Sound Bites & Snap Shots

What better way to celebrate Independence Day than with something as American as baseball (and apple pie)? That’s right! We went to Chicago to see the New York Yankees.  Mason has become a pretty big fan so we made getting to a game a priority.  We left early, early yesterday morning in the pouring rain.  It rained so hard both in Newburgh and Evansville.  At one point, we hit a very bad patch of pavement on the interstate and hydroplaned.  Now, I have hydroplaned before but never like this.  In this case, the true credit for the fact that we were not in an accident goes to the driver.  It all happened so fast but what I remember was spinning, sliding and ending up with two wheels into the median with the car perpendicular to the way we should have been traveling on the road. Thankfully, there were no other cars around us so we were not harmed nor were we in an accident.  We got off the road at the interchange and our car had faired none the worst from the experience.  In some ways, I wish I could experience it again because I would like to know exactly how long it lasted and what the true trajectory of the car was and on the other hand, I’m so glad it’s behind us.

We made it in great time to Chicago and our early arrival allowed us the chance to explore some of the sights outside the stadium.

Once inside we found our seats.  Boy do seats five rows from the field make spectating a whole other ballgame!

After we found our seats, we did an lap around the stadium to explore food options.

Stadium food sure has evolved over the years.  Walker got a Philly cheesesteak sandwich and Mason had a foot long hot dog.

Even though the Yanks lost, it was a great adventure for us to see them play.  I’m so glad the boys were able to experience a baseball game this way.

I spent a lot of the game wrapped up in warm feelings of nostalgia.  When I was little, my dad’s company had box seats for the Los Angeles Dodgers.  I remember going to games with him probably once a season when he didn’t need to use the tickets for clients.  I always enjoyed going but I am sure that I didn’t realize until now how very special those times are to me.

Looking back I remember thinking that Dodger games were pretty fun, but it’s not until now as an adult that I can conceptualize how nice our game experiences were.  We always had close, close parking.  We always got to sit in the same seats which were between home and first, if I recall correctly.  The seats were in the first tier near the field so we could follow the game easily and hear the cracks of the balls and bats making contact.  Dad always treated us to foot long hot dogs, peanuts in the shells, frozen lemonades or Carnation malts.

As an adult, I know all of those details had price tags attached. I’m really grateful that my dad and Bill both have big hearts and deep pockets to foster a similar experience for our boys at the old ball game.

When the game was over, we traveled across town for dinner for an early dinner.  We had hoped to go to Eleven City Diner since our last attempt was aborted due to snow.  Unfortunately, today they were closed for to the holiday.  Instead, we filled up at White Palace Grill, an urban diner opened back in 1939.  The food was tasty and plentiful and the restaurant was not crowded at all.  With full bellies, we headed back home to sleep in our own beds.