Day 1 - Baseball Trip 2018 - Here We Go Again - #14 Nationals Park - The Midsummer Classic - The MLB All-Star Game!

It’s been three years since our last big baseball trip when we traveled around the Great Lakes to take in Cincinnati, Detroit, Toronto, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland. And that brought the total number of stadiums for the boys to 11. Two years ago we went to Florida and saw Miami and Tampa Bay, which were sandwiched around a cruise to the Caribbean. 13 down. Last year we decided to take a year off from the big mission and we just visited our beloved  Braves and their brand new stadium - SunTrust Park (which is pretty spectacular by the way).  The year off, if you can call it that, was so we could get ready for the next big adventure, and that was to try to get to the MLB All-Star Game.

Four years ago we started on this journey to see as many Major League Baseball Stadiums as we could. In 2014, we took an unbelievable trip to Cooperstown to see the Hall of Fame induction ceremony where 3 of our beloved Atlanta Braves were enshrined - Bobby Cox, Greg Maddux, and Tom Glavine among others. And on that trip, we went to stadiums in Philadelphia, Boston, both in New York, and Baltimore. We were supposed to go to Washington but by the time we were ready to go there, we were so tired we decided to skip that one and come home. My lovely wife (and event planner/coordinator) Tammy, who is always planning for the future discovered that the All-Star game in 2018 would be played in Washington D.C.  She said we could see that stadium when we go to the All-Star game!

Now, I remember thinking at the time that, Yes! That would be so amazing. But then I started thinking that our last name is not Rockefeller or Vanderbilt. There is no way we could afford that. Thus, the year off.  And I guess this is where I had underestimated our C.F.O. (Tammy) and her ability to budget properly to make this happen.  So here we are.  It's 2018 and we have done it.  We have done the research, pinched and saved our pennies and yes, we are headed to Washington D.C. for the All-Star Festivities.
So we started early, or should I say Tammy got started early on the planning.  We booked a week long stay at a basement apartment in the Capitol Hill section of D.C. on Airbnb.  It turns out the place was very adequate even though parts of the neighborhood were pretty sketchy, but I'll elaborate on that in a later post.  We purchased our tickets for the 89th MLB All-Star Game on StubHub and the tickets to the Home Run Derby on Vivid Tickets.  Now, as I eluded to earlier, we are not the Rockefellers and these tickets were not cheap.  And so now college is no longer an option for Trey and Tate but hey, we are making memories, right?  So we packed up the Minivan and headed out on Saturday to the nation's capital.
We arrived in D.C. around 4:00 in the afternoon and I had planned for us to see some of the sights and maybe see some of the monuments at night since they take on a different look and it is much cooler.  After we find our accommodations and get settled in, we decide to head into town to see the monuments.  We walk four blocks down to the nearest METRO station and purchase our cards to ride the subway (yes, it was obvious that we were tourists trying to figure out how to operate the ticketing machines).  Now they say D.C. is a walking city, but I had no idea we would have to do SO MUCH WALKING!!

Tate at the Lincoln Memorial

Trey and Tate in front of the Capitol

I think that night we walked 4 or 5 miles trying to see as much as we could.  We walked from the Capitol down across the mall past the Smithsonian buildings to see the Washington Monument, caught a glimpse of the White House.  Then headed to the World War II Memorial on our way to the Lincoln Memorial past the Korean War Memorial.  Then went to the Jefferson Memorial and back to the Subway station.  Needless to say, we all slept pretty well that night as visions of the next day's events were dancing in our heads - and that was to go to MLB FanFest at the Washington Convention Center.

Year 3 - Florida! #12 Miami and #13 Tampa

As we approach year three of this quest, let me recap.  In 2014, we started this journey as we traveled to Cooperstown NY for the Hall of Fame inductions.  We decided to see as many stadiums as we could while driving to and from New York.  That took us to 5  parks: Philadelphia, New York Yankees, Boston, New York Mets, and Baltimore.  We intentionally skipped Washington as we knew we would take the boys to DC eventually someday for a big Social Studies Field Trip.  Year two took us to 5 more: Cincinnati, Detroit, Toronto, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. And if you go ahead and count Atlanta, we were at a final total of 11 Ballparks.  We had covered most of the eastern United States with a couple exceptions down south in Florida.

To plan out your strategy of seeing all 30 MLB Stadiums, for us it was best to do it chunks, or to try to cover certain regions each year like we had done in years one and two.   Sometimes it works out pretty well.  In other places, it may not.  So, in year 3 we decided to check off the two teams in Florida - the Marlins and the Rays.  To only get two stadiums in seems a little like a waste of time and resources.  So, in true Jensen fashion, we are going to make it bigger.  We are going to go on a cruise between stadium stops!

Now the boys had never been on a cruise so this would be something that they would really look forward to. And to make it better, we invited our families to go along with us.  My brother Joe and his family and Tammy's sister Lisa and her family would join us on a Carnival Cruise to the Caribbean.  The boys were so excited to be going on a week long cruise with their cousins.

For us, it was a logistical challenge, but we are used to those by now.  We would go to Miami to see the Marlins, and then we would rendezvous with the family at the cruise terminal for to board the ship.  And then, on the way back home, we would stop in Tampa to see the Rays.

First stop - Miami.  I was a little concerned about this one because I had heard Miami could be a little sketchy, but hey, we had survived Detroit so this couldn't be that bad.  Surely we would be fine in Miami too.  And we were.  There was a lot of beautiful scenery in South Florida.  Palm trees, nice beaches, and cool cars.  We drove by a Lamborghini dealership because you don't see those everyday and we had to stop.  The boys are 9 and 11 now and are just getting in to cool cars.  And these rank near the top as being some of the coolest!

It was Lambo overload as we go to see a lot of really nice cars!

Tate got to sit in this car with the engine running.

After spending some time dreaming about driving these unbelievable sports cars, we made our way to Loan Depot Park, Home of the Miami Marlins.  This was one of the newer stadiums in MLB and it had a really appealing quality in that it was enclosed, which means air conditioning.  The picture below really doesn't do it justice.  It was a pretty nice ball park with bright colors, fairly new amenities, and did I say air conditioning?  The team was not really that good and they were hosting the Chicago White Sox.  Not the ideal matchup, but we enjoyed the game.

Panoramic view from the Left Field Foul Pole.

A couple highlights from the game - Todd Frazier was playing for the Sox at the time and was nice enough to come over and give the boys an autograph and to interact with them some.  Good dude!

Trey always enjoys getting an autograph.  Thanks Todd!

Another highlight was to be able to see Ichiro Suzuki.  He was playing for the Marlins that year and was approaching retirement so we were glad to be able to see him play in person.  We got to see him hit a double down the right field line and the fans were very appreciative.  You can see that in the attached video.   Ichiro hitting a Double!  All in all, the Miami ball park was pretty nice.  It did not have the nostalgic flair that many of the older parks have, but it was a nice place to watch a game.  And you could get a good seat as demand for their tickets is not that high unfortunately for them.

The next day we boarded the Carnival Magic to start our cruise.  Rather than bore you with details about that, I will just post some pics of the highlights:

The family had a blast but it was time to get back down to business as we had one more stop to make before heading home.

Tampa - Tropicana Field does not get much acclaim as far as being described as a nice ballpark.  It is somewhat dated as it opened up in 1990 and has some issues that need to be addressed, but we tried to be open-minded as we went in and we were pleasantly surprised at some of the features of the building.  We make our way to the park to watch the Rays as they host the Texas Rangers.

Tate and Trey outside of Tropicana Field

One cool feature was an aquarium tank with real live Sting Rays in the area beyond centerfield.

A view of the scoreboard and you can tell the turf is quite worn and probably needs to be replaced.

Trey getting an autograph from Cole Hamels before the game.

Pretty good seats and yes, Trey has already got his Rays souvenir T on, but still supporting the Braves

A great shot of the dome above Tropicana Field. Not a very endearing quality, but the building was air conditioned!

To enhance the fan experience, they did let fans walk out on the field after the game which was kind of cool and the boys enjoyed that.

So we were able to get two more stadiums down sandwiched between a family cruise. Lots of good times were had and some good memories were made.  As far as the map goes, we had now covered the entire eastern side of the US except for one place - Washington Nationals Park.  And we had a different plan for that which was going to be an All-Star Experience!

Tate and Trey's Thoughts About the Trip.

        Hey this is Tate and Cincinnati was awesome we saw the reds play the twins  Brian Dozier hit a homer and the reds won next stop was Detroit. It drizzled a little during the game Detroit they played Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh won we saw  JD Martinez hit a home run..then we went to Toronto to see the blue jays  play the Red Sox the Red Sox hit 2 home runs one was David Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez then we went to Cleveland to see the Indians the Indians played the Astros they got beat then we went to see  Pittsburgh play San Diego Pittsburgh won and that's all from me.

       Hey this is Trey this year on our baseball trip we were going to Cincinnati , Detroit , Toronto , Cleveland and Pittsburgh .Our first stop was Cincinnati that night we saw the Cincinnati Reds play the Minnesota Twins . But before the game we went the Louisville Slugger Bat Factory and i got a custom bat made .  We saw Brian Dozier the Twins second basemen hit a 3-run home run  . We also got see the hardest throwing pitcher in all of baseball pitch Aroldis Chapman we saw him throw 103 mph Cincinnati won 11/7 . Then we went to Detroit to watch the Detroit Tigers play the Pittsburgh  Pirates and we saw 2 aces square off  Justin Verlander vs. Gerrit Cole we saw J.D Martinez hit a 2-run home run to tie the game witch is why the game ended in 14th inning Pittsburgh ended up winning 5/4 . Then we went to Toronto to watch the Toronto Blu Jays play the Boston Red Sox the Red Sox hit 2 home runs one by David Ortiz and one by Hanley Ramirez . The Blue Jays also hit 2 home runs one by Russel Martin and one by Danny Valencia Boston won 12/6    

Day 9 - Last Stop, The Steel City #11 - Pittsburgh's PNC Park

After nearly taking a full lap around Lake Erie in the last week it was now time for us to head southeast to Pittsburgh and the last stop on this trip.  This is the stadium that I had been looking forward to the most as I had heard many great things about PNC Park.  So on Tuesday morning we left Cleveland and made the 2+ hour drive to the "Steel City".  We arrived at our hotel in the early afternoon.  Unfortunately we did not get a hotel that was within walking distance, but the Holiday Inn Express did have a shuttle service that could get us to a subway station which they call the "T" that would take us to the stadium.  Now I have to give a little credit to the city of Pittsburgh.  They have a toll free zone that is within the downtown district where anyone can ride the subway and not have to pay a toll for any stops within that district which includes about 8 or 10 stops which gets us to the stadium.  So that was nice. I intentionally took one stop before the stop at Allegheny station because I wanted us to experience walking to PNC Park across the famous Roberto Clemente Bridge.

Tate and Trey on the Clemente Bridge walking toward PNC Park.

This was a great time to tell the family about Roberto Clemente.  He is still considered an icon in Pittsburgh and is still hailed as one of the all time greats.  So tragic that his life was cut short.

Roberto Clemente statue right outside the ball park.

We arrive at the ball park early to get ready to see the Pirates host the San Diego Padres.  We walk through Riverfront Way which is a section right along the river where vendors are selling all sorts of food and souvenirs.  This is where Trey gets his last t shirt, a Pirates one with Andrew McCutcheon's name on the back.   Then we head inside to try to get another batting practice ball to add to the collection.  When we get in, the Padres are taking batting practice.  Now, as a Braves fan, it was difficult for me to watch as there were three former Braves on the field (2 of which I wish were still in Atlanta).  And to rub salt into the wound, Justin Upton, one of the players I would like for the Braves to still have, was putting on a show hitting tape measure shots into the second deck over our heads rattling the seats.  It was impressive.  And Craig Kimbrel, the most dominant closer in the game when he was in Atlanta was running around in the outfield shagging balls for the Padres.

Me and the boys watching batting practice. 

Well, wouldn't you know it?  As we scattered out in a short radius to try to increase our chances of getting a ball, a little while later Tate comes running back with a ball in hand.  Apparently some older guy gave it to him.  Who could resist not giving up a ball to that cute little boy!
After BP was over, we got some food and made it to our seats.  7th row on the first base side just beyond the Padres dugout.  These seats were great!

Our view of the Upton brothers stretching before the game.

The seats were so close to the field that the players (and especially one unsuspecting superstar named Justin Upton) were within earshot of the fans, especially one mama who was set on getting her son an autograph.  Throughout the whole trip we had taken baseballs with us to get signed by a player with no such luck, YET.  Well, as the Padre players were on the field stretching, Tammy saw an opportunity.  While Trey and some other kids were gathering on the aisle next to the field, Tammy yells out in her beautiful Burke County redneck voice, "Hey Justin, can you come over here and sign a ball!?!"  I thought Tate was going to crawl under the seats.  But it worked!  Upton was kind of startled (or scared, because I have heard that voice many times and it will force you to act).  And he walked over and started signing autographs including a ball that my son Trey was hoping would get signed.  Way to go, Mom!

Trey showing off his ball signed by Justin Upton.  Look at that smile!

PNC Park is a beautiful stadium.  It was built in 2001 and is part of the throw back design that resembles the parks of yesteryear.  It features a wonderful view of the Pittsburgh skyline with the Clemente bridge just beyond centerfield.  The field was in pristine condition.  Tammy even wondered if the grass was astroturf.  "No, just well manicured grass", I said.  As the game started, the skies were looking rather ominous as you can tell by the pictures.  And during the third inning, the bottom fell out.  We had to endure an almost two hour rain delay.

Trey and Tate posing for a picture with the scoreboard and Pittsburgh skyline in the background.

Once play resumed, it was nearly 10:00 and Tammy was getting that look on her face that told me she has had enough.  After 5 stadiums and 8 nights away from home and not sleeping her her bed, I could certainly understand.  So I told her that we would leave during the 7th inning stretch which was a win for me since we had to sit through two more rain showers with ponchos on.  So, I tore myself away and we headed out of the stadium to catch the subway.  Right before we left our seats I remember taking one last look at the field and thinking to myself, "what a beautiful scene; to be at a Major League baseball game sitting in great seats with my family.  It doesn't get much better than this".

A panoramic view from our seats at PNC Park.

So we headed back to our hotel.  The next day we would be heading home.  Another great baseball adventure under our belts.

Days 7 and 8, Cleveland Rocks! #10 - Progressive Field

Sunday July 5th was another travel day as we did not have tickets for a baseball game until Monday night in Cleveland so we had a little time to kill which for us means we try to find some outlets to keep Mom happy. Tammy found some just 20 miles southeast of the city and we spent most of the early afternoon there before driving on into the city.
We get into Cleveland around 2:30 in the afternoon which leaves me just enough time to go and check out one of Cleveland's main attractions, the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. Tammy and the boys were not real interested which meant I would have to go by myself. It was only a 15 minute walk so off I went while my family stayed back at the hotel.

It was a real treat for me. Unfortunately they closed at 5:30 which meant I only had a couple of hours. The Hall of Fame and the exhibits were really cool. 2 hours was just not enough time but I saw what I could. 

The Hall of Fame is a beautiful building that sits right by Lake Erie. 

One of Elvis' outfits he wore in his early years (had to take this pic for Tate since Elvis was one of his teacher's, Ms. Bliss' favorites!). 

Drum set used my Ringo Starr of The Beatles. 

There was lots of great stuff in there and anyone who loves music and history should go visit this if ever in Cleveland. 

I made it back to the room and we went to a local pub called Flannery's where we had dinner and watched the beginning of the Women's World Cup Soccer Final which was awesome as they jumped all over Japan early. Afterwards we headed back to the hotel for the night.

The next day we needed to get some laundry done so we found a place that did it for $.85 per pound and dropped it off. There were lots of stores nearby so we did some more shopping before grabbing lunch and heading back to the room to get ready to go to the game. 

On this trip we had made it a priority to get to the stadiums right when they opened to try to get a ball during batting practice. So far we had been shut out. So I asked Trey if he had a good feeling about this one before going in and he said yes. Well after reading some tips online about how to get a ball, when the gates opened at 5, we were ready. I have to give props to Progressive Field in Cleveland.  They are very 'fan friendly ". They open the gates 2 hours before game time which most places open an hour early. Why does it matter?  You get to see the home team bat as well as the visitors which means double the chance to get a ball!  I had also read that if you are first in line to sprint to the right field section that is open and you could probably just pick one up in the bleachers since no one was there yet. Well, that is what we did and wouldn't you know it, I found one on the back row as others were charging to the front.  I also read that you could possibly find a ball in the bushes of Heritage Park which is a garden in the centerfield section of the outfield that honors all the Cleveland Indians' great players. As we were looking at the monuments we happened to find another ball behind the fence in some shrubbery. Another score! All total, we left with 4 balls retrieved from batting practice. Mission accomplished!

The game featured the Indians hosting the Houston Astros which was a treat for me since the Astros are one of the best teams and best stories in baseball right now. 

As I said, Progressive Field is one of the most Fan Friendly parks that we have been to. There is so much for the kids to do to keep them entertained and they have some of the best prices on concessions than anywhere we had been. I especially got a kick out of a particular stand called Dad's Place that sold some low end beer (Natural Light, Schlitz, PBR, etc.) for $4 a can which was cheap by ballpark standards. 

The game was very entertaining with the Astros winning 9-4. 

A panoramic view of our seats at Progressive Field. 

View of the scoreboard. 

After the game we headed back to the room for the night. The next morning we had to swing by and pick up our laundry and there was one more little side trip that I wanted to make. About a half a mile from the laundromat was 55th Street which may be better known by some as Cleveland Street.

Me and the boys on the porch of the Christmas Story House!

My all time favorite Christmas movie is A Christmas Story that came out in the early 80s. Here is the actual house that was used in the movie. I just had to go see it. Tammy, who does not appreciate quality films like I do was nice enough to endulge me on this one. There was even a leg lamp in the window!

I could just hear Ralphie's "Old Man" saying, "You should see how it looks from out here!"

What a great attraction. There was even a gift shop with all kinds of novelties tied to the movie. I really got a kick out of that place. But it was back in the van and we were on our way to our last stop, Pittsburgh. 

Day 5 - Niagara Falls

After spending one night in Toronto, we decided we would take a little break from baseball and just enjoy the sites in Canada. What better place to do that than in Niagara Falls.  Tammy and I had both been there before but I was really excited for the boys to be able to see how marvelous it really is. What a breathtaking place!  It is very difficult to describe. 

I'm not sure if it is one of the Great Wonders of the World, but it is definitely one of the great Wonders of North America. We decided that if we are going to see it then we are going to do it right. We went ahead and bought the Niagara Falls Adventure Pass which enabled us to ride The Hornblower, which is Canada's version of the Maid in the Mist; a boat ride on the Niagara River right up to where the water comes crashing over the falls. This is where everyone is given a lovely red poncho to wear to keep from getting wet. But it is really the best way to see the falls!

Also our pass enabled us to go behind the falls to see and hear the force of the water coming over. 

What an amazing experience. Pictures do not really do it justice I'm sorry to say but I am posting some anyway. We also were able to view a short IMAX type movie that involved some really cool special effects that talked about the history of the falls. We had a great day at the falls and returned to our hotel. 

We stayed at the Americana Resort, Spa, and Waterpark. Tammy really out did herself on this hotel because if anything could trump Niagara Falls, (according to Tate anyway)  this place was it!  This might have been Tate's favorite part of the whole trip because everywhere we went after Niagara, Tate wanted us to find another water park to go to. It was a lot of fun.

Even Mom and Dad took advantage of the opportunity to have some fun.

It was very difficult for us to leave Niagara Falls but we were ready to get back to the good ole USA and resume our journey. We came back across the border on Saturday the 4th of July and headed toward Erie, PA which is where we stopped for the night on our way to Cleveland.

We had decided to try to find a fireworks show to see on Lake Erie so we headed to a State Park right on the lake to get a good view. 

We found an open field at the park where the boys could play some wiffle ball. 

After time at the State Park we decided to get some dinner and return to our hotel. We were so tired that we didn't make it to the fireworks. We just watched the Macy's show on TV. The next day we would head to Cleveland. 

Day 4 - On to Canada #9 Toronto - Rogers Centre

After two days in the Detroit area and the stress of being there, I was really looking forward to going to Toronto.  Not far from Detroit, you cross over into Canada via the Ambassador Bridge.  This was the part of the trip that was the most involved during preparations as we all had to now have a passport to be able to cross the border.  That in itself was a big hassle.  We kind of waited around to the last minute about a month ago to try to get our passports but they finally arrived two days before we left home last Monday.  But we had the necessary documentation so crossing into Canada was a breeze thankfully.

It was neat for the boys to be able to say they have been in another country and I have to say, after being in Detroit, going to Ontario, Canada was truly a breath of fresh air.  I have grown to really like Canada.  Canada is a really NICE place.  The people are very friendly and polite.  They go to great lengths to emphasize cleanliness and recycling and preserving natural resources.  It is a very progressive minded nation at least in my opinion.  Sure you have to get used to everything being printed in two languages (English and French) and the whole metric system thing which makes it kind of confusing when you are dealing with kilometers and litres instead of miles and gallons.  The speed limit on the highways was 100 km/h.  But I couldn't help but notice the irony as we crossed over the Ambassador Bridge from a very run down, dilapidated, dirty Detroit into Windsor, Ontario how different things were.  It was like going to a whole different world.  As we proceeded onto the QEW (Queen Elizabeth Way), we were traveling through lush, green farmlands.  It was as if there were no people for miles which I knew was not true but I think the Canadian government, or maybe it is the Province of Ontario, have gone to great lengths not to "clutter up" their exits.  You don't see the fast food restaurants, hotels, shopping centers, and gas stations like you see at every exit in the US.  Everything is much more aesthetically pleasing in Canada.  It was that way for three hours as we approached the city of Toronto when things started to get a little more urbanized.  It was also on that stretch of road where I got my first taste of Poutine at a restaurant when we stopped for lunch.  Yes, you read that right, Poutine, which is pronounced like routine, is a very popular Canadian dish and it is nothing more than French fries smothered in brown gravy and cheese curds.  Delicious!
Toronto is located right on Lake Ontario.  It is an old looking city with tall buildings covered in glass and there is the famous CN Tower which stands out above the skyline.  You can go up in the 1800 foot tower for a hefty price which a few Canucks said really wasn't worth what they charged.  We found our hotel which was only two blocks from the Rogers Centre, home of the Toronto Blue Jays, and we checked in.  After a quick rest, we made our way to the game.  Again as we walked, I couldn't help but notice how clean the city was and how nice all the people were.  When we got inside, there was an air of excitement as most of the people there were very excited about their team and then I realized, Toronto is the only MLB team in Canada so the Blue Jays truly are a National Team.

Our first stadium with a retractable roof.  A beautiful ballpark.

Blue Jay right fielder and former Hickory Crawdad, Jose Bautista on first base.

Trey and Tate from our seats in the first row of the upper deck.  Tate is tired of posing.

Our view of the field.

The game featured the Blue Jays hosting the Boston Red Sox.  This was a special treat for my youngest son, Tate, as he is kind of a big Red Sox fan.The game got out of hand very quickly as the Red Sox scored 7 runs before ever recording an out in the 1st inning, a deficit which the Blue Jays never recovered from although they did score 4 in the second.  Tate got to see his favorite player, David Ortiz hit a home run so he was excited.  The Red Sox won easily and as Tate pointed out was a little payback since we saw Toronto blow out Boston in Fenway last year (I had forgotten that).  But all in all we enjoyed the game.  Trey really liked the Rogers Centre and has put it in his top 5 list.  So after the game, we had back to the hotel for  late night swim at the indoor pool and turn in.  Stadium number 9 is in the books.  The next day we would head for Niagara Falls.