Miles and I are back from a quick 3-day trip that allowed us to check two more MLB parks off the list.
On Monday we drove to Cincinnati, OH to see the Cubs take on the Reds. (The Cubs lost ... what a shocker.) On the way we stopped in West Lafayette, IN so I could show Miles the Purdue campus, and we could grab a bite for lunch.
I messaged to people who - despite being Purdue alumni - I still call friends. And I asked them, "Where do I take my son for lunch so that he can experience something uniquely Purdue?" Within seconds, they both texted me back with the same answer: Triple XXX. At first this worried me. But when I saw that it was a greasy-spoon diner named after Root Beer ... and not a front for adult entertainment ... we went in.
After lunch we took a short campus tour. It was hard, but after searching for a long time, we did eventually find something classy on the Purdue campus ...
On we went toward Cincinnati. No, I did not take this next picture while driving. This is Miles demonstrating quick phone/camera reflexes as he saw the state line approaching at 65 MPH (give or take a few MPH).
Stadium #13 for us was "Great American Ballpark" on the riverfront of Cincinnati. We had good seats in the 300 level, behind home plate, and sat next to a really nice family who became fast friends (and took this photo for us).
As we were walking around the stadium, and taking the place in, we came upon this beautiful mosaic that depicts the 1975 Reds team known as the "Great Eight." It made me think about my very first trip to Cincinnati to see a ball game, when I was in elementary school. I have very vivid memories of traveling to (then) Riverfront Stadium with my Grandmother Gigi, Grandfather Pa, and my two Great Aunts Agnes and Louise. I even remember where we sat (about 10 rows behind the dugout on the 3rd base side), because I was so excited to be sitting so close to the players. Seeing Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, and Joe Morgan play was a thrill. All of those family members who took me to that game in the mid-70s have since passed, which somehow made standing in front of that large mosaic ... with my own 12-year old son ... even more special.
After a brief stoppage in play for this ...
... we were rewarded with this unbelievable sunset. It was simply gorgeous.
Thanks to some text messages from friends back home that knew we were at the game, I was advised to find some Skyline Chili. The Reds organization makes this very easy for patrons. The fact that a single food item gets primo billing next to the likes of "Elevator" and "Exit" made me think this was going to be something special.
And I was not disappointed. Hands down the best chili dog I've had to date at a ball park.
On Tuesday morning we began our drive to Detroit. It was pretty exciting. The blue dot was us ...
We did fortunately persevere ... and made it to the Motor City by early afternoon.
I did something I'd never done before in making a hotel reservation. I used a website called Hotwire, which sells hotel "deals." You don't know exactly what you're buying. You can only select an "area", and the "star level" of the hotel. It works a little bit like PriceLine, except instead of naming a price and waiting to see if the price is accepted ... you are told upfront what the price will be for the deal. Well, we really scored big on this. Our hotel was the Motor City Casino Hotel, just minutes from the ball park. For less than what you'd pay to stay in a Red Roof Inn, we snagged a huge room on the Executive Level (with complimentary food/drinks ... a marble bathroom that was like a spa ... and a huge TV ...) that listed for $512/night. Wow!
We had originally planned to go out and find a restaurant to watch the World Cup Semifinal ... but the room was too good to leave, and we watched Germany route Brazil by the score of 7 - 1.
To celebrate Germany's record-breaking victory over Brazil, we headed to the ...
... and ate German pretzels for dinner. Perfect!
The final stop on our Summer 2014 stadium tour was Comerica Park to see the Detroit Tigers take on the LA Dodgers in an cross-league match-up. (Tigers won 4 - 1).
Check out this pitch by Miles. That's his ball hitting the center of the catcher's mitt, and clocked in at 40 MPH. Nice arm, son!
We thoroughly enjoyed MLB stadium #14 ...
... and upon arrival back at home tonight Miles promptly added his two new caps to the wall.
14 down. 16 to go. #LongTermGoal #DelayedGratification
