It started as a late trip after a 8a-4p Walgreens workday to Duke's house in Mount Vernon, OH. A 7-hour trip turned into 8 with nasty tunnel construction on I-77 in Virginia. Such a late arrival didn't stop us from staying up until 3:00am with craft brews, scotch, Godfather Part II, and humane and genteel talk of politics.
The following day, the group made their way to northeast Ohio. First destination: The Brew Kettle in Strongsville, OH. We sampled their wares with good microbrews and delicious barbeque; not the nasty vinegar concoctions of North Carolina, but rather the scrumptious thick red smoky sauce. Nifty decorations of beer tins and plates on the walls. The mouth-watering aromas of brewed beer eminate from the back as this is a "brew-your-own" establishment as well.
After full bellies of slathered pig, it's time for our next stop, checking into our home away from home:
Our room's view:
Once we settled into our rooms, it was off to Lakewood, OH and The Buckeye Beer Engine. A favorite dive of ours (and it was indeed a DIVE) when it was located on the east side in Bedford Heights, it's recently moved across town to the west side in Lakewood into a "fresher" location.
From there, it was back downtown to Rock Bottom for more microbrews and pool. And another instance has occurred which reinforces the knowledge that we just SUCK in pool.
Finally, we make it back to the HO-tel (classic inside joke) for some civil disobedience with bounty brought back from Chris's Dominican Republic mission trip.
Monday morning. Opening Day. 3:05pm start. Beforehand as always, we make our door-opening 11:30am pilgrimage to Great Lakes Brewing Co. for award-winning world-class beers.
The great thing about Great Lakes for pre-game? The Fatty Wagon to take us to and from the game in style:
Instead of $20 parking close to the park, why not just pay $5 in Ohio City across the bridge, eat great food (mmmm, pierogies and bratwurst) and drink great beer, and then pay $1 for a round-trip ticket on the Fatty Wagon? $1! Can't be beat. And saving on parking helped out our wallets where the tab did not....
Bellies full and cheeks flushed, we arrive at the park. It's Opening Day, mind you, and it sells out every year. Even last year when it SNOWED OUT:
So with it selling out, tickets are a challenge to come by (and kudos to Duke for being our Ticket Master every year with successful acquistions!). Our seats were along the first base line, Section 537, Row X. Sadly, Row X is the very top row of the park. No Y or Z here! So, Art has it in his mind to nab good seats until we are politely told to scram. Art, Lude, and Chris find three, and Duke, Bones, and John find three others. (Chris M. was illin' and just met us for lunch before going home.) We enjoy the first two innings up close:
Then we get the boot, so we make our way down even CLOSER for three more innings!
Alas, it's not meant to be, as the rightful owners nab their own seats. As an aside, WHO COMES TO OPENING DAY AND DOES NOT FIND THEIR SEAT BEFORE THE FIFTH INNING??? I would venture to say they forfeit their good seats by then. But I digress...
We make our way to Section 537, Row X and observe the remainder of the action. As opposed to the close-up pic of #24 during the first two innings, enjoy this photo of Grady Sizemore from our proper seats:
It's a touch colder in Row X than in the comfy confines of more expensive seats. Must be the wind-stopping ability of chain link fencing. The cold and wind must also have drained the usual sharp wittiness from my brothers in this video. Thanks to Lude for trying at least.
When all is said and done, the Indians act correctly for us and finish victoriously with a 10-8 win. Enjoy the decidedly un-Carolina-like gray dreary skies that dominate this video.
We make our way back to the Fatty Wagon drop-off at the base of the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge for our trip back to Great Lakes Brewing. It's dinnertime! More brewskis and more delicious grub. This time, their tasty Pretzel Chicken fits the bill:
We crash at the HO-tel again Monday night, then Tuesday morning we all make our separate ways and head homeward: Ohio, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and North Carolina. It is always a treat to see the guys. Sadly, not everyone could make it this year (come on now, 2-Live!!!). It just sucks that with all of our crazy schedules, get-togethers of this magnitude cannot occur more often. Baseball, good beer, and great friends make these annual couple of days the highlight of the spring, if not the whole year.
We close this lengthy post with a photo or two of the drive back home to Greensboro. Go Tribe!!!
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