andrew happy with a Red Sox loss. Tonight will be another drive through the night adventure on our way to Atlanta. 

Day 18

Today was just about the halfway point. We have 19 days left on the trip, we saw our 15th game, and we have traveled a little over 9,000 miles. It’s hard to believe we have been living out of this car for over two weeks. 

The drive from DC to Pittsburgh is only 4 hours, so we once again got to sleep in a bit before once again packing the car. We checked into our hotel as the thunderstorms the weather channel predicted began. We are quite a determined bunch, so Tim set to coming up with a contingency plan. We had two options if the Pirates game were to be rained out: we could move around our Detroit and Toronto games and hotels to see a Pirates game on an upcoming free day or we could skip our visit to Omaha and drive from Minneapolis to Pittsburgh in the last few days of our trip. Neither would be very enjoyable, but they were both doable options. 

As soon as we finalized the back up plans, the rain stopped. But, that’s how it always works, doesn’t it. We had been told to eat at Pirmanti Brothers when we were in town for a sandwich. This isn’t your typical sandwich. This is a just fits in your hand monster loaded with meat, cheese, fries, cole slaw, and tomatoes. It was delicious! 

Pittsburgh has a lot of bridges in it, and we got to walk across one, much to Megan’s enjoyment, to get to PNC Park. We did our customary walk around the park and were excited for the game to begin. The Pirates were playing the Brewers tonight. This game was the only time we would see the Brewers on the road. Little did we know when the game began that this would be the longest game of our trip so far. 

In the second or third inning it began to rain a bit. Nothing terrible, just a little worse than a drizzle. The teams played through that, but an official rain delay was called during the 4th inning. Well, a rain delay happened, the Pirates never officially announced that there was a rain delay, unlike the other parks we have experienced them at. It would have been nice to have more information. We got a little worried at this point, because for a game to be considered a full game, it has to be at least 5 innings. This delay was our 4th of the trip, and the shortest so far. It only lasted about half an hour. The tarp was removed, and the game began again. 
  The game was moving pretty slow. The Brewers were winning 1-0 and the rain continued to soak the field. We made it through a few more innings, dealing with precipitation ranging from a light mist to a steady downfall, and in the start of the 8th inning the 2nd rain delay of the game and our 5th of the trip was once again called. 
We had a fun enough time up in our seats, but since the entirety of the remaining fans in attendance could fit in one section in the 100 level of the stadium, we decided to move down to the field. We hung out by the Brewers dug out and tried to get their attention. Megan was decked out in Brewers apparel and with the help of our sign we got some head nods of approval from the players. 
  After the grounds crew teased the stadiums a few times by partially taking the tarp off to add more dirt, it was determined the game would resume. At this point, it was nearly midnight. The game started at 7:05. We grabbed some seats right along the warning track, until a very grumpy Pirates staff member informed us that we could not in fact sit in these very open seats, we moved back a bit. 
We have never been in a stadium that was so quiet. The few hundred of us left could be heard shouting across the stadium. If you wanted a player to know what you thought of them, they would be sure to hear you, as there wasn’t the typical roar of 40,000 people drowning you out. Whenever Ryan Braun came up to bat, he definitely got the worst of the heckling from Pirates and Brewers fans alike. 
It was now raining harder than it was during the actual rain delay and the Brewers scored their second and final run of the game. The crowd got a few takes at a wave (which was the funniest version we have seen yet with all the empty space). And finally the game came to an end with the Brewers beating the Pirates 2-0. 

After a damp walk, we got back to the car, successfully figured out how to use the ticket system to exit the structure, and went back to the hotel after our 5 hour and 10 minute baseball game.