I Seem to be Missing something on This Road Trip....Oh Right, My Car

Baltimore, Maryland

July 11th and 12th, 2009

So I think I can say that for the first time since moving to NYC, this weekend I missed my car. I am starting to get antsy again which means I need to jump in my car and head off to some other city. And it is ball season so it is easy to guess that I would be heading to that city to watch the Blue Jays. Of course my car is not with me so I had to find a different way.

Oh there she is. Remember this....the day I took her home. Can't believe it has been 3 years (see the very first post on this blog EVER for confirmation). Oh I miss her but we will be reunited, if only for a week at the end of August.

I guess I should start with that I decided late Friday afternoon that I wanted to head to Baltimore Saturday morning to catch a couple Jays/Orioles games. Of course normally I would have just jumped in my car and made the drive but now I can't. I looked into renting a car but it turns out that if you want to rent a car in Manhattan on the weekend, you need to do it before Friday night.

So my only choice was to hit the rails......that's Amtrak. Ok I could have taken the bus but can you really see me on a bus? Plus, I learned to enjoy train travel while in Europe but I must say it is not nearly as affordable here in the US as it is over there. And it doesn't seem as fun. Maybe it's just because I am not in Europe and I had to look out at New Jersey and then Delaware and then Pennsylvania before I found myself back in the friendly confines of Maryland (did I really just say that?).

Anyways, so after a nap on the train, I made it back to Baltimore and back to Oriole Park and was instantly reminded of a few things that I had forgotten......but shouldn't have because things don't ever really change.

The first being the humidity. Yeah, it is humid in New York but that isn't Maryland humidity. It was suppose to rain too (which it actually didn't until like midnight) which didn't help anything. I know I keep complaining but the humidity is killing me again this summer. I am really not sure how you people live here.

Ahhhh Baltimore. How I've.......missed you?

The second thing.....Baltimore guys. They never change and they never go away. I get comments for guys on the streets here in New York (and other places) but there is just something about the guys in B-more....that make me very happy I don't live there anymore.

The third thing...the homeless. Of course there are homeless in NYC but they don't seem to be as visible as they are in Baltimore. And I assure they are not as forward as they are in Baltimore. Panhandlers in NYC will never approach you and ask for money. They will just sit around and shake their cups and hope people will contribute. In Baltimore, one after another, they will walk right up to you and ask for money. They kept my wallet empty of spare change all weekend long.

Anyway, I think we all know I love Oriole Park. It really is a nice little ballpark and the tickets are so cheap (especially now that I am paying Yankee prices). The seats I paid $55 per game to sit in in Baltimore would have cost me more like $1000-1250 each in New York. And we know I like to sit close and call balls and strikes. I certainly did not have a problem doing that this weekend.

Upon arrival in Baltimore my two goals were to find tickets to Saturday and Sunday's games and find a hotel. Of course tickets were easy (always lots of good seat available) but finding a hotel that was good enough to host me for a night (I'm still a princess....you know I like my 5 stars) was......ok it was still easy but of course it was expensive. Sometimes I just wish I didn't care.

Anyone else find it ironic that my hotel room view was of the hospital I use to work at? Yeah, that is Johns Hopkins Hospital. The memories...or nightmares......I guess probably both.

Timing seemed to be the theme of my weekend. It just seemed like I was running into people at the right time. The first was this guy named Coswelll (yeah, that is an old school name....that's like my parents picked cotton old school). I totally ignored him the first time he said "Hey Beautiful" but the second time he wouldn't let me. It turned out good in the end. He happened to be a manager of a section of the concessions so yes I did get free beer all game long.

My view for Saturday's game. That's Marco Scuturo up to bat. I now have a baseball autographed by Marco. Fun story, so I'm leaving the hotel to head to the game on Sunday when this guy stops and starts talking to me, asking me if I am from T.O and stuff (imagine this is all with a Puerto Rican accent please). He starts telling me how he works for the players, is an agent and stuff like that. I figure he's lying to me. Turns out he wasn't. He is Alex Rios' agent and friends with a lot of the guys so he got me a ball and I got to talk to Raul Chavez (the Jay's back-up catcher) and I got a couple autographs. Fun, I know. Once again timing. If I had left the hotel a little earlier or a little later, I never would have run into Jose.

My view for Sunday's game. Yeah. I had a good time. Ahhhhhh, the Baltimore Orioles...keeping the Blue Jays out of last place for years to come. Of course if I had chosen to sell this ticket, I could have used a free ticket from Jose because Alex (that's Alex Rios, the Jays' right fielder) always leaves him two. But my seat was better, so I kept it.

Vernon Wells. He totally knows I am taking this picture.

That's Aaron Hill and Lyle Overbay. The original plate ump got injured so this is during a break in play while one of the other guys throws on his gear.

Rookie pitcher Ricky Romero. If he can stay healthy, we might of a chance.

Another rookie pitcher (that really is the theme of our season) Marc Rzepczynski. And yes I did spell that correctly.

After the game. Yeah, we lost both games but I still have team spirit.

So my weekend in Baltimore was....well it actually ended up to be very expensive, but totally worth it. I thought I had found myself settled in Manhattan. Turns out I was wrong. Appears I still have a need to travel. I guess that will help make decisions in the next few months a lot easier.

Julie