Orlando and Tampa

Hello again loyal readers. When I last signed off, we were living the high life in Miami. Since then, we've moved on to Orlando and Tampa. We arrived in Orlando on Monday night, and we're staying with our friend Alisa from Rocky River who is also another fellow Bobcat. Our first night was a very relaxing one, and I needed it to recover from the last week in Cincinnati, Atlanta, and Miami. Monday was the first night in a week that I didn't drink, and it was a well needed rest (although I'm certainly not complaining about the craziness that was this past week).  We ate some delicious Subway ($5 footlongs is the best thing that has happened to fast food since the invention of Chipotle) and watched some TV. 

Sam and Alisa have this ridiculous show that they watch called The Secret Life of The American Teenager. It is the most outrageous show I've seen in a while, considering that everyone in the entire show is pregnant and no one is still married to or dating the person who impregnated them. Furthermore, they're all dating the best friends, ex-whatevers of their baby's daddy. Did I mention all the characters are 14 and 15 years old? Oh yeah, the acting is just about the worst I've seen since Keeanu in Bill and Ted. But, I enjoyed the entertainment value of it! I felt the need to redeem myself after that, so Sam and I popped in Green Street Hooligans, one of my all-time favorite movies. If you haven't seen it, check it out. 

Yesterday I slept in. Sam woke up before me for the first time on our trip, and I'm not quite sure why. But it felt good to catch up on sleep and not have much to do all day. We drove to Tampa for the Rays game in the afternoon. We actually drove all the way into St. Petersburg (who knew the Tampa Bay Rays played in St. Pete?) and met Sam's high school friend Jessica and her family who are on vacation in St. Pete. We all hung out at a bar by the stadium and then went to the game together. They were super generous and Jessica's dad even bought the tickets to the game and wouldn't let us pay. Normally I would have put up much more of a fight, but any help we're offered along the way is difficult to turn down. Jessica's whole family was decked out in Reds gear, and they definitely heard about the 22-1 Reds loss on Monday night from all the Tampa fans. On any other day I'm sure no one would have cared about Reds fans in Tampa. They don't even play in the same league. But leave it to the Reds to embarrass their fans. Sam was definitely happy though though because she had the opportunity to be a girl for once on this trip. Jessica and her gossiped for the ENTIRE game, and Sam didn't stop smiling for a second.

Tropicana Field is the first dome we've visited on the trip. It was a completely different feeling. There's something unnatural about playing baseball inside, but regardless it was a fun game. Four things stick out about the game...

1.) There was a cool carnival atmosphere on the lower level of the stadium. The lower level was actually sort of under the stadium and you had to walk UP stairs to get to the seats. There were more games and promotions than any other stadium we've visited so far.

2.) Most stadiums focus their in-game and post-game promotions around kids. For instance, kids under 12 run the bases after the game. In St. Petersburg, they have the Senior Stroll...senior citizens stroll the bases after the game. They also have Rays Bingo!

3.) A huge fish tank sits in centerfield and has tons of sting rays swimming around for your viewing pleasure. I couldn't pony up the ridiculous $4 fee to get close and pet them though. But I got a few cool pictures.

4.) This was the first game we've been to that went into extra innings. Pat Burrell won the game for the Rays in the bottom of the 11th with a walk-off 2-run home run. We left at the end of the 9th because we had to drive back to Alisa's in Orlando! Buzz kill.

So today is another chill day as we decide when to leave for Houston. We have at least a 15 hour drive to get there, but the Astros game isn't until Friday night, so we can take our time. With the All-star break approaching, we have two games between now and July 18! So we'll be touring the great state of Texas and seeing lots of other stuff besides baseball games. Stay tuned for more pictures coming soon and stories from Texas. 

Lots of birthdays this time of year so...Happy B-day to Billy, Jerry, and Richards. What a drag it is gettin' old.

Thanks Bill for the new Dave CD. I've been jamming it non-stop since we left the Nati. My favorite songs so far: Shake Me Like A Monkey, Time Bomb, and Spaceman.

Peace,

Matt