Gorgeous Minneapolis

Day 5 - Minneapolis, Minnesota

What a great day we had in Minneapolis.  The weather was perfect, 75, sunny, and no humidity.  The town is very green and bike friendly.  They have a system called Nice Ride where you can rent a bike for 24 hours for only $6.  There are stations all over the city to switch bikes and recharge our 30 minutes of ride time.  Luckily Randy has his new iPhone because there is a Nice Ride app which locates bike stations and even gave suggested bike tours.  We were all over!

The University of Minnesota was our first stop and it was so pretty!  The campus was alive with its Preview Day so there were people everywhere.  We saw the stadiums, student union building, and the science buildings but I couldn't find the math building.

Our next mission was to find Matt's Bar, featured the Travel Channel shows Food Wars and Man V. Food to try the legendary Juicy Lucy, a cheese filled burger.  After about 40 minutes on the bike and a mile and a half walk we made it.  And boy was it worth it!  Awesome burger!  And the walk and bike ride back into town worked off some of it.

Then it was game time.  We left the car at the hotel and walked downtown to the stadium.  Target Field is right next to Target Center where the Timberwolves and Wild (with ex-Devil Zach Parise) play so it was a happening part of the city.  There were lots of outdoor restaurants and people heading to the game.  I bet its very different in the winter, but I could get used to summers in Minneapolis!

The game was fun but we suffered our first loss rooting for the home team.  The Rays were knocking balls out of the stadium during batting practice and it didn't end there.  They won 12 to 6.  We got to see a lot of good players, Joe Mauer, Justin Mourneau, Evan Longoria, BJ Upton.  The stadium opened in 2010 and it still has a new feel.  We sat in the seats right above right/center field.  Great seats.  During batting practice one of the Rays threw a ball into the stands and I got it!  Pretty cool.

Thanks Minneapolis! Next Stop DCI Finals in Indianapolis!

Motor City USA

Day 2: Canton Ohio-Detroit Michigan

So after a fun night in Pittsburgh, we headed to our next destination: Detroit!

We had a few hours to burn, so we made a detour to see the Worlds Largest Teapot in Chester West Virginia.

After the brief stop, more like a slow roll, we made our way to Canton Ohio for the Pro Football Hall of Fame!

                                                  

                                                                    It got pretty flat in Ohio.

Saw my Favorite QB of all time!

Diane with some of the more recent inductees. Jerry Rice's face looked way to real! 

Osi Umenyiora's jersey from 2008 Superbowl! Unfortunately they didn't have anything from this years Superbowl!

This is the Lombardi Trophy that will be handed out THIS Superbowl in NOLA!

And Diane attempting to do the Heisman Pose!

After Canton, we headed north to Motor City USA for the Tigers - Yankees Game!

Detroit felt like an old town that's taken a beating. A once prosperous city crushed by economic downfall and Automotive bailouts. Still there were glimpses of revival. The area around the stadium was booming with bars, restaurants and theaters. There was even a rather new looking monorail! All new buildings constructed to feel and look like they've been there for a long time. 

We were running close to game time so we did not get a chance to truly explore the downtown area.

Cool Wall in Detroit!

Comerica Park was Gorgeous! The ballpark felt huge! Very spacious concourses and an awesome view from anywhere along the main level! Our Seats were way high to the left of the scoreboard! Still an awesome seat!

The stadium was rather full considering the game was on a Tuesday Night. I guess that's what having a competitive team will do (<---Angry Mets Fan) and it doesn't hurt that the Yankees were in town. They always travel well.

The game was fun! Saw a few home runs, saw Ichiro and saw Prince Fielder!

 The Final score does not truly reflect the game since the Tigers closer gave up 3 runs to make it close. As a Met fan, it felt all too familiar. As the sun went down, the Tigers went on to win the game 6-5!

2 days, 2 games, 2 wins! 

On to Milwaukee for a 1:10pm game!

The 'Burgh

Day one: Put it in the books!

Driving down the PA turnpike we found some interesting billboards!Definitely do not see them in NJ!

The Prius got us safely to Pittsburgh!

PNC

Heinz Field

What a beautiful day! High of 82, low humidity. We walked around the Point State Park where you can see Heinz Field and PNC Park across the Allegheny river!

Beautiful Park, but unfortunately they were doing some construction on the actual Point so we couldn't get all the way to the edge. The walkway goes from the point all the way to the Roberto Clemente Bridge! There were some fun things along the way!

Under 1 of the Bridges

Large Rings

Di Holding up PNC!

Cool mural

In Town there were these cool murals showing the evolution of Pittsburgh. The one to the right here is one of them!

All this leading up to the Roberto Clemente Bridge. 

They close the bridge during game days and use it solely as a pedestrian bridge. Pretty cool standing in the middle of town on a main bridge with no cars!

Here's the view from the Ballpark side toward Pittsburgh!

Outside of PNC there are statues of:

Bill Mazeroski

Roberto Clemente

Willie Stargell

We met up with our friends, the Bergs, and took our seats in the ballpark.

Section 29 Row D Seats 1-5

                                                    We enjoyed a Pittsburgh Favorite

Primanti Brothers Sandwich!

And got to see the potential MVP and Bucs Mascot!

Andrew McCutchen

Parrot

Erik Bedard pitched a gem: 7innings 2 hits for the Win

Pirates 4 Diamondback 0

Game 1 in the books! Next stop Canton Ohio then Detroit Michigan!

Almost time!

So we have less than 24 hrs until we embark. 9 baseball games, DCI finals in Indianapolis and a few friends along the way!

 Clothes are packed, Snacks are packed. Just tying up some loose ends before the journey.

We are both excited yet nervous about this trip. Did we schedule too much? Are we not doing enough different things in between the baseball games? Only time will tell. The excitement of a new city every day and new ballpark should power us through the trip!

This is like "going on tour" except our tour bus is the environmentally friendly Prius!

More to come..