Here goes...
Thursday
12-hour drive. Chicago. Wisconsin. Minneapolis. Chili's, beers, cigars, sleep. Pretty much in that order.
Friday
Golf was either great or crappy depending on which team you were on. The team of Paul, Matt, Keith, and myself? We stunk up the course and got crushed by Fish, Jason, Shane, and Shmoe despite the fact we scored a -7 on the last hole. But, it was fun anyway. The weather was great. Course was nice. And we had a laugh or two (some of us were even on the ground laughing hysterically).
Some photographic evidence we played golf...
After golf, we decided to take a tour of the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul area for their only gas station. That took a few hours and was loads of fun. We finally got back to the hotel in enough time to change clothes and head back out.
Stop #1: Mall of America. Big place I guess. We saw pretty much none of it. Went to a sports bar whose name escapes me at this point. Watched the Bengals-Jets and argued about Tim Tebow. Typical. The significance of that place was that it was the beginning of the end for a few of us.
Stop #2: The Loon Cafe in downtown Minneapolis. A bar. We had one beer, watched Excitebike on the Olympics, danced to some random stranger's homemade song...and left.
Stop #3: Sneaky Pete's. And this is where things get fuzzy. Suffice to say there were some shots, beers, dancing, and some expletives tossed around. I'll spare you the details because to be honest, there are eight different accounts. Trust me when I say it was a helluva good time.
Stop #4: Back to the hotel...I think
Saturday
Since Friday night was a very late night, we slept in until around 7:00 am. That's how we get down! And since we basically had nothing to do but wait until the ball game at 6:10 downtown we had time to recuperate.
Once we finally got going we went back downtown and had lunch and watched some of the Reds-Cubs game and the PGA Championship (for the record this is the year McIlroy won by 8 strokes!!) and a sports bar called Huberts which was connected to the Target Center where the WNBA Champion Minnesota Lynx play!!!!! T-Wolves too but who cares about them?
Target Field
The purpose for starting this annual trek across the country was to see all the MLB parks. We have crossed off 18 now. No idea if we actually see them all. Someone might have to win the lottery for that to happen. Anyway, at this point it's not important. The trip has evolved into pretty much our only chance to get together and hang out. But still it's cool to see the different parks.
Target Field is a nice little stadium. It's not a huge place but it's nice and cozy. The upper deck is very small by comparison to most of the other places we've seen. There are enough different sections to sit that give you a different experience from all over the park. And probably the most wide-ranging fare you could ever imagine at a Major League stadium. From pork chop on a stick, to fried walleye, to this (wow did it smell delicious)...
The game itself? Doesn't really matter anymore. We went, saw the place, couldn't tell you who won (Rays 4-2). But, in case you wondered if we actually went, here you go...
After the game, back to the hotel, get about 4 hours of sleep. Then the return drive home. Yes, we left at 5:00am Central time. Unlike the trip up where we were just happy to be out of the house and looking forward to a fun weekend, this drive was awful. But we survived and made it home around 5:00 pm Eastern. And we still haven't fully recovered. But it's one weekend a year and well worth it. I think.
Next year we are tentatively planning on the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Passports are required and some of us have them. Others have to wait for certain road blocks to be removed (no names mentioned). It will be a great time as usual. And a bonus: it's only eight hours away. Yippee!!
