Wow. This might be the longest I've gone without blogging since 2008. Crazy. There's so much to catch up on, some of it fun good, some of it stressful good. Let's start with the fun good...BASEBALL!
I've decided to spend my tax return on ballpark trips this year. Flights are so friggin' cheap right now it seems stupid not to pounce on them!
Ballpark #20 - Toronto Blue Jays
Last Friday, April 5th I went to Toronto. I was there approximately 28 hours. I love fast turnaround trips. It feels like such an adventure!! I packed in a ton of sightseeing by walking everywhere. Seriously, EVERYWHERE. I tracked my trek on gmaps-pedometer when I got back and I calculated 7.5 miles before I got bored of clicking. My estimate is at least 9 miles of walking. So great. There are a ton of beautiful churches, buildings, and artwork all around town, especially in the Kensington Market area which is a lot like Haight Ashbury in San Francisco. As for tourist attractions, I went to the Hockey Hall of Fame, up the 1800 ft CN Tower, and of course, Rogers Centre for a Blue Jays game.
My Biz coworker/friend Dawn lives in Toronto, but is a Boston Red Sox fan. The two teams played each other that night, so she treated me to great seats about 20 rows behind the Sox dugout. I'm not a huge fan of domes, however this one was nice, much nicer than the Rays' field. I don't think there was anything spectacular about the park, but I think that's why I liked it so much. It was a no nonsense baseball experience.
I was surprised to find Blue Jays fans being as dickish as New York ones. There was a lot of booing, paper airplanes thrown on the field, and even a fight with beer cans being thrown at a Red Sox fan. I BLAME CANADA. University of Toronto is pretty close to the stadium, so I'm pretending it was rowdy frat kids with no respect for the game or their elders. Me being an elder, of course.
Despite those jerks, I found Toronto to be a wonderful city, one that I would absolutely live in should I ever leave NY. It's funny, I have a hard time referring to any other place as a "city" because the only city to me is obviously my own. There really is no place like NYC however, Toronto is clean, calm, and has free healthcare. Very tempting.
Here's a link to my pictures if you're interested!
Ballpark revisit - Chicago Cubs, 3rd time
May 2nd - 5th: MDLL and I are going to Chicago to visit Crazy Ass friends and catch a game. Some things:
1. Wrigley is still my favorite ballpark.
2. MDLL and I are sort of kinda back together.
3. By "sort of kinda", I mean we ARE back together, although I'm pretending we aren't.
4. His divorce will be final in June or July, THANK SHIZZA!!
5. Please pray Pittsburgh isn't attacked by aliens or his ex doesn't get a rare disease where her hands fall off so she can't sign the final paperwork before he gets his divorce trophy.
6. I know, I know. I am disgustingly in love with this moron and he is disgustingly in love with me.
7. We are both very disgusting people.
Ballpark #21 - Atlanta Braves
June 15th: Another adventurous quick trip. My dad and I land in Atlanta at 9am, will hit up the supposedly amazing Georgia Aquarium, go to the game at 4pm, then fly back home at 9:30pm. It will be a long day, but HOW FUN, RIGHT!?!?
Ballpark #22 - Detroit Tigers
July 11th - 14th: I found RT tickets to Detroit for only $190. For some reason I decided to fly back to NYC at 6am on Sunday the 14th to save on hotel room costs. My ridiculous plan is to stay at the bars until they close Saturday night, go to the airport and sleep in the terminal. I have no idea why I did this and may purposely miss my flight to go to bed like a normal person. Native Detroiters Rockstar and Row are coming with, so I am excited to get the local perspective!
Ballpark #23 and #24 - San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics
September 4th - 10th (maybe): My last impulse flight purchase was a great one: $200 RT to San Francisco. MDLL is NOT an impulsive guy, so I give him credit for saying yes after five minutes of me freaking out asking him if he wants to go. Last weekend we were talking about a trip to California, so the timing was perfect. Unfortunately we weren't entirely on the same page, me wanting to go up north for the games, he wanting to visit Los Angeles and San Diego for the first time.
We are booked for the above dates, however I might book a one way flight to San Diego on the 2nd, then we can drive up the coast and end up in SF around the 5th or 6th to catch the games before we leave. This means we'd eat our flight from NYC > SF on the 4th, so our deal wouldn't be that great. I'm okay with this as long as our total flight costs are under $400 each. I don't think ANYONE should pay more than that to fly within the continental US. We shall see.
SO, that's my 2013 baseball rundown!! All that's left is:
Minnesota Twins
Cincinnati Reds
Arizona Diamondbacks
Colorado Rockies
Houston Astros
Texas Rangers
I'm stoked!! After my baseball trips are done, LOOK OUT WORLD! I'm coming for ya!!
