Last Thursday I returned to Ann Arbor after a 16-day road trip across Canada and the Eastern United States. It was a 3,200 mile trip as compared to my trip back from Seattle which was 5,400 miles. In the past 3 months I have been to 27 states, 2 Canadian provinces and the District of Columbia. After all that I have concluded my major domestic travels for this summer.
I wanted to write a few posts as I went along, but since I didn't bring my laptop and I didn't have a whole bunch of free time it ended up all piling up until I got back to Ann Arbor, so this one may be a doozy. Here is a map of my trip. Also, I hope you like selfies, because there is at least two selfies in this post.
I should start with the night before I left. I had won the Charley's Bar Trivia Tournament of Champions and our team's prize was a free party bus to a Tigers game (which they won). We went with most of the Charley's staff and we drank on the way there, during the game, and on the way back. When I woke up the next morning I was quite hungover and I didn't get out of Ann Arbor until a bit later than I had anticipated.
Nevertheless on Wednesday July 31st I crossed into Canada and headed towards Toronto. I had never been to Toronto and drove into town in the late afternoon. I checked out downtown and the pro hockey hall of fame. I made the unfortunate mistake of purchasing a McLobster which is a McDonald's lobster sandwich that is only sold in Canada. It was gross. Overall I really liked Toronto and thought it was a really modern and clean city (except for the guy smoking crack on the street where I parked my car).
I learned that the Rodgers Center in Toronto is actually named after Aaron Rodgers
Toronto was a bit of a contrast to Montreal where I headed next. The drive was pretty miserable in the Canadian rain but I did appreciate the hint of Maple syrup that wafted across the countryside. Montreal seemed a little less modern and a little more disheveled, but I still liked the city. I walked around for a few hours and did some touristy things and learned all about Canadian culture which I found to be almost an exact replica of this.
I really liked the Latin Quarter and trying to figure out where to park my car when all the street signs were in French. The next day I drove back to the USA and down to NYC. Driving through the Adirondacks was pretty neat and I kinda liked upstate New York. I drove onto Manhattan and actually had no trouble finding a parking spot near my sisters place in Gramercy Park.
I ate so many meatballs at The Meatball Shop I sprouted a double chin. Ha!
On Friday night we went out got some dinner and drank at a bar that you could only get to by walking through a Five Guys. We hopped bars a bit with some of the old Box guys who were around. The next day we walked the High Line and took a nap before grabbing some dinner. On Sunday we went over to Brooklyn and were in Williamsburg to watch the hipsters in their natural habitat. We got some beers at Brooklyn Brewery and then ate some really good BBQ. It was a pretty good Sunday.
Not the view from my sisters place
On Monday I left early and drove down to DC. I stopped at Byrd Stadium in College Park Maryland to see the newest Big Ten stadium. Once I got into DC I found a McDonald's and internetted my brains out for awhile. Then I met up with my friend Evan who I was staying with. He had some free tickets to a Nationals game so we went down to the waterfront and drank and watched them lose to the Braves by a run. The next night we played bar trivia where we went from dead last at halftime to having a 1 point lead going into the final round. Unfortunately we lost trivia because we answered that the tallest building in the US was the Freedom Tower in NYC and not the Willis Tower in Chicago. Even though we were right, they gave the prize to the other team. Not that it mattered since neither of us would be able to use a $50 gift card to that bar anyways.
Byrd Stadium in College Park - You can't see it behind me but there's really not much to see.
The Capitol of the USA
At a Nats game. They lost, but Teddy won!
Wednesday morning I had planned to drive to Pittsburgh to see my cousin and his family. On the way I took a wrong turn and ended up going on a road towards Gettysburg and said to myself "why not?" and kept going. Gettysburg was really cool and after having watched the 1993 epic film Gettysburg over 200 times in college it was awesome to stand on Little Round Top when Joshua Chamberlain and the rest of the 20th Maine defended the flank on July 2nd, 1863.
Thomas Jefferson Y'all
Memorial to the 20th Maine
I then drove across US route 30 to Bedford, PA where my father was born and raised. I tried to stop in at my aunt and uncle's house but they were not home. I made it to Pittsburgh and my cousin and I went downtown to catch a Pirates game. We bought some $10 tickets from a scalper but just sat directly behind home plate in some really good seats. So the total cost for the three games I attended over those 8 days was $10, not bad at all.
PNC park in Pittsburgh
Before I left I hadn't really planned on where I would go Thursday. I had three options which were going to visit a friend at UVA, camping in West Virginia or heading to Richmond to see Craig. My buddy wasn't around UVA and I didn't really feel like camping so I decided to drive to Richmond for a convenient DC to Pittsburgh to Richmond leg of my trip. I had a great time in Richmond and got pretty sauced. Like every place I wish I had a little bit more time in each city. I have some family in Richmond that I would have loved to visit but since I was only there for a night I really didn't have enough time.
Mountaineer Field at WVU - What a total dump
After sleeping in on Friday I got up and started the drive out to Blacksburg where I was meeting up with some of my family at my cousin's new house. Both my sisters came into town as well so it was pretty neat. We toured the new house which was really cool, especially because the house had a strong Arts and Crafts influence which is my favorite style for homes. On Saturday we floated the New River which we were lucky to do because it had been closed down do to high water levels the week before. I have never floated a river with rapids, and going over the rapids in a tube was a bit exhilarating. I was also responsible for the beer cooler which made things a bit harder as well.
Scott Stadium at UVA
Sunday I drove down to Atlanta to spend two days with my sister in her new place. She had a bunch of chores for me to do like building all the furniture she bought, hanging some curtain rods and relocating a ceiling fan. But I still found time to visit the Jimmy Carter presidential museum and grab dinner with my friend Kiki and her roommate. Tuesday night was my last night in Atlanta so we went out with some of my sisters friends. There were 8 of us and we ended up getting pretty drunk for a Wednesday night. Everyone else had to work except for me so I hope they weren't as hung over as I was.
Lane Stadium at VT
Howard's Rock at Clemson Memorial Stadium
My next drive was up to Columbus and it was my longest drive of the trip. Took all day, and I got into town just in time to meet Zola for some trivia. After we got 4th in trivia (we would have gotten second if my teammates believed me when I said that the Mona Lisa was painted on wood) I drove over to see my friend Dave where I spent the night.
Commonwealth Stadium at Kentucky
On Thursday I made the drive up to Ann Arbor which was uneventful except for the hitchhiker I picked up who turned out to be a little crazy, but that was more entertaining than anything else. I did arrive in time to grab a CIAYCELB which was great because after 2 weeks of eating out, stuffing your face with pizza is probably the best thing you can do for your body. Then that night I ran it back by ordering a Cottage Inn calzone which made me feel a large amount of shame.
Ohio Stadium AKA the Horseshoe at State University of Ohio
But overall it was a great trip and I would totally take it again. The only cities I had never been to were Toronto and Montreal but I liked both of them. By my count I saw 14 old friends and a whole bunch of the USA. I'm ready to not drive a car for awhile though. There are always more place I want to go and more friends that I want to visit. I tried to do as much as possible without spending all summer on the road.
I've always lived in cities with AL baseball teams. I prefer AL baseball and there are some great cities with AL teams. I've been thinking the past couple of days about which division in baseball has the best cities in it. If for some reason I had to choose one division in baseball and I had a random chance of living in any of the cities within that division, what would be at the top of my list? I went through and ranked them all based on my perceptions of each city as a place to live not considering being a fan of baseball.
6th - AL Central (Detroit, Cleveland, Kansas City, Chicago, Minneapolis)
The AL Central is hard to rank last growing up a Tigers fan, but straight up there are a few cities in the AL Central that I really wouldn't want to live in. Kansas City is lifeless, Cleveland is Cleveland, Minneapolis in nice when it's not 10 degrees outside. I grew up near Detroit but it's still not a city that I would be excited to live in. The only great city in the AL Central is Chicago.
5th - NL Central (Milwaukee, St Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Houston, Chicago)
With 6 teams the NL Cental is nice if you like manufacturing cities located on rivers. None of these cities would be horrible to live in but most of them lack the glamour of a great city. The only cities I'd be excited to move to are Houston and Chicago.
4th - AL West (Dallas, Seattle, Oakland, LA)
In contrast to the NL Central, the AL West only has 4 cities making it a bit easier to rank. It seems like nothing good ever happens in Oakland. Dallas still strikes me as a city stuck in the 1990's. LA is LA, and as much as I hate to admit it would be a really cool city to live in. I live in Seattle so I know that it's a fine place but I honestly feel that it's lacking the character of some of the better cities in the US.
3rd - AL East (NYC, Boston, Toronto, Tampa Bay, Baltimore)
The AL East has 4 cities that I would totally jump at living in. NYC, Boston and Toronto are amazing cities and Tampa is really nice too. But the AL East also has Baltimore. Baltimore really drags it down the list. Maybe I've watched too much of The Wire, but no one wants to live in Baltimore.
2nd - NL West (San Francisco, San Diego, LA, Phoenix, Denver)
There are some great cities in the NL West and I like all of them. The last time I was in Denver I didn't really get a chance to appreciate the city but what I hear/read about Denver is that it's pretty decent. All the other cities I really love. Beautiful cities with great weather and lots of fun things about them.
1st - NL East (Washington, Philly, Atlanta, NYC, Miami)
The NL East really has it all. Each of these cities have been great places every time I've been. I've driven around Philly, but I haven't ever spent the weekend there. The other 4 cities I've been to a fair amount and they are all terrific. There isn't one city on this list that I would be unhappy living in.
I guess I hate on the midwest but with the exception of Chicago most of the cities are depressingly banal. From the view of a 24 year old LA and NYC beat out Milwaukee and Cleveland. Another note, whilst compiling this list I realized that the only MLB City I haven't been to is Toronto.
What do my readers think? Agree, disagree? Just a reminder to keep the comments reasonable. With all the comments on my last few posts I guess I need to remind you guys to not go overboard.
In my 2 years living in Seattle one of my favorite activities has been going to Mariners games at Safeco field. There are a lot of reasons I like watching games at Safeco. The good views of the city, the retractable roof, legalized scalping, the airplanes flying overhead to land at SeaTac, the sounds of the trains rumbling outside the stadium. All these are nice but as I continue heading to games I've found there are a few other things that really make going to Safeco enjoyable.
5) No Bad Seats - I've sat in every part of the stadium and so far I haven't found a spot with a crappy view. The cheap seats are still close to the action, and the outfield bleachers are at the perfect height to see the game. There is a great mezzanine level that features a full-service bar which I find to be quite special.
4) Park Location - Safeco is a 15 minute walk from the heart of Seattle and 10 minute walk from the Ferry terminal. It is on the south end of one of the prettiest neighborhood in the city. Right outside the stadium are bars and brewpubs. The stadium is only a couple of blocks from the International District (The PC term for Chinatown). For people not familiar with Seattle taking a walk to Safeco can highlight all the best parts of Seattle.
3) The Beer Garden - In center field there is a terrific beer garden right at field level. Often when the opponent was terrible we would purchase $8 bleacher tickets and just spend all game hanging out in the beer garden. Essentially those games were like going to a decent bar with an $8 cover which by the way happened to have a live baseball game going on inside of it. Like any stadium though you have to mentally get past the fact they you will pay $9.75 for a 20oz Microbrew.
I stole this picture from someone's Flikr. Fair use or whatever.
2) Fan Giveaways - The Mariners organization has typically provided great giveaways. Everything from a Franklin Gutierrez Fly Swatter to free compost (keeping Seattle one of the greenest cities in America). Yesterday was Irchiro replica jersey night and today is Felix Hernandez knit cap night. But every team does giveways. What makes Safeco special is that you can go into the stadium, pick up the free giveaway and then leave the stadium with it. In most stadia fans who arrive early enough for the giveaways resign themselves to waiting in their seats for an hour before the game. At the Safe fans can get the giveaways and then leave the stadium and go drinking before the game.
1) Food - Safeco has always had really good stadium food. The Garlic Fries make the entire concourse smell vampire proof and the Seattle Dogs (dog with cream cheese and grilled onions) are legendary. But that's not what makes food the number one awesome thing about Safeco. The number one thing about Safeco is that you are free to bring in any foodstuffs that you please. You can literally walk into Safeco with a shopping bag full of food. Usually I walk in with a completely unconcealed Jimmy John's sub in my hand. I've seen a guy bring in a loaf of bread, peanut butter and jelly and makes sandwiches for his entire family inside the stadium. I have no idea why they let people do this, but I'm not going to ask any questions. Letting people bring all the food they want into the stadium is totally awesome and is the biggest reason I love Safeco Field.
The first thing that I did was compare the Vegas estimated total wins for the baseball against the possible number of total wins. I added all the teams over/unders and got 2441.5. Which is amazing because the baseball season only consists of 2430 games. That leaves 11.5 wins unaccounted for. The reason that this occurs is that most sports fans like to bet on their team to do well. Because off all this action on the overs, Vegas moves the lines to attract the betting on the other side.
Not only are the over/unders inflated on the aggregate, they are also somewhat normalized. During the 2009 season there were 5 teams that had less than 70 wins, Vegas predicts that no team this year will have below 70 wins. There have been at least 4 teams that go below 70 wins each of the last 5 years. If I could make a prop bet that at least three teams will have less than 70 wins, I would take it.
Here is a chart that compares this years predictions vs. last years results: For comparison, I took the variance in number of wins between 2010 and 2009. Vegas predictions have a variance of 46.56 while the actual variance last year was 126.40.
I believe most of those 11 phantom wins that Vegas is predicting will affect teams in the bottom half of the league. Fans being hopelessly optimistic will always believe (and bet) that their teams will do better than expected. For football I actually compared the teams to their schedule and used Vegas's own odds to predict how well they would do against other teams. Since I don't have time to compare a 2430 game MLB season, I think I'll just bet the under on each of the bottom 7 teams. I'll throw a little more money on the ones at the very bottom.
Even though I don't know much about baseball I can still confidently predict the results of teams that I cannot name a player on the roster. 6 months from now I'll see how good my predictions were.
Bets: Pittsburgh Pirates - under 70 Son Diego Padres - under 71 Toronto Blue Jays - under 71 Washington Nationals- under 71 Kansas City Royals - under 71.5 Baltimore Orioles - under 74 Houston Astros - under 74.5
