Back in Denver for one night following my flight in & out of Houston, I woke at 6:00am the next day to begin the longest drive between stadiums Denver to St Louis (about 15 hours total).
In order to break the drive up, I decided to check out somewhere new (as the main highway travels through Kansas City where I’ll be for a game shortly), and settled on heading slightly north along interstate-80 to Lincoln, Nebraska.
In stark contrast to the previous drives in the scenic desert of Utah and the picturesque Rocky Mountains of Colorado, I pretty much had 7 continuous hours of this.
Although there were some nice spots to rest and recover…
Nebraska also had this WILD arch over the highway. No idea why (did not do any research)….
Despite the repetitive scenery and heat, it was a pleasant drive with few interruptions and I arrived in Lincoln (with the clock moving 1-hour forward to Central Time), at about 2:00pm.
First things first, it was important to maintain the car so I booked in for an oil change and quick service. Once “Casa del Nitro” was all clear, it was on to check out the University of Nebraska’s football stadium.
Nebraska has a proud football tradition, with multiple National Champions throughout the 1990’s – although recent seasons have not been as fruitful. The stadium was cool and it felt as if it was the centrepiece of the entire town both literally and figuratively, with every single person walking around rocking their finest “U of Nebraska” or “Go Big Red” t-shirts.
Following my self-guided tour of the stadium, I ventured to local bar “Barry’s” to grab a bite to eat and seek some refuge from the heat. It was here that my server – who’d never met a REAL Australian before – advised me that in the evening there would be a professional baseball game between the local “Lincoln Salt Dogs” and “Fargo-Moorhead Red Hawks”, and I should check it out.
After giving it about 5 seconds of thought, I immediately paid my bill and was back in the car driving 10 minutes away from “Haymarket District” to the Salt Dogs Stadium.
General admission tickets were a steep $5, but I didn’t care. You can’t put a price on an experience like this. Basically, it felt not to dissimilar to a Mosman Rugby game day, with locals relaxing on a grassy hill taking in the action, some people electing to take a seat, plenty of cheap beers & food and kids running around having a blast high off all the sugar.
Unfortunately, for the local Salt Dogs, the Red Hawks were too strong and took them down 9-4, though it wasn’t for lack of effort or enthusiasm!
Following the game, I decided I’d treat myself, and booked a hotel in downtown Lincoln (shout out Hotels Tonight app) to properly “Stop, Revive, Survive”. The solid nights sleep and breakfast I’m about to get will be worth it before I continue driving to St Louis for game 9/10 on Thursday.
Until then, be good.
Thirty before 30 