I’ve never been one that was too keen on the city of Baltimore, this despite only having been through the city once before for a few hours on a bus layover. However, while Baltimore will never make my top 5 list, Oriole Park at Camden Yards (a ballpark I’d been excited to visit for a long time), was so great it elevated my entire opinion of Baltimore and its people (just gotta remember they’re also Ravens fans… ok fine, shoutout Nat Connor).

My day in Baltimore began when I again left Pittsburgh following a good friend’s birthday (shoutout Ali). The usual suspects all went (Jill, Joe, Clare, Nick, Charlie etc.) to a restaurant for lunch which (obviously) kicked onto the night before I had to hit the hay before the 4 hour drive East from Pittsburgh to Baltimore early the next morning.

The drive was one that reminded me a lot of back home, with sprawling hills in West Virginia and Maryland running along side the highway from start to finish.

Finally arriving at about 12, I checked into my hotel (another beauty – shoutout Kimpton Hotel), showered and got ready for game 25/30 with the Orioles taking on their division rival Tampa Bay Rays.

Given Camden yards was only four blocks from my hotel, I decided to walk down and take in the atmosphere of the streets before the big game.

Despite this emptiness, once I arrived at the stadium I was truly taken aback by this modern classic.

Opening in 1992, Camden Yards was perhaps the pioneer of the modern “take” on the classic ballparks of yesteryear (think previously visited ballparks in Chicago and Boston), with exposed brick throughout, and using elements of the “B&O Warehouse” next door have created an awesome open space (only accessible with your game ticket) that makes it feel like a street party is going on next to an open deck with views of the diamond.

Then there’s the Orioles logo. Much like our friends up in Cleveland, the Orioles logo is up there with one of the best in all of baseball, and you bet that the organization reminds you of this, plastering it all around the stadium wherever you look – not that I’m complaining.

Lastly, it would be remiss of me not to mention another cool feature within the walkway  between “B&O Warehouse” and the field. I noticed there were a lot of brass circles on the ground in random spots. When inspected, these are actually markings of home runs that were hit that went way out of the park and onto the walkway, and not just for Orioles players – for everyone who’s ever hit one that big (it might be hard to make it out from the pictures). Truly a cool and unique feature!

The game itself was another exciting affair (I swear I’m never this lucky with the hot streak I’m on), with the hometown Orioles giving their fans plenty to smile about early on with three runs in the first inning (including a two-run homer).

Both teams would exchange runs in both the second and fourth innings which made the score 5-2 headed into fifth.

The hometown birds would then add another run and then blow up even further in the seventh with three more runs and in the eighth with another two. Despite Tampa Bay also tacking on runs throughout in the later innings, the game was ultimately a blowout 11-5 win for the home team sending everyone on their way happy on “Garden Gnome” giveaway day (you bet your ass I got mine too).

Following the game it was time to check out some of what Baltimore had to offer so I made my way down to “Inner Harbor” which is considered the main attraction of the city (after of course Camden Yards).

I guess the best way to describe it (for those reading from Sydney), would be a smaller less congested version of Darling Harbour except with more homeless people and less street performers. It wasn’t the worst experience by a long shot, however it certainly wasn’t the best.

I finished my evening by further walking around the city taking photos of random buildings and statues, then retiring to my hotel for a solid nights sleep before taking on the treacherous 1-hour drive down to the nation’s capital Washington DC the next day.

Washington is a city I visited years ago and with so much history and culture, I cannot wait to go see it all again.

Waking up early and psyching myself up for the familiarity of being back in the Nitro, I hit the road headed South to Philadelphia for game 24/30 to see the Philadelphia Phillies take on the visiting San Diego Padres all the way from the West Coast.

The drive itself was an interesting one, with the contrasting green and space of Connecticut moving quickly into the Bronx of New York City, old industry within the state of New Jersey, some suburban greenery and then finally the skyline of Philadelphia emerging as I moved back in Pennsylvania (you can hit play on the song below as you read further).

Given this game had by far the earliest start time (12:00pm) due to a Double Header as the Saturday game was postponed, I didn’t have the time to check into my hotel or shower on arrival so decided to go direct to the game and change in the parking lot (getting changed here would also mean I’d fit in better with the local Phillies fans as they also root for the NFL’s Eagles – shout out Slammin).

Arriving at the stadium I was instantly greeted by one of the biggest parking areas I’ve seen that seemed to sprawl across multiple lots. I quickly realised there was good reason for this, as Philadelphia has condensed all of their sporting stadiums & arenas (NFL’s Eagles, NBA’s 7ers, NHL’s Flyers, MLB’s Phillies) in the one part of town, as well as a GIANT sports bar complex called “Xfinity Live” (basically a one stop shop for all post/pre gaming you could do at any Philadelphia sports event) – given I was driving, I unfortunately had to give this a miss today.

I did however have a closer look at where the NFL’s Eagles play – Lincoln Financial Field – affectionately known as “The Linc” by locals. It felt like a pretty intimidating place for visiting teams, with two steep grandstands that would echo a shitload of noise, and I can only imagine what it’d be like on a cold Philadelphia Sunday in December – although still not what I would call a home of champions (but I digress) 😉

The main attraction and what I was here to see was the Phillies ballpark “Citizens Bank Park” which was another awesome place to watch a game (noticing a pattern here) that had a unique scoreboard that was stacked high, a “Liberty Bell” that went off when (if) the Phillies scored a Home Run, an area called “The Yard” where kids (or young adults like me) could swing the bat on a mini field and finally of course, a “Tony Luke’s” where you could get your mits on the classic “Philly Cheesesteak” (steak and melted cheese on a sub roll).

This might not please any Philly locals, but my red-hot take is that Philly Cheesesteaks are somewhat overrated – cue the hate! (I still gave it a 6.1/10 however because it was better than your average ballpark fare).

Other unique features included “stacked bullpens” (where pitchers warm-up), and the best mascot in baseball “The Philly Phanatic”, who entertained all day and drove around the field on an ATV (check the video below for some of his previous highlights).

The game was a tough one from the get-go for the hometown Phillies who were looking to keep their standing as their number 1 team in the NL East, with the Padres scoring 3 quick runs in the top of the first although Philly was able to claw one back to only be down 3-1 heading into the second.

Both teams would exchange runs with the Padres scoring in the third and the Phillies in the fifth to still have a shot only being down 4-2 with plenty of baseball remaining. The visitors though would blast 3 runs in the sixth, followed by another 3 in the ninth to ultimately run away with a big lead of 10-2 that the Phillies could not answer for (however Philadelphia would win the second game that afternoon 5-0).

Given the game was over quickly, I decided not to stick around and get back to my hotel and use the ample time I had in the afternoon to check out the historical sites around Philadelphia.

I got downtown to my hotel relatively quickly (given most stuck around), checked in, showered and hit the pavement.

The first stop was Independence Hall, which had a guided tour explaining the importance of the building where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted.

It was a really interesting site and despite a lot of the interior being reconstructed, it was still cool to be in a place of such history where pioneers decided that it was ridiculous that a small island across the sea was ruling over an entire continent (take note Australia).

Following this, I went over to what is perhaps Philadelphia’s most famous landmark the “Liberty Bell”.

Basically, the story goes that the Liberty Bell was rung by an old bellringer on July 4 1776 upon hearing of Congress’ vote for independence (later to be proved as false as no bells were rung that day). Despite this, it has become an iconic symbol of American Independence and freedom, and has a notable “crack” down the front that appeared the very first time it was rung in Philadelphia.

Other cool places of note in the city that I saw over my days in Philly included, Philadelphia City Hall, China Town, Franklin Square, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Franklin Institute, a whole bunch of squares & parks I cannot remember and of course the most exciting landmark of the all – the Statue of Rocky!

Philadelphia is truly a fantastic city who sure do love themselves a bit of freedom. I’d highly recommend anyone who is visiting the East Coast to either drive or take the train down and give it a couple days (assuming you’re in New York City / Boston).

Lastly, I had heard a ton of stuff online and through friends about the local Philadelphia deli chain “Wawa”. I was sceptical at first, but upon trying one sandwich there, I ended up having it THREE more times – blows the cheesesteaks out of the water and it’s not even close.

Below is the roast beef with all the trimmings (including horseradish – absolute game changer)

I’ve got a few days to rest and recover and then I’ll be meeting up with Dave again at his family’s beach house in Delaware. Then, it’s onto a ballpark I’m very excited for in Baltimore for game 25 at Camden Yards.

Stay tuned for that write up and more!

 

 

With the Mets game in the rear view mirror (this despite no actual driving for the first time in weeks), I had 5 days until it was time for game 23/30 at arguably the most famous baseball team on the planet, the New York Yankees.

Before it was time for Yankees, I had plenty of time to rediscover the Big Apple and catch up with other friends who have both moved to the City and are visiting like me.

With Sid at work during the day, I would typically wake up, walk around and check out the sights of Manhattan. This included all the classics such as Times Square, Central Park, 5^th Avenue, Rockefeller Center etc. etc.

As an added bonus, my friend from Jane was in town and lived a number of years in Brooklyn. Having not been in that borough for a few years, I relished the opportunity to have a “local” show me the spots and also take me for probably the most delicious deli sandwich I’ve ever had in my life – so thanks for that Jane.

Other highlights during the week included dinner at the Polo Club (owned of course by Ralph Lauren), more rooftop bars with Sidney, witnessing France win the World Cup with a bunch of French Expats and relaxing in Washington Park with my mate Tom from back home and just taking in all the crazy stimulus that surrounded us.

Finally, it was game day and I was pumped.

We’d organised a solid crew to attend with Steph (remember she is the one holding my car at her house in Connecticut) and her friend Morgan. They joined Tom, his fiancé Katie, and Katie’s friend Sophie. All was set for an awesome night at Yankee Stadium.

The game was also somewhat of a “special” event, with the Yankees hosting the Mets in what is called “The Subway Series” – as the Yankees play in “The Bronx” and the Mets in “Queens” – with the game also being both teams first after the mid-week “All-Star Break” on top of bragging rights in the city for a day. So we knew we were in for a beauty.

Given that Tom and I don’t work, we decided that we’d enjoy some refreshments in Central Park before meeting the rest of our crew at local watering hole “Billy’s Sports Bar”. To paint a simple picture, Billy’s is pretty much a dive nightclub that sells slightly overpriced drinks to the trashier fans from both the Yankees and Mets pre/post games – so you bet your ass we loved it!

After finally taking out seats, it was game on with an electric atmosphere so electric you could power the entire Big Apple with what was probably a 70-30 split of Yankees to Mets fans.

Before I get into the game, Yankee Stadium is a mammoth structure that was open in 2009 and holds about 50,000 people (making it second in capacity to Los Angeles Dodger Stadium).

The stadium was built to replace the original Yankee Stadium and incorporates many of the design elements of the original park – including the exterior look and iconic frieze that line the roof of the stadium above the highest seats. It is a really cool ballpark and a modern classic that relies on the play on the field rather than any gimmicks to keep the fans entertained on gameday.

The game itself lived up to the hype with the Mets racing out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first to silence the Yankee fans in the place. They would further capitalize on this in the third inning with the Mets Cespedes just edging a ball in the field of play for a home run and a 4-0 lead.

With the Yankees finally able to respond putting up a run of their own in the third, the Mets would again respond with two more runs in the fifth to keep the scoreboard moving and a solid buffer of a 6-1 lead heading into the sixth.

Yankee Stadium would then erupt, with all of the Yankees big bats able to get guys on base and reel in two runs in both the sixth and eighth innings to make it game on heading into the ninth at 6-5.

However, with the Mets taking on another run in the top of the ninth inning, the Yankees were unable to respond (despite having 14-10 overall hits in the game) and went down swinging 7-5.

It truly was a memorable game and almost the perfect metaphor in terms of craziness and energy to end my time in New York City. Tom and I had a few more beers to end the night around the East Village (shouout McSorley’s – oldest Irish Pub in the USA) before it was time to retire back to Sid’s place and get my car from Connecticut and drive down to Philadelphia for game 24.

However, the plans got slightly changed as when I spoke with Steph about heading up to grab my car, she suggested staying one extra night and spend a day on her friend’s boat to celebrate Morgan’s bday. Who am I to say no to a boat right?

So I made my way up to Connecticut, threw on my shorts, met the captain/owner of the boat Chris (top guy), and set sail for a relaxing day on the seas before retiring early (relative to New York City hours) for my drive to Philadelphia the next day.

Huge thank you to everyone in both New York City and Connecticut who made the entire week such an enjoyable experience. I’m truly grateful and look forward to coming back soon to say hi.

It now feels like I’m on the home stretch with 7 games to go over about a one month period. I’m looking forward to some needed relaxing and checking out all of the historical sites down in Philly!

Have a great day all.

 

We’re late again on the writing which feels like a common occurrence at this point of the trip. There’s been so much stimulus, catching up with old friends and just exploring these places it’s taking a little bit longer to get things out (then again, it’s not as if people are beating down the doors to get me to release these) – anyway, I digress.

Leaving Boston early on Friday, I made a quick detour to visit one of (what I believe to be) the holiest grounds in sports – I’m referring to of course, Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, aka the home of the NFL’s New England Patriots.

What a site, what a place. If Cleveland’s stadium is the factory of sadness, this place is what dreams are made of.

I did my laps, took my pics, and got back into the Nitro to head South to New York City to meet up with my man Sid and get once again get lost in Gotham and all it has to offer.

In order to avoid having my car in the actual city (read: limit further parking tickets), I was fortunate to be introduced to a friend of a friend named Steph (shoutout Mindy), who lived in small yet beautiful little town called Greenwich in the state of Connecticut which is about a 45 minute train ride outside of Manhattan.

Doing the pleasantries including an awesome lunch on some river (sorry Steph, no idea what the name is), Steph and I boarded a train at 2pm and headed straight for Grand Central station.

Upon arrival, it was a short walk to Sid’s office “Bank of America Tower” aka the B.O.A.T. It is always awesome to see Sid, and as per usual we haven’t missed a beat and the guy is killing it in New York living in the West Village and putting me up for the week – much appreciated good sir!

After a night of fun meeting some of Sid’s new mates and also hanging with some familiar faces (shoutout Charlie), as well as some of the best views at awesome bars in the city, Saturday had arrived and it was time to meet the Mets! (hit play below the pics).

Sid and I were fortunate enough to be joined by our friend Harriet who also happens to be the better half of our mate Ed back home (shoutout Mercho). We were all pumped for the game and expertly guided on the subway all the out to Citifield in Queens where the Mets ply their trade against division rivals, the Washington Nationals.

The stadium is another modern classic, having been completed in 2009 replacing the old Shea Stadium (which is now a giant parking lot).

On a beautiful New York Saturday afternoon, the hometown fans were in a positive mood despite low expectations against some of the big bats that play for the Nats.

The game itself was a beauty, with the Mets benefiting from some excellent hitting to be up 3-0 at the bottom of the second inning. Then, in the bottom of the fifth and with two-runners on base, the Mets would go deep and “raise the apple” with a huge three-run home run to break the game open and with another run in the inning take a 7-0 lead.

The Nationals were not going down without a fight however, and would score runs in the sixth and eighth inning, though this would prove too little too late and the Mets would take the game 7-4 sending everyone home happy.

Following the game, Sid had got us tickets to a boat that would cruise New York’s harbour while taking in the sunset and lights of the big city. Like the rest of the day the cruise was a lot of fun and we met some really cool people who completed the entire experience.

As I don’t have the New York Yankees game until Friday, I’ll be spending my week in New York watching the FIFA World Cup, catching up with a ton of friends, and checking out all of the things this crazy place has to offer.

Hope you’ve enjoyed reading about it as much as I’ve had writing it! Will check back in after the Yankees game!

Following a memorable (although some memories are a little hazy) week in Pittsburgh, I saddled up again in the Nitro to make my way to Boston MA. En route to Boston, I decided I’d make my way to Cooperstown New York to experience the prolific Baseball Hall of Fame – probably a good idea given the narrative of the entire Thirty before 30 trip.

It was another great drive out of Pittsburgh, with the lush greenery and forest areas transitioning to plains and highway, more highways, and some additional highways as I made my way into Upstate New York.

After about 7 hours of this scenery playing on repeat, I finally arrived at the holy grail – Cooperstown New York – aka the home of the baseball Hall of Fame.

Before I get into details about the Hall of Fame (read: post pictures because I’m terrible at describing museums), it would be remiss of me not to mention how awesome the actual town which houses the place is.

Sitting on a lake, Cooperstown basically looks like it is out of a postcard for country USA, with red brick buildings providing a backdrop to narrow streets with “red, white n blue” banners hanging off each building and everyone decked out in their favourite baseball team gear amped to see the awesomeness that was the Baseball Hall of Fame – so basically you can assume I loved the joint!

Like I said in two paragraphs above and in the other blog posts I have written when attending museums or Hall of Fames (look I’ve been to a couple now ok, no big deal), I’ll do my best to describe it in one paragraph but ultimately let the pictures tell the story as I’ll never do it justice.

Basically, the Hall take you on a journey across three levels with one dedicated to individual players who have been inducted and their numerous accomplishments, another section dedicated to interesting baseball artwork, a section for the history of baseball including numerous milestones, World Series wins and how the league has evolved, and finally (and most relevant to my trip), a section dedicated to the different ballparks across the country, their evolution and how they define a city.

Following the museum and a relaxing night, I again jumped into the Nitro for the 6 hour drive to see my friend Chris in South Boston before hitting the Red Sox game at historical Fenway Park that night. Once again, it was a spectacular drive where I got to go through the green state of Vermont before eventually making my way into Massachusetts – I feel like I only dipped my toe into Vermont and would love to come back to check it out in more detail at a later date.

Much in the same vein as Wrigley Field in Chicago (of course home of the Cubs), Fenway Park is a classic baseball stadium that also happens to be the oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball – opening way back in 1912.

Whilst the stadium has many defining characteristics that bring back the old world charm and nostalgia, perhaps the most famous element is the giant wall in left field know as “The Green Monster” (the highest wall in Major League Baseball).

It truly is an awesome stadium, and the people of Boston pack the place day after day for obvious reasons.

The game itself was another beauty with the visiting Blue Jays taking an early 2-0 lead in the first inning off some errant pitching from Red Sox starter David Price.

However, the tide would shift considerably with an incredible at-bat from local favourite Mookie Betts who would face 13 pitchers before BLASTING a grand-slam home run over the Green Monster to give the Sox a 4-2 lead in the fourth inning – this sent the crowd into absolute hysterics!

With another run tacked on in the inning and despite some resistance from the Blue Jays in the seventh and eighth inning (as well as an additional run from the home team), the Red Sox would run out 6-4 winners and extend their current unbeaten stretch to 10 games and give them the lead in what is shaping up to be an exciting race in the American League East Division.

Following the game, Chris and I walked around town and eventually retired back to his place as I had to get up early the next morning for my drive to Connecticut where I will be leaving my car (shoutout Steph for letting me store my car at your place) before spending a week in New York City with good friend Sidney and a few other characters while also taking in two baseball games at both the Mets and Yankees.

I’ve loved being in Boston, and although it was short and sweet, it still remains one of my favourite destinations in the United States.

Looking forward to a fun week in New York and sharing the experience with all of you via my average writings!

Picking up where we left off, I got out of Cincinnati early and made a beeline for Pittsburgh to celebrate the Fourth of July with Jill, Ali, Nick and the rest of the gang on Ali’s boat. Once again, it was an incredible day filled with laughs, fun in the sun, a trip to the local casino and enough fireworks to blow up a small country – cannot thank Ali enough for hosting what was one of the best days of the trip!

Over the next few days I finally had some time to regroup, relax and not worry about driving 5 hours to get to my next destination.

So I’ve been hanging out with everyone, watching the soccer world cup (I’ve got the fever), eating some great food and even got in a round of golf with Jill (shoutout Nick Hale), all whilst preparing for game 20/30 when the local favourite Pittsburgh Pirates would take on the Philadelphia Phillies in an ultimate showdown for Pennsylvania supremacy.

Oh yeah, there was also this bizarre “Furry” convention in town…. Still not 100% sure what it’s about, however it certainly wigged us out.

Nothing beats a Sunday afternoon baseball game with friends, except when that Sunday game is played in perfect weather, with the perfect people in what I consider a perfect city.

The city of Pittsburgh is based where three massive rivers (the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio) meet, creating a city with unique neighbourhoods and TONS of cool bridges connecting everything together. It makes for a picturesque setting and the local ballpark where the Pirates play – PNC Park – have taken advantage of this by designing what it arguably the best ballpark in Major League Baseball with unbelievable views of the city and bridges framed by the stadium.

Arriving at the stadium early for a few settlers, Jill, Ali, Nick and myself took our awesome seats and grabbed the giveaway for the day – a very cool baseball dartboard.

The game itself was a beauty, with Pittsburgh rocking their throwback uniforms and enough Philadelphia fans in the crowd to give the ballpark an exciting atmosphere.

The local Pirates would get the party started in the second inning with a strong base hit reeling in one run for the early 1-0 lead, however this lead would quickly be erased in the fourth with an absolute BOMB of a home run from the Phillies to tie it up at 1-1.

The Pirates would respond in the bottom of the fourth with a swashbuckling double to reel in two runs, then another single for a 4-1 lead that they would hold onto for the rest of the game for a triumphant victory.

It was such a great time it’s difficult to put into words. As I’ve said, I love both the ballpark and this city, so it would have been perfect had we just packed it in and called it right then.

Little did I know my day was about to get even better.

As Nick is a local Yinzer (someone from Pittsburgh) with Serbian background, he suggested we all check out the township where he grew up known as “Aliquippa”, grab a bite and check out the local Serbian VIP club.

Without hesitation we all agreed and our Uber driver (shoutout Jill), expertly guided us to a bar “Barney’s” where I enjoyed another Pittsburgh style salad (a salad with fries on top), and some of the best Moscow Mules I’ve ever had (in the spirit of World Cup fever).

We then made our way to the Serbian club, where Nick had to punch in a code to enter the establishment. Once inside the dimly lit bar, we enjoyed a couple of beers (costing about $1 each), and also Serbian favourite “Sokolova” (tasted a lot better than it sounds).

Again, this is a hard post to write because it’s tough to express how much fun I’ve had in Pittsburgh with the best people. Hopefully the pictures do it justice (they can’t), but like I said in my previous post, if you’re ever around the area I HIGHLY recommend a visit to this awesome town.

I’ve got another day to hangout before I make the long drive to the North East and another one of my favourite cities in the US Boston! I’m excited to get there and watch the RED HOT Red Sox take on their division rivals and friends from up North, the Toronto Blue Jays at historic “Fenway Park”.

Looking forward to sharing more of this crazy trip with you guys!

 

 

After a solid nights rest at the awesome Royal York hotel, I got up early and began my trip back to the USA and my mate Jay’s birthday boat party in the beautiful city of Pittsburgh.

The drive was an interesting one through Western New York and some cool towns along Lake Eire, before arriving back into Pennsylvania and the forest areas that surround the Western part of the state and Pittsburgh.

It was all systems go as soon as I arrived, with enough banter, beer and boating to keep us going until the early hours of the morning.

Highlights included tying up to a bunch of Jay’s other friend’s boats outside Heinz Field (home of the city’s NFL team the Pittsburgh Steelers), the awesome sunset (below) and of course finishing up the night with a visit to my favourite bar in the city “The Montour Hotel”!

The next day, it was time to catch up with my friend Ali and her boyfriend Nick by the pool for a recovery lunch and watch the World Cup (I’ve got the fever) and just hangout. Huge shoutout to Nick and Ali who were awesome hosts (and Jill for driving us around) – looking forward to the 4^th of July!

On Tuesday morning, it was time to drive out to Cincinnati (aka the Queen City) for game number 19/20. I left Pittsburgh at 6am and would drive back West to Ohio via West Virginia. Once in Ohio, I would make a quick pit stop in the capital city Columbus to also check out the Ohio State University and their awesome campus and football stadium (third biggest in the country after our friends [Ohio State’s biggest rival] Michigan and Penn State.

Arriving in Cincinnati at around lunchtime, I checked into another awesome hotel located downtown, and walked the 10 minutes down to the main river front where most of the cool attractions are.

These include the local NFL team’s (the Cincinnati Bengals) stadium, some of the older interesting buildings and coolest of all, the John A. Roebling bridge which connects the city of Cincinnati (located in Ohio of course) to the city on the other side of the river “Covington” which is located in the state of Kentucky.

I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve walked from one state to another which was cool, and you get an awesome view of Cincinnati from the Kentucky side!

Following this, it was time to visit the Cincinnati Reds baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (shoutout to the Reds for providing me with the free tickets).

Like I say every time I visit a museum, it is hard to put all of the exhibits correctly into words, as there is so much content and hundreds of interesting things to see.

I will say that once again this place exceeded expectations and gave a fascinating recount of the history of the Reds franchise and how it defined the city. It also had interactive exhibits on how to throw different pitches, batting stances and further information on Cincinnati being the birthplace of professional baseball!

After two hours in the museum, it was time to grab a bite to eat before relaxing before the game. I decided to go with a Cincinnati local and a place I’d heard very mixed messages about (shoutout Pardon My Take). I’m referring to of course, “Skyline Chilli” aka the “Cincinnati Original”, aka “we all know how this is going to turn out for your boy George”.

I’m not going to sit here and say it was terrible, because it wasn’t THAT bad (and I don’t wish to insult the fine people of Cincinnati who enjoy it on the daily). However, I will say that I probably won’t go back again and be a “one and done” guy when it comes to Skyline Chilli. If you’re ever in the area, for sure try it – who says Cincinnati has no culture?

Finally, it was time for the game (again huge shoutout to the Reds for hooking up awesome seats on the house) where the Reds would be taking on the Chicago White Sox in some Interleague baseball on Fourth of July eve (aka July 3).

Little did I know before arriving for batting practice (my first time attending a batting practice) that I would be in for another instant classic that resembled a home run derby more than an actual baseball game.

First off, it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge how cool “The Great American Ballpark” (unfortunately named so for sponsorship reasons) is.

Whilst not a Wrigley in that it has the old world charm, the Reds home stadium is a modern classic perched on the river overlooking Kentucky and having some of the coolest features both inside and outside of the stadium.

It felt like a cross between Dodger Stadium and Tigers Stadium with a couple of distractions for kids but the focus still being primarily on the actual baseball game taking place.

Things got off to a HOT start for the Reds, who reeled in 4 quick runs in the bottom of the first inning. With the home crowd going ballistic, Chicago would hit a 2-run homer in the fourth to close the gap somewhat. The home run derby would continue in the bottom of the fifth with the Reds BELTING a 3 run home run to extend their advantage to 7-2.

In the top of the sixth inning however, the White Sox would hit not 1, but 2, solo home runs in as many at-bats (I told you it was a derby) as well as reeling in 2 additional runs (from Reds errors) to make it a close 7-6 heading into the eighth.

The White Sox would amazingly tie the game up in the top of the eighth, before exceptional base running from Billy Hamilton would allow the Reds to take a 1-run advantage heading into the ninth. Thinking to myself this would be curtains for the White Sox with one out in the ninth, of course Garcia of the White Sox would BLAST another home-run which the Reds could not answer and we were headed to extra innings to find a winner.

Following two scoreless innings in extras (the tenth and eleventh), the White Sox would go big reeling in 4-runs from Reds errors and also a HGUE triple. When the Reds could not answer, the game was over and the White Sox had incredibly turned things around to win an exciting game 12-8 (and with 15 minutes to go before July 4)!

It was truly an awesome experience to be there, and reminded me that when baseball is at its best, it is one of the funnest sports to witness (I don’t usually put the video highlights, however this deserves a watch).

I had a great time in Cincinnati, and although it was short, it certainly was sweet. I had to leave early the next morning as it was Fourth of July and I had a date with a boat and all my mates back in Pittsburgh (hence why this post is a little late).

I’ll attempt to do a write up about the Fourth; otherwise will just uploaded some pictures. More importantly, on Sunday I will be officially 2/3 of the way through with game 20 at beautiful PnC Park in the great city of Pittsburgh.

God bless baseball, God bless America and God bless YOU for taking the time to read this convoluted mess of a blog post.

Have a good one all!

 

 

 

 

Leaving Windsor Ontario (remember we’re in Canada now) following a decent night sleep and finishing up my blog post about the Detroit game, it was time to venture further East towards Toronto for game 18/30.

I’d decided early in the morning that I’d do another night sleeping in the “Casa del Nitro” so figured staying in the city of Hamilton (shoutout Johnny Football) would be a good bet before I made the 45 minute drive from there on Friday up to Toronto and the hotel I’d booked for myself in that city (more on that later).

There was also this small cloud hanging over me of importing my car to the United States so after some deliberation over the phone with my travel advisor down in Atlanta (shoutout Dave Cohen), it was agreed that I would try to import it that afternoon whilst I had the time and for a bonus (there are more bonuses to come in this entry don’t worry) check out Niagara Falls.

Long story short, the importation went well – pro tip, always buy American cars – so I filled up on the cheaper gas in the USA and returned to Canada to spend my afternoon wandering around and checking out the falls before driving up to Hamilton to find a decent spot to rest – check the pics below although they really don’t do this natural wonder justice.

HOWEVER…. As you’ll see below, I decided Hamilton was probably not the ideal place to sleep in a car for the night, so again decided to roll the dice and go slightly further North to the town of Burlington.

What a treat I was in for.

After having relatively low expectations after Hamilton, I found myself in a “lake-side” oasis, with beautiful neighbourhoods, a nice breeze and plenty of people out and about enjoying good food and quality atmosphere. It kind of reminded me of the beach side communities we have back in Aus (Port Mac etc.) so I found my spot to park and tucked in for the night.

Only to wake up to a GOD DAM PARKING TICKET – can someone analyse this and tell me I’m wrong here? (check photo of sign and citation of the ticket).

Anyway, I’m 50/50 on whether I actually pay the fine, so I’ll just send a sternly worded email in due course (after consulting my legal advisor Nick Hale – chip off the old block).

Despite this minor set back, I powered forward on the 45-minute drive up to the city of Toronto or “The 6” as it is now affectionately known by follows of entertainer Drake (as an FYI the new album dropped today and it is fire).

Arriving at my destination I was quick to check into my hotel, and let me tell you, it was certainly different to what I stayed in last night…

Wanting an early check in, the girl at reception said I could upgrade my room for an extra $50 and be in now. I asked for the fee to be waived and still check in and low and behold, it worked! So I showered (sorry Nitro – you make me stink), and got ready to hit the pavement of Toronto.

As per advice from my man Scott (aka Chug – you might remember him from an early blog post when purchasing the car in Vancouver), first stop was the NHL Hall of Fame.

So as you might know, I’m not a “hockey guy” per se. I mean, I like watching games here and there, and I enjoy the sport so in that sense I am, and given the game is basically rugby on skates most of my friends and I SHOULD be bigger hockey guys, but we simply are not (plus it is probably the most difficult of all North American sports back home to watch when we get daily baseball, NBA and a TON of NFL content).

As with most museums on this trip, I won’t bore you trying to explain it. It was really cool to see the history of hockey, its famous players and much like the “Pro Football Hall of Fame” in Ohio, just how much hockey has defined Canada and Canadian culture.

Check the pics above and below where I’ve also included my top 5 jerseys I saw (in no particular order).

BONUS 1 – I got to stand next to the coolest trophy in sports – the Stanley Cup! Fun fact: There are two Stanley Cups. This one, and one that is the same except the team who wins gets to keep it for a year and drink out of it etc.

BONUS 2 – shoutout Australian Ice Hockey – apparently we’ve made the big time and are now a “Division 1 Country”, beating out the likes of China and South Africa (although I’m not sure how accurate this is in 2018).

After checking out more of the city, I decided it was time to chill and went back to the hotel to relax (read: swim/sauna), before it was time to get ready and hit the Rogers Centre for game 18/30 where the Toronto Blue Jays would welcome our good friends the Detroit Tigers (fun fact – this would be the third game in a row I see the Tigers play).

Arriving at the Toronto Blue Jay’s home park “Rogers Centre”, there was a buzz in the air as it was the beginning of a long weekend for the locals. The stadium itself is a multipurpose dome so as you’ll se on the pictures below it appears very different most of the ballparks in the United States.

The game was a tight affair in the early proceedings, with Detroit building on solid hitting to score a run in the top of the third inning. The hometown Blue Jays wouldn’t have to wait long, with some excellent hitting of their own reeling in three quick runs in the bottom of the fourth. Despite more hits from both teams the score would remain 3-1 until the seventh when Detroit would tack on the run to close the gap to 3-2. It was a tense final few innings, but ultimately the Blue Jays would hold on and win the game 3-2 (hanging Detroit their 9^th straight loss in the process).

It was a really fun game to be at, and the little differences to the American MLB games made it unique and enjoyable – see photos of poutine below and also the “Ok Blue Jays” song that is played during the seventh inning stretch.

I’ve had an awesome time in Canada, and tomorrow morning I’ll be taking off South to once again hit Pittsburgh for a few days of boating and fun, before skipping across to Cincinnati for game 19/30, when I see some inter-league play with the local Reds hosting our friends the Chicago White Sox.