Baltimore (End of Leg 1)

Hello Friends,

The last few days have been pretty exciting. Our second day in DC, we strolled by the White House just to take pictures. Then we visited Sam's cousin Marc in the hospital. He's a veteran and was injured in Afghanistan. He showed us all kinds of cool pictures from his time overseas. After the visit, we took off for Baltimore.

We finally made it to a game early, with time to spare. The pregame/tailgating experience outside of Camden Yards is the best we've seen yet. Directly across from the stadium is a strip of four or five bars. They are in an inlet street, which is blocked off, and each one has bars set up outside. We were drinking $1 and $2 beers, plus eating $1 hot dogs. It was basically a huge block party / street party before the game. Bobcats...think if Athens blocked off an entire street block and all the bars were serving beers outside, while the crowd covered Court Street. The stadium itself was sweet too. Pretty small and great view from everywhere. Behind the right field wall is the old historic warehouse, and the whole strip behind the outfield is awesome. I'll go out on a limb and say this was the best overall experience so far, taking into account pre-game, stadium, game action, fans, etc.

We stayed with Ross, a friend of my dad's, and his wife Janice. Basically, people have been treating us way better than we deserve throughout this entire trip, and Ross and Janice are no exception. We got to their house, and they had a pizza for us just out of the oven and cold beers waiting. We drank, hung out, and shot the shit for a while. How good is life these days?

We woke up early the next morning and took off for Cincinnati around 8am. It was a solid nine hour drive, so I had Sam drop me off at the Phelan household. From there, straight to the Priestles' for Seth's bachelor party. I'll avoid details, but all-in-all, it was a hell of a good time. We hung at Seth's parents' place, then took a party bus around town. This starts our few days of rest in Cincinnati. We're done with the East Coast leg and get to relax before heading South. Stay tuned for more pictures soon.

A SPECIAL THANKS TO CHRIS AND JODI, AND ROSS AND JANICE. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR WELCOMING US INTO YOUR HOMES. WE COULD NOT HAVE ASKED FOR MORE HOSPITALITY AND THANKS SO MUCH FOR MAKING US FEEL WELCOME. AND OF COURSE WE APPRECIATE YOU FEEDING US AND HAVING BEERS FOR US!!!

Side Note: I can't believe I forgot to write about this in my last blog, but can you believe that Michael Jackson died? Get ready for how dumb this is about to sound...Our parents always say they'll always remember where they were when JFK was shot. Recently, most people will always remember where they were when Princess Diana died. Now, I'll always remember being in Wok and Roll eating sushi at happy hour, hearing the King of Pop died. He's both the weirdest/creepiest dude ever, and also the greatest entertainer. For your listening pleasure, check out my top 5 favorite MJ songs:

Wanna Be Startin' Something
P.Y.T.
Bad
The Way You Make Me Feel
Thriller

Peace,
Matt