Big Baseball Road Trip 2013
As I previously mentioned, I am planning a big baseball road trip this summer. It won't hit quite as many parks as last year, but it will cover a lot more miles and will let me move two states from partial to full credit.
As it turns out, the team schedules in early August were so perfect for what I wanted to do that I'm pretty much definitely going to go then. This would let me cover 3 major league and 2 AAA games in 8 states over 6.5 days while only requiring 4 days off from work. For good measure, it would hit three baseball related tourist attractions. Here's the breakdown:
Wednesday evening 8/07
Drive 5 hours to Louisville after work. Potentially have dinner in Columbus along the way with mishamish and babymonkey.
Thursday 8/08
Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory in the morning. Buy myself a personalized bat to terrorize my coworkers with.
Drive 4 hours to St. Louis.
Party with my friend and former coworker Eric.
Los Angeles Dodgers at St. Louis Cardinals @ 7:15pm at Busch Stadium III.
Drive 3.5 hours to Kansas City.
Friday 8/09
Negro League Baseball Museum.
American Jazz Museum.
BBQ! Jazzbo recommends Oklahoma Joe's.
Boston Red Sox at Kansas City Royals @ 7:10pm at Kauffman Stadium.
Drive 3 hours to Omaha. Sleep in Nebraska, cross it off the list.
Saturday morning 8/10
Some Omaha attractions? Maybe the Omaha Zoo?
Sacramento River Cats at Omaha Storm Chasers @ 7:05pm at Werner Park. Even better, the River Cats the AAA affiliate of the Oakland Athletics - I can wear the hat Mike got me as a wedding present! The Storm Chasers are the AAA team for Kansas City.
Drive 2 hours to Des Moines. Sleep in Iowa, cross it off the list.
Sunday 8/11
Drive 3 hours to Field of Dreams.
Drive 2 hours to Madison.
Party with eirias and family.
Monday 8/12
Drive 2.5 hours to Chicago.
Party with Wayne & Jen and maybe some other Chicago people.
Cincinnati Reds at Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field @ 7:05pm.
Tuesday 8/13
Drive 4 hours to Toledo.
Toledo Museum of Art?
Toledo Zoo?
Norfolk Tides (Orioles) at Toledo Mudhens (Detroit) @ 7:00pm at 5/3 Field.
Drive 2 hours to Cleveland.
Here's the approximate route.
This trip has a lot of hotel stays, especially in the early portions of the trip. Other than that I don't see any particular problems with it. Sure, it'll be hot & sticky in the Midwest in early August, but frankly it'll be hot & sticky in the Midwest in July too. I'd rather not do June (already going on vacation that month) and by September the minor league schedules start shutting down, so this seems like the best way to go about it.
Suggestions on attractions in any of these cities (or on direct routes between them) are welcome. And if you'd like to ride along, let me know. Maybe we can work something out.
After this, the only big league park within a day's driving distance from Cleveland is Fenway Park in Boston, unless you count Target Field in the Twin Cities, which is a LONG 14 hour day. It can be done, but it's not pleasant. Anyway, if I did Boston I could presumably stretch the trip to knock off Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont and Connecticut, as well as visit Cooperstown, so that's a possible candidate for 2014. After that, all my baseball road trips will need to start with plane trips. I'm thinking of doing the Bay Area in early 2014. If only I had infinite time and money...
As it turns out, the team schedules in early August were so perfect for what I wanted to do that I'm pretty much definitely going to go then. This would let me cover 3 major league and 2 AAA games in 8 states over 6.5 days while only requiring 4 days off from work. For good measure, it would hit three baseball related tourist attractions. Here's the breakdown:
Wednesday evening 8/07
Drive 5 hours to Louisville after work. Potentially have dinner in Columbus along the way with mishamish and babymonkey.
Thursday 8/08
Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory in the morning. Buy myself a personalized bat to terrorize my coworkers with.
Drive 4 hours to St. Louis.
Party with my friend and former coworker Eric.
Los Angeles Dodgers at St. Louis Cardinals @ 7:15pm at Busch Stadium III.
Drive 3.5 hours to Kansas City.
Friday 8/09
Negro League Baseball Museum.
American Jazz Museum.
BBQ! Jazzbo recommends Oklahoma Joe's.
Boston Red Sox at Kansas City Royals @ 7:10pm at Kauffman Stadium.
Drive 3 hours to Omaha. Sleep in Nebraska, cross it off the list.
Saturday morning 8/10
Some Omaha attractions? Maybe the Omaha Zoo?
Sacramento River Cats at Omaha Storm Chasers @ 7:05pm at Werner Park. Even better, the River Cats the AAA affiliate of the Oakland Athletics - I can wear the hat Mike got me as a wedding present! The Storm Chasers are the AAA team for Kansas City.
Drive 2 hours to Des Moines. Sleep in Iowa, cross it off the list.
Sunday 8/11
Drive 3 hours to Field of Dreams.
Drive 2 hours to Madison.
Party with eirias and family.
Monday 8/12
Drive 2.5 hours to Chicago.
Party with Wayne & Jen and maybe some other Chicago people.
Cincinnati Reds at Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field @ 7:05pm.
Tuesday 8/13
Drive 4 hours to Toledo.
Toledo Museum of Art?
Toledo Zoo?
Norfolk Tides (Orioles) at Toledo Mudhens (Detroit) @ 7:00pm at 5/3 Field.
Drive 2 hours to Cleveland.
Here's the approximate route.
This trip has a lot of hotel stays, especially in the early portions of the trip. Other than that I don't see any particular problems with it. Sure, it'll be hot & sticky in the Midwest in early August, but frankly it'll be hot & sticky in the Midwest in July too. I'd rather not do June (already going on vacation that month) and by September the minor league schedules start shutting down, so this seems like the best way to go about it.
Suggestions on attractions in any of these cities (or on direct routes between them) are welcome. And if you'd like to ride along, let me know. Maybe we can work something out.
After this, the only big league park within a day's driving distance from Cleveland is Fenway Park in Boston, unless you count Target Field in the Twin Cities, which is a LONG 14 hour day. It can be done, but it's not pleasant. Anyway, if I did Boston I could presumably stretch the trip to knock off Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont and Connecticut, as well as visit Cooperstown, so that's a possible candidate for 2014. After that, all my baseball road trips will need to start with plane trips. I'm thinking of doing the Bay Area in early 2014. If only I had infinite time and money...