I'm baaaack. With more photos for everyone to enjoy, because you may as well be sick of them by the time I shove them down your throats after I get back.
The last time I was able to update from a computer, I had spent the day at the beach in Tampa Bay. Before I move on to that evenings activities, I want to point out that the majority of the sand and material on the beach was composed of fragmented shells. Not large pieces that posed a threat to ones feet, but small little bits, usually no larger than a centimeter at most. I think that most of the sand sized material was just broken shells as well, but I didn't examine it too closely. Just something that was on my mind today.
After I cleaned up and posted the photos from the beach, I took in an evening game at Tropicana Field, home of the 2008 American League Champion Tampa Bay Rays. Tropicana field is interesting for a few reasons. One, it's a domed stadium, which I find fascinating, having only attended one other baseball game inside of a dome (D-backs). Secondly, the stadium is home to the major league's only stingray tank. That's right, if you are so inclined, you too can get in line with little kids and their parents before, or during the first 6 innnings of the game, and pet a live stingray. The tank is visible in the photo below, directly above the white outfield sign.
If a homerun is hit into the tank, the team donates cash to a charity. I know, I know, what happens if a stingray gets hit by a ball falling into the tank? Honestly, I've got no idea. I suppose PETA might have something to say about it at that point, but until then it's gonna be a hazardous life for those rays.
In what seems to be a growing trend of teams attempting to mimic the wildly popular sausage races in Milwaukee, the rays have a beverage race down the third base line. A bottle of Aquafina water, a bottle of Pepsi, and a bottle of Sierra Mist were the participants at the game I was at. Do I smell corporate sponsorship or what?
That headfirst dive across the finish line is pretty impressive nonetheless, especially with the lead he's got over the Pepsi and SM bottles.
As I mentioned earlier, the Rays won the game on a walk off hit by...Zobrist!
After leaving Tampa, I made the two day drive up to Baltimore, stopping for the night in some little town in North Carolina. Once in Baltimore I burned off some more La Quinta points for a room near the airport. I wasn't expecting much, the two La Qunita's that I had stayed at to this point were nothing to write home about, but LQ Baltimore was a different story. I need to have a talk with the LQ in San Bernardino, because they are falling behind big time. I had a room with beautiful brand new furniture, fantastic in-room climate control, and a nice moderately sized flat screen TV. A very pleasant surprise to say the least.
The Baltimore game was fun. I'm gonna toss up some photos now and maybe talk more about it later. Here is a view of the outfield and the warehouse just past right field.
The hilton across the street from the stadium. They had a great view of the ballpark through the center field gap and were collected on the balconies throughout the game. I might have to look into getting a room there if I end up staying in Baltimore at some point in the future.
More to come later. I still have photos of Citi Field in New York and Fenway in Boston to post, plus some photos I took in and around D.C. today.
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