Baseball Tour Day 4--Big Wet and Long

Tuesday, July 24.  I begin writing after the Camden Yards tour. While my photos don't show it well, it was pouring rain the whole time. Paul, our tour guide, did a mostly good job of keeping us out of the rain. He was a fine guide, with lots of history, comical stories and hope for the Orioles for next year. We saw the expensive fan boxes, press boxes, communication center, and the O's dugout. While on the service level, we saw a couple of the Red Sox players, so I'm told, though I didn't recognize them. Additional rain on my parade was a credit card fraud alert, handling of which caused me to miss some of the tour info and lose that card's use for the rest of the trip. 

We headed late morning to Philadelphia by bus. The last 45 minutes or so were actually partly sunny. I kid you not, the minute our bus parked, a downpour started. It was brief, but then as my lunch buds and I headed for the Red Owl Tavern, we were drenched. I had a lovely sandwich-and-two-IPA lunch with two fun couples from Oklahoma, one celebrating their 20th anniversary, the other newlyweds. An added bonus is that one couple are die-hard Cubs fans like me. On the way back to the bus we stopped to see the Liberty Bell. 

We checked into our Courtyard Marriott, and shortly thereafter headed to the Phillies-Dodgers game at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. (Note that this one was already on my bucket list.) We had only a couple times of brief, light rain through 9 innings. The Phillies came from behind to tie the game 4-4. We made it through 12 at the ballpark. The Phils finally won it through lots of rain in 16 innings with a walk off 3-run homer. Very long day!! 

Baseball Tour Day 3--Big Wet

Monday, July 23.  Before moving to the first tour hotel today (big step up), the Marriott staff kindly agreed via phone call to store my luggage till later check-in. However, when I delivered my bag, a room was already available, so I was checked in and in my room by 9am. Super charmed life! 

The National Aquarium at Baltimore Inner Harbor was my morning adventure. Excellent place! I really like museums that are set up with a directional flow to keep folks moving and ensure one sees everything, and the NA is set up that way. There is a real whale skeleton, 65 ft long, hanging in the middle of the NA. I went to a 4D dolphin movie, very cool. The 4th D was water sprayed on us, seats shaking, a poke in the back, and a brush on the leg from under the seat. It was quite clever, and you can bet there were lots of screaming kids. I touched a ray and a jellyfish. It is always good to be reminded of the whole other universe lying below the water's surface. The NA's theme: Water connects all living things.

After the Aquarium, I stopped at the Pratt Street Ale House for a beer and a salad. Here I experienced a first... I ordered a $13 salad, no meat, and they charged me 75 cents for the extra dressing I requested. Geez! 

I lazed the afternoon away (code for "nap"), then met up with the tour hosts, Darren and Bobby, and picked up my game tickets for the week. Around 6:00 I made my way over to Camden Yard, home of the Orioles, and enjoyed a walk all the way around the park, taking in the sights, smells, and brew selections. I got a beer and my most unusual ballpark food so far... Crab Chipper. That's spicy potato chips loaded with crab meat, cheese sauce, green onions, Old Bay seasoning and herbs. Yummy. I enjoyed meeting some other folks on the tour from Texas and Oklahoma. Alas, after 2 2/3 innings and two pouring rain delays, I bailed and headed back to the Marriott. Not a great start, hopefully there's no way to go but up! 

Baseball Tour Day 2

Sunday, July 22.  No alarm to wake me, what a treat! I leisurely planned my adventures for the day: Walters Museum of Art, the Baltimore Basilica, and a late lunch at a local restaurant named Maisy's. All located within a half-mile of my hotel. Uphill from my hotel, I might add.

I can't say enough good stuff about the art museum. It was outstanding in both the quality and variety of exhibits. Ancient Egyptian, Buddhist, Roman (extraordinary jewelry), armor and weapons, Impressionist paintings, those are just a few of the things I saw. There was a "Wonders" room, similar to how wealthy folks would display their collection of things unusual or interesting. I include a photo here of the "Wonders of Nature" display case, wherein you can see an armadillo, nowadays way more pest than wonder! In the Collector's Study, the explanatory sign said, "where a nobleman... might spend leisure time studying beautiful objects." I'd say that nowadays we spend way too little time doing that. The "icing on the cake" of my visit was getting to see two Monet paintings. Those truly make my heart sing! 

The tour guide at the Basilica referred to it as the first cathedral in America and the "mothership" of Catholicism in the U.S. It is very different from most cathedrals I have visited--no stained glass, limited statuary, very plain and simple by comparison. It was completed and dedicated in 1821. Alas, due to the builders' mistake, not the architect's, it was built on sand. (Doesn't the Bible mention building on sand as a problem???!?) It wasn't until 2004 during a 30-month restoration project that the potential collapse of the cathedral was averted by installing a proper foundation. Mother Theresa visited here in 1996, and there is a powerful and moving statue of her and a child in the sanctuary. The church is beautiful. The most glorious thing I noticed there, however, was the diversity, in every way, of folks leaving mass before the tour started. 

After the Basilica tour, I walked a few blocks back toward my hotel and had a late lunch at Maisy's. Starting with a great local IPA, I enjoyed the best Maryland crab cake and sweet potato fries I have ever had. Then it was back to the hotel to listen to the Cubs-Cardinals game (Cubs won), and rest up for Monday's aquarium adventure and the official start of the East Coast Baseball Tour. 

Baseball Tour Day 1--Charmed Life

Saturday, July 21.  My oft-repeated mantra is "I lead a charmed life, especially when traveling." I attribute my good fortune when traveling to equal parts my smile, my gray hair, and my very intentional pleasantness. Because so many travelers are so stressed, I make it a point to be a spot of courtesy, good manners, and peace. 

Leaving on my baseball trip today, I had to work hard at not being nervous. I had originally reserved flights with comfortably sufficient connection time allowed. Due to flight changes by United, I ended up with only 45 minutes to connect in Chicago to my Baltimore flight. After I had checked in, I noticed that I had been placed in a seat at the back of the plane. That would waste valuable time just waiting  to deplane. So when the gate agent arrived, I politely asked for a seat closer to the front. She gave me 1A. In the small plane to Chicago, that was a single seat right at the front, and Mike, the flight attendant, stowed my carry-on bag up front in the crew's bag closet. Mercifully, the flight arrived about 15 minutes early. As soon as we parked and the door opened, I was the first one off the plane.  I made my connection with about 20 minutes to spare. Whew! Charmed life.

The flight to Baltimore was successful, but delays in taking off made our arrival time around 9:30pm. The flight was rather rough due to pouring rain in the Baltimore area. I took an uber to my downtown hotel and with great relief, settled in for the night. 

By the way, my little carry-on bag was a piece of cake to lift into the overhead bin, so I can't say yet if it passes the under-the-seat test.

Traveling Lightly

     I love the ongoing challenge between the airlines and passengers over baggage. The airlines charge for checked luggage, so folks stuff everything into carry-on bags. Now some airlines are charging for overhead bin space, so under-the-seat bags are becoming the rage. While I absolutely can afford it, it irritates me to no end to pay baggage fees on top of the steep ticket prices. So I am now the proud owner of a pretty-damn-small under-the-seat bag. As you can see from the photos, it is just a bit bigger than a standard-size binder.
     I am leaving on a 10-day trip later this week. I am employing several strategies to pack this small bag. My husband packs for the Bike Across Kansas each year and gave me this helpful tip... put clothes in a zip-lock bag, sit on it and seal it. Voila, vacuum-packed! Fortunately, I don't need fancy clothes, so shorts and t-shirts will satisfy my needs throughout, along with one pair of good walking shoes. I learned that the hotel we are staying at midway through the trip has laundry facilities, which I will use. I don't need much jewelry or a lot of make-up or hair products. Those that I do bring are quite small. I'm also very healthy, so I don't have any drugs or medical equipment to carry. I'm very low-maintenance.

     I will be reporting on my trip here on the blog. I have a bucket-list mission to see a baseball game in every major league ballpark. As of right now, it's 13 down, 17 to go. My upcoming trip is devoted to this mission. It's a died-and-gone-to-heaven tour. I fly into Baltimore, where I've given myself an extra day to explore on my own. Once I join the group for the bus tour, we begin with a game and tour at Camden Yards. Then we go on to Philadelphia for a Phillies game. The next move is to New York City for two days to see both the Mets and Yankees, along with some free time in NYC. My two NYC tourist goals are the 911 Memorial and McSorley's Old Ale House. The "icing on the cake" of this trip is a day at Cooperstown for the Baseball Hall of Fame. We finish up in Boston where we get both a game and a tour at Fenway, plus I'm staying an extra day to explore Boston on my own. This will add four more stadiums to my bucket list, as I had previously been to a Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park.
     I am going solo on this trip. I don't know anyone who is as nuts about baseball as I am, nor willing to spend that kind of money for baseball, baseball and more baseball. The advantages of this group trip are many. Transportation in unfamiliar cities is taken care of. We have great seats and nice hotels that I probably would not have treated myself to had I planned it myself, which would have taken an extraordinary amount of my time. There will be lots of ground covered with no driving by me! The tour company (Triple Crown Travel) can take advantage of group rates and packages. I have traveled many times in my life on group tours, and I love meeting new folks, which on this tour will be extra-fun because we will all be baseball nuts. However, being the introvert that I am, I will be very happy to retreat each night to a hotel room all to myself. Can you tell I am excited?!?!?!
     More fun to come...
            Leta

My Hip is in my Head.

     I have been living with a sore, tight and achy left hip for at least five years. While something in me knew it is probably arthritis, I have resisted that label since the hip is the only place on my body where I experience any sort of discomfort. I am a firm believer in our body's ability to heal itself, so I believed that my body would eventually do just that. Along the way, I've done various things to support the healing, such as regular chiropractic, massage and yoga. MELT Method techniques have been particularly helpful in enabling me to stay active and keep the ache at a tolerable level with very little need to take pain relievers of any sort.
     Investigation of another possible healing modality (prolotherapy--look it up) led my new doctor (previous doc retired) to require x-rays of the hip to see what is truly going on in that joint. I will congratulate him on his bravery, for he is the one who finally pronounced to me that it is arthritis with bone-on-bone contact in the joint. Did I mention that I hate being medically labeled? I swear my hip has become more achy since that pronouncement.
     My doctor said, "You can have that joint replaced. It is just a matter of when you decide that it is affecting your quality of life." So now, my hip is in my head.
     First of all, I am frustrated that I was not able to heal myself. Not that I've ever had that miraculous ability! I know I can't convince myself that I can re-form the bone and rebuild the joint tissue. Where is Jesus when I need him? I do believe that someday humans will be able to heal themselves, but we just aren't that evolved yet. I fully realize that this is a dumb reason to be annoyed with myself.
     Next, in my mind, arthritis equals old. I'm not old in my head, so it aggravates me to be old in my body. Since I am so generally healthy, I like to think that I am immune to illness and declining with age. So a likely hip replacement is a wake-up call that the more years I spend on the planet, the more I may run into assorted health challenges. I am grateful that this one is rather easily fixed.
     The pros for having the hip replaced are many:

-I'm weary of the nearly constant ache that often interferes with sleep
-The arthritis and bone-on-bone contact are not going to improve
-I'm limping
-I don't want to mess up other parts of my body by continuing to compensate for this hip issue
-I want to be able to walk long distances comfortably on my many upcoming travels
-I can get this one and only thing fixed and then I'm good to go for a long time (I hope!)
-I do not like feeling handicapped or saying "I can't...." because I am hurting
-It is making it harder for me to do and teach yoga and to walk for more than a couple miles

-Maybe the surgeon can fix the life-long discrepancy in the length of my legs
-I have a good window of time in the fall to get it done.

     The cons are just big scary monsters in my head:
-I might die on the operating table
-I'll go nuts if I can't swim for several weeks
-What if it doesn't "work" and I'm still in pain
-They cut off the top of the leg bone--YUCK! (Though I am going to ask if I can have it as a souvenir)
-I know someone who went in for a "simple knee replacement" and had so many complications that he ended up many months later with a leg amputation

     Clearly, I can scare the sense out of myself if I'm not mindful of my thoughts! I know several folks who have had successful hip replacements and they are ready and willing to support me. There are good surgeons locally in Wichita that have plenty of experience with the procedure. I am very motivated, especially by my desire to travel, to recover well and quickly. Ultimately this will be just a small "blip in the action" which is my life.
      Now that I have mentally "opened the door" to the hip replacement option, I know that the knowledge, support and resources to make it happen are coming to me. I can hardly wait to hear myself say, "I'm so glad I did it!" 
      Stay tuned...
           Leta

The PERFECT Ending

     Yesterday was likely my last visit to Wrigley Field for a CUBS game. A Cubs game at Wrigley is truly heaven on earth for me. I love baseball, the Cubs, Wrigley, Wrigleyville--I know writing this will bring me to tears, this experience has such a huge place in my heart.
     I say my "last visit" because my friend who lives in Chicago and spoils me wonderfully with so much tourist fun is moving away, and I probably won't make the effort on my own to get to a game. I'm not "shutting the door," but it was important for my experience yesterday to recognize that it may be the last time I am there.
     While my friend went elsewhere to take care of some moving business, I stepped off the train at Addison and headed toward Wrigley. I did some requisite browsing in the souvenir shops. I know that it is not possible for me to be surrounded by too much Cubs paraphernalia. I discovered a mighty-fine Cubs golf bag, and posted a hinting suggestion with photo on Facebook.
     I've been consciously trying to open up more and talk with folks I don't know. So I did that in the Cubs store, striking up a conversation with a woman working there. It was lovely. It turns out that she also is a tax preparer (what are the chances?!?!?!), then she works in the Cubs store during baseball season. So like me, she is wildly excited on Opening Day, because it means the end of tax season is oh-so-close. She talked of how she loves working in the store because shoppers are so enthusiastic and excited to be attending a game at Wrigley Field.
     Pre-game ritual involves at least one beer at the Cubbie Bear bar directly opposite the Wrigley marquee. Temps were in the high-90s, demanding cool refreshment, so that was the next stop. While there, I also achieved one of my Chicago-weekend food goals--the real thing--a Chicago Dog. My friend joined me and around 3:00, and we headed across the street for the 4:05 game vs the Minnesota Twins.
     I used the pre-game time inside the stadium to roam, take photos, and just soak up the place and feel how much I love it and love being there. As I was roaming, I noticed a couple guys talking with an usher about his 2016 World Series ring. Since the Cubs had not won a World Series since 1908, the Cubs organization gave out 1,908 rings following the 2016 championship, so the usher said "everyone got one." How cool is that!!! There are three levels of "fanciness" to the rings, from the players diamond-and-jewel-encrusted ones to very plain. The one in the photo below is the mid-level one, on MY hand!!!

     Mercifully our seats were in the shade, down the left-field side just past third base. It was gross hot and muggy. I kept telling myself that all this sweating was worth it. I told my friend that my ultimate goal of the day was to be singing "Go, Cubs, Go" at the top of my lungs, because that means the Cubs won the game.
     It was my idea of a perfect game. The Cubs were down 5-2 and came back to win 10-6. The Cubs hit four home runs, including a grand slam by Addison Russell. There were errors overcome and great defensive plays made. And I got to sing, the perfect ending to a great Wrigley experience I shall hold in my heart always.
     There IS crying in baseball,
              Leta