Usually when we do the Chick Trip, Saturday is the main day for activities because Friday and Sunday are travel days. This was the case for CT07, so we tried to pack a lot in the one day. Luckily we got the requisite shopping trip done the night before, so Saturday morning after enjoying our "enhanced Continental breakfast" we headed off to the Miller Brewing Company for a tour of their little beer-making facility. It's a nice little free tour should you find yourself in the area, we learned a lot about how a multi-billion dollar business makes some of their more popular brands, which as you probably know includes the Miller family (Lite, MGD, High Life, the new limey Chill, the Beast, etc.), Hamm's, Plank Road, and Leinenkugel. It also imports Pilsner Urquell and Peroni. Saturday is maintenance day at the brewery so we didn't see much action on the floor, but I'm sure we learned a lot about the process anyway. The nice thing, though, is the free sample portion of the tour, where we received very generously-sized cups of Leinie's Summer Shandy because it's new this summer, and our choice of two of any of the regular Miller brews, Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat or Berry Weiss. After this we decided we REALLY needed to get some food in our tummies. We went to a favorite chain restaurant, P.F. Chang's and shared some delicious Chinese appetizers and entrees. After returning to the hotel to rest a bit, we headed over to Miller Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Miller Park opened in 2001, so it's pretty new. It has a space-age retractable roof which was closed the evening we were there because rain was threatening. It was packed because I suppose you could say the Brewers are doing well this season, unfortunately. I mean, good for them or whatever, but they are competing with the Cubs for the top of the NL Central division and cause me to freak out about daily and honestly it is stressing me out. Anyway, we had great seats and they had neat LED out of town scoreboards as you can see from the photos.


Other highlights of a game at Miller Park are the Sausage Races, their mascot Bernie Brewer who has his own clubhouse and slides down from one level to another when the Brewers get a home run, the parking lot tailgating, and how they sing "Roll out the Barrel" during the 7th inning stretch. A minor complaint - they have a DANCE TEAM - please. I do not approve of a dance squad in baseball. It is just not right. Also it feels weird to be watching baseball inside a building with a roof, but I'm sure never having weather-related delays or cancellations is great. I was reading that Bill Simmons once referred to Brewers fans as "over-protective Little League parents" - I was reminded of this when the fans seriously FLIPPED OUT when someone singled in the 8th inning. I couldn't figure out what the deal was. I asked Kris if I missed a run being batted in or something. But no, they were as excited about the single as they would be a grand slam home run. It was kind of...odd. The Brewers beat the Phillies which I was unhappy about because as mentioned before, it kept the Cubs one game back. But it was fun for all of us Chicks to be together and it was a great time. <3 the Chicks!

I know, I know, it's been a while since we last wrote. But the Nor'easter ended last week. We've gotten back to our regular lives. For three days anyway, and then jetted off again for the middle of America this time - Milwaukee, Wisconsin!

Wayne Campbell: So, do you come to Milwaukee often?
Alice Cooper: Well, I'm a regular visitor here, but Milwaukee has certainly had its share of visitors. The French missionaries and explorers began visiting here in the late 16th century.
Pete: Hey, isn't "Milwaukee" an Indian name?
Alice Cooper: Yes, Pete, it is. In fact, it was originally an Algonquin term meaning "the good land."
Wayne Campbell: I was not aware of that.
Alice Cooper: I think one of the most interesting things about Milwaukee is that it's the only American city to elect three Socialist mayors.
Wayne Campbell: [to the camera] Does this guy know how to party or what?

---Wayne's World

Anyway, we were breezing in and out of town to have our annual CHICK TRIP. Many of you are already aware of this tradition, but in case you are unfamiliar, five of us girls who went to high school together (some back to middle school, some even to elementary school - here's where Steph says I should mention that she and I took baths together when we were young, do what you'd like with that image) have been making sure to get together for a weekend together at least one time a year for the last eleven years. It's very important to us because although we are still in touch, this time away just the five of us together to hang out and catch up, is special. We often try to meet in a large Midwestern city because then those of us who live in Iowa can drive to it and Kris can fly to the local airport.

Hmm, I have to end this for tonight because Steph wants me to come warm her in bed. Tomorrow, a report on the tour we took of the Miller Brewing Company and the totally crappy game we attended at Miller Park. (It wasn't really crappy, but the Brewers won which kept them first in the division that the Cubs should be at least tied for first in tonight).

Our final game! (Well, until this weekend when we see Pirates at Brewers on the Chick Trip, an outing unrelated to the Nor'easter).

We may have gotten going a teentsy bit late from Philadelphia, but don't you worry, there was a good 42 minute rain delay, even though apparently it was never really raining over the ballpark. The radio announcers referred to it as the "phantom rain."

We enjoyed the ballpark - Oriole Park at Camden Yards - very much. It's home to the Baltimore Orioles but it seriously appeared that there were at least as many Yankees fans as Orioles fans present, especially in our section which could almost have been a visitor's section. It just celebrated its 15th birthday, and has our favorite old-style design, which is set up in a plaza/city street setup with the concessions and stores situated along the street. It's just basically very fan-friendly and welcomes people to grab food and sit in tables or along fences and watch the game. Camden Yards also has a lot of nice historic features, including a sculpture of Babe Ruth (a Baltimore native), bronze plaques on the Eutaw Street where home run balls have landed, the Sports Legends museum, and it's named for the railyards that were on the site it was built.

Orioles fans were very excited while we were there about how shortstop Cal Ripken, Jr. had just been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He played his entire career in Baltimore, and the wall of the old warehouse behind right field showed how many consecutive games he played (apparently they always used to change this number every game until his streak ended, but they put the sign back up in honor of the Hall of Fame induction).


A little aside- Kristina enjoyed her first perk of having a Honda Civic hybrid - special parking spaces just for hybrid drivers! Yay for the ozone.

So, tomorrow I head back to Iowa. Was worried there for a bit when I got a voice mail from Northwest Airlines telling me my Monday flight had been canceled and that I'd been rescheduled for Tuesday night. Kristina saved the day by firmly telling them that I needed to be back Monday and that it was not negotiable (hmm, just realized she may have been motivated for me to LEAVE so that's why she was willing to help, or maybe because I freaked a bit at the idea of not getting back Monday like planned...) Anyway, I am now leaving about the same time, just from a different airport so all is well. We have more to say, though, so keep checking back, dear readers.

Tonight we visited Citizen's Bank Park, Home of the Philadelphia Phillies. I learned the following there:

1) Phillies fans are hot. I should qualify this with that I still think Cubs fans are the hottest.

2) This was a surprise to me because I hadn't realized there were any Phillies fans.

3) I maybe should have stopped at two beers.

We found CBP to be very much like Fenway, except much newer as it opened in 2004. It's set up in a similar way with a walkway behind center field with a bunch of restaurants and storefronts. It's called Ashburn Alley after their Hall of Famer center fielder Richie Ashburn from the '50s. I think maybe he had the most hits of any batter in the 1950's (could be wrong, don't quote me on that). The story I like the best about him is how he once hit a foul ball that struck the wife of a sportswriter then hit her again when she was being carried off the field. (That was him, wasn't it? I'm sorry, see #3 above).

We've been comparing the different scoreboards around the east coast (the ones that show what other teams are doing). Kristina and I agree the Bank has the best one because it not only shows the score and who is pitching, but has a little diamond that lights up how many outs and when there are runners on base:





Anyway, our seats were awesome, everyone we talked to was fun and enthusiastic about their team, just a great vibe in the park. We got there a bit late so we got to park for free in the nice big lot attached to the park. Tonight we're at a motel in Philly that seems to be a bit of a party place but I can't wait to sleep.

Tomorrow we're off to Baltimore for our last game, Orioles v. Yankees. Maybe we'll even get there in time for batting practice! But I doubt it. I should take this opportunity to thank Kristina for making this trip possible by taking on a freelance project that she's spent little to no time on so far and planning and arranging most of it with not much input from me. Oh, and she's had to do all the driving because I don't drive a manual. So hugs and kisses to Kristina!

PS: Funny quote from the game ~

Kristina to the guy sitting behind us to explain how she knows who Dmitri Young is: "I'm a Nats fan."
The guy: "You're a what?"

Note: I actually wrote this this at about 3 a.m. but didn't post it until now because of internet connection issues. I'm in a better mood now, I'm sure you'll all be relieved to hear.

I. Am. Dead. Tired. To be fair, I should probably write about the Shea experience when I’m not still grumpy about it but who knows when I may get time so here we go.

Oh, first I want to mention the varied modes of transportation we’ve utilized in one single day (in order): car (thanks, Lyn!), ferry, bus shuttle to ferry parking, car, car, car, commuter train from Connecticut, subway to Grand Central, then switched to the 7 (express) to Shea, then those last few in reverse order back to the house. This makes for a very long day. We had a very fun day traveling nevertheless, which started in Martha’s Vineyard and ended in Connecticut, with a long stopover in Providence, Rhode Island, on the campus of Brown University. I now have many pieces of apparel that look like this:


It's my name, ya know?

You may have noticed that our game reports have had little to do with the action and more to do with our experience in the park. That’s because I’m not good with the PBP, you wouldn’t care, and Kristina doesn’t care unless it’s a Nats game. And really, this trip was more about seeing the ballparks, visiting the cities and friends, getting an idea of what the fans are like in these places, because we don’t particularly care about the outcomes of the games (except tonight, obviously, on Kristina’s part).

So, Shea Stadium. This is a nice looking park. It opened in 1964 and has escalators which is about my favorite feature of the more recent stadiums. It’s exciting to see from the subway as you roll into the Shea stop, all neon and bright and shiny.

Here’s the thing, though - I think I have an idea now
of what it’s like to be a New Yorker, especially an Angry Mets Fan. Because I swear as we made our way to our seats, if I had to f----g dodge one more f-----g loud, annoying person not looking where s/he was f-----g going, or cutting me off, or f-----g bumping into me then I was going to actually get into a f-----g fist fight for the first f-----g time in my life. AND THEN try standing in the food line, where you will wait for a group of 20 teenagers to go through the drink line and exactly one of them will actually be buying a drink, the rest just taking up valuable space. Then the rude cashier will tell you that there’s no more soda on this side, and you must go to the other side. Then on the subway back, the guy across the aisle from you will not stop staring even when you glare at him and there will be people in the car talking as loudly and obnoxiously as they possibly can. Here’s a sociological note: we’ve found that groups of grown up boys sometimes behave in a similar way as little boys - they try to be as loud as possible so that everyone will look at them. Is this just something leftover from childhood? Also, I wonder if anyone's written a paper on the difference between the Yankees fans in the Bronx and the Mets fans in Queens. Feels like a Chicago team southside/northside thing to me. Actually, here's a little article on that topic: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/kostya_kennedy/news/2000/10/20/kostya/ Anyway, Fenway, it ain't.

Glad to get all of that off of my chest. It really wasn’t that bad and it is a very cool stadium. Our seats were very good, this was our view:

and hey, it was:



so there was a free concert after (we didn’t stay). The Nats won and Kris didn’t even get her ass kicked by the AMFs for cheering loudly for Washington! It’s a good night in baseball!
Unfortunately, the Cubs lost, which we were able to see on the very detailed Shea board, and the Brewers won which makes the Cubs now three behind in the NL Central. Please, please, please let there be a Cubs postseason! I don’t ask for much, do I?
Here’s a shot in Grand Central

“It’s grand…and it’s central!” - Marty from Madagascar



In other news, go Jimmie Johnson in the Brickyard 400 Sunday! I don’t care if Brad thinks he’s a midget. Have you seen how he uses those Kobalt tools?