Charm City Cavalcade Day 2

My Wife in Sunday Morning Recovery Mode

The fun continued yesterday in Baltimore.  Even though we didn’t get to bed until nearly 2am on Saturday night we were up moderately early to take advantage of the free breakfast offered at the hotel.  I’ve found that traveling on a keto diet can be challenging at times but I was able to load up on scrambled eggs and sausage while our gang slowly achieved consciousness.

Myself Likewise

On Saturday we had some lofty expectations on Sunday morning activities that were sacrificed to the reality of the morning after.  We did mange to get packed and turn our baggage over to the hotel for safekeeping after we checked out.

Eutaw Street Yesterday

We planned on getting to the ballpark early to see batting practice.  After a much less fragrant bus ride to the ball park (my sister breathed a sigh of relief), we were some of the first few fans to enter the park.  Unfortunately we couldn’t go to our seats because they only opened the touristy Eutaw Street for the first half hour.  My sister and wife departed for shopping venues.  Since thunderstorms were forecast for the game, I purchased a rain slicker to ensure that it wouldn’t rain (plan that worked out perfectly).  I conducted a raid on Boog’s Barbecue and retired to Orioles Hall of Fame park where I consumed my dead animal flesh surrounded by statues of Oriole greats.

Statue of Babe Ruth

Lunching With Oriole Greats

The ladies returned disgusted with the shopping opportunities and we all made a very round about way to our seats.  My brother in law had overachieved again in respect to the seats.  Our trip was roundabout because there was an exclusive area that we walked past before we realized our seats were in that exclusive area.  We were escorted to our seats and an attendant even wiped the seats down for us.  A truly nice guy came over and welcomed us to Orioles Park and gave us a menu and said all we had to do was raise our hand and someone would come over to serve us.  He said we paid a lot for these seats and we would be treated well.  My brother in law sheepishly confessed that he hadn’t paid a lot of the tickets, but that is in comparison to the highway robbery of buying Fenway Park tickets.

View From Our Seats

Our seats were in the front row of the second level along with the luxury boxes. We were literally hanging right over the field.  The teams were warming up but there was no batting practice (day game after a night game).   The view gave my wife the opportunity to admire her favorite player, Saltamacchia’s posterior.  She was oohing and ahhing while Salty stretched right in front of us and she provided a somewhat graphic description on how she could assist with his stretching routine.

The Target of My Wife's Fascination - Salty, Warming Up

Thanks to my rain coat purchase the sun came out and baked us fairly consistently throughout the game.  My wife even retreated back a few rows to get into the shade.  I was under heavy peer (her) pressure to join her but I was loath to abandon the prime view our seats delivered along with my brother in law’s scintillating analysis of the game. 

My Wife Escaping the Sun

Big Papi was roundly booed by the Baltimore fans for his lack of appreciation of the Baltimore phone system.  This turned out to be a good thing as he blasted an opposite field home run right in front of us.  Lester finally seems to have rediscovered his mojo and the Sox rolled to another victory.

We had to leave in the 7^th inning to retrieve our bags and make our way to the airport.  We followed the end of the game over the I-phone.  It was kind of strange hearing the sounds from the park as we waited for the bus and then hearing the time delayed radio report what the Oriole fans were all groaning about.

The plan was to repeat our initial deployment plan of bus to train to airport.  After retrieving our bags and looking at the time we made a decision to hail a cab.  We were shortly flying to the airport in a Prius driven by a nice Arabic gentleman.  Our timing was perfect as we cleared the congested area of the ballpark just before the Sox completed their win so we beat the crowd and accompanying traffic gridlock.

Southwest was once again on top of their game.  They apparently have discovered the technique of taking off and flying even though there are thunderstorms within six hundred miles.  I wish they would pass on this technological breakthrough to US Air.  While waiting to board the aircraft my wife commented on the rosy hue large portions of my skin were demonstrating.  Since my skin cancer issues of last year she’s been severely supervisory when it comes to my skin/sun exposure.  My rain coat solution had worked so well that I was the proud owner of very red arms and knee caps; a small price to pay for the excellent afternoon.

At the Airport - The Wife Felt the Need to Document the Sun Burns

All too soon we were back in Rhode Island and the fun part of the trip was over.  We had to say goodbye to our wing “men”; my sister who braved the lions and her husband of excellent ticketing.  More than that, they were a hell of a lot of fun to just hang out with, something I can never get enough of.  We recovered the still energetic Buddy from where he had been terrorizing ice cream delivery men and any citizen of Cranston who had the temerity to walk by my sister’s house.  He was exhausted!

Buddy Back Home Tired from His Exertions

So were we when we finally got home and feasted on some late night burgers.  A great weekend in Baltimore and I made it all this way without a single Omar or Stringer Bell comment, it’s just the way I’m wired. (you may now start groaning).

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