Day 3- Baltimore

         Today was a LONG day.  We didn’t get in until late the night before, so we slept in a little.  The Jensen family was leaving kon vacation, so Eric got up early to say goodbye to them and thank them and get instructions, then he went back to bed.  After that, I woke up at 9:30 and was the first one up.  We got out of there around 11:30 after eating, showering making lunch etc.

        Our drive was very long today.  I think it will be the longest of the tour.  We went from Akron, OH to Baltimore.  We drove around Pittsburgh and acrossed Pennsylvania and 6 hours later, we pulled into Baltimore.  The whole drive was through the Appalachian mountains and forest.  It was pretty, yet boring. Haha.  Only 5 miles out of the city, there was no sign of civilization, then it opened up at the last second and it was pretty cool!

        Baltimore was my favorite city thus far.  Granted, we didn’t have any time in the other two cities, but still…. We parked around 5:30 and then walked to the Chesapeake harbor and had a good walk around.  It was very clean and neat, I thought.  They have a few boats and submarines in the harbor, including the USS constellation, a really old battleship- like Pirates of the Caribbean style.  They also had a submarine, too.  We snagged some dinner then headed over to battery hill on the south side of the harbor and took some pictures there.  I love the Baltimore skyline, and I thought the parts we saw were neat.

        We then walked through some old brick neighborhoods to the game.  We entered through the building down the right field line, then went to our seats which were essentially the exact same spot as we had in Cleveland.  We didn’t really like them because they were covered again, so we sat there for an inning and then moved down right infront of us, about ¼ of the way down from the walkway.  We were all drained and not really into the game, and to make matters worse, I was starting to get a sore throat and couldn’t really talk.

Us and the Oriole

        The game went really quickly.  It was the end of the 6^th by 830, so we went ahead and started our stadium tour.  We went down the right field line and sat down for an inning, then stood on the high homerun porch in right field before making our way to the bullpen where we watched a few guys warm up for a few minutes.  Eventually we made our way back right behind the White Sox dugout.   On our way to those seats, Eric saw some fries sitting in a chair, and leaned down to snag some because he thought they were abandoned, then realized as he was grabbing them that they were property of the people in the row behind.  It was so funny.  Anyways, it was now the bottom of the 9^th in a 4-4 game.  The game went into extra innings, then in the top of the 10, Taylor caught a foul ball after a bounce or 2.  Good get! Check! Then I got a little closer to the dugout and between innings I yelled to Jake Peavy and told him we were missing him in SD.  He smiled and gave a thumbs up. Haha then a few pitches later, Baltimore hit a walk off 2 run homer.  So final score 6-4, Baltimore.

Taylor showing off the foul ball he grabbed

        We really liked the stadium in Baltimore.  It was open and inviting.  The view of downtown beyond centerfield was spectacular, as well.  It was missing something like a hall of fame or memorial park, though.  I really liked the building out in right field, too. It was a nice touch.  It was a perfect old school ball park I thought.

The awesome view beyond Center field in Baltimore

        We then headed back to battery hill to get a night skyline photo on the way out, then continued an hour up the road towards NYC and stopped for the night in Dlelaware.  Tomorrow we’ve got NYC! I’m so excited! Padres game, too!

Bullet points to mention

- When we came to a toll road booth, Eric said to the lady, “It was cheaper in Ohio!” and she didn’t say anything. Awkward silence. I enjoyed it.

One of these doesn't look like they belong!

-Gibbs found his purpose in the tour today.  He is “that guy”. Meaning- he is the guy that makes the toll booth joke. Or the guy who is walking with a carryout box of food that is leaking, so he just stops and drains it in the middle of the sidewalk! Or the guy who takes peoples fries at the game.  Or my personal favorite was when we took a picture, then looking at it later, we realized 3 of us were standing with arms over shoulders, and gibbs is just standing off to the side alone, like he’s not supposed to be there.

- While throwing a baseball at a gas station in Pennsylvania, a guy came up and shouted out his window, “that’s why you don’t play in parking lots! Go to a park!”  We were like Wtf. Haha what is why we don’t? we hadn’t even dropped the ball let alone obscured traffic or hit a car or something. I was confused. :P

Game prediction standings:

Eric         3-0

Mitch    2-1 *

Taylor    2-1

Garrett 1-2

*asterisks denotes a correct score prediction.

Scoreboard:

Jumbotron appearances: 4

Balls from the game: 1 (Taylor- Balt)

Promotion items: 2 (Garrett- Hat in Cle; Mitch- backpack in Cle)

Stadium hours: 15

Rainouts/ hours: 3.5

Extra innings: 6

Car hours: 14

Miles: about 800

States:  7