Tuesday, August 6, 2019

NYC Part I: Five boroughs, four days, three dudes, two stadiums, and one heck of a time

  • Date: June 2, 2019
  • Overall trip rating: W.O.W (check back later)
  •  Yankees-Red Sox fights witnessed: 1
  • Designated hitter: Michael



Welcome to the city that never sleeps

Our time in Philadelphia had come to an end, and we were giddy for our next adventure in the biggest city our country has to offer: New York City.

Just as we had gotten from Newark to Philadelphia, we used Lyft to get to NYC — traveler tip: Lyft throughout our trip was constantly cheaper than Uber. Our Lyft driver told us this was the first time he was making a long distance trip, as the drive was expected to be two hours, but, after getting stuck in traffic and missing a couple of exits, it took at least an extra half hour.

We finally arrived at our hotel, which was the Paper Factory Hotel in Long Island City. It was a former paper factory — who would have thought, with a name like that — and part of it was still under construction as it is relatively new to the area. But it was still a great place to stay; it had an outdoor patio area, breakfast in the mornings, the rooms were very nice and there was subway access right across the street (more on that later). And it was all pretty affordable for New York City standards.

As great as the hotel was, we got there too early before our check in time so we had to wait to get to our rooms. The man at the front desk took our bags into the storage room and recommended a great place to go get some food. We went to Bean's and Lager, which had some amazing food, including some amazing blueberry pancakes, as well as bottomless Mimosas/Bloody Mary's/Bellinis (champagne and peach juice).

Bean's and Lager had a nice outdoor area, so it was nice to enjoy the beautiful weather we had. The bottomless drinks only last two hours after you get there, so we made sure to stay the full two hours and get our money's worth. All in all, it was a great start to our visit to NYC.

We finally checked into our room and got settled in. We wanted to check out some things around the area, and we saw a pretty decent sized park not too far from us — Gantry State Plaza park, not the enormous Central Park (again, more on that later).


Gantry was right on the East River with the Manhattan skyline just on the other side. It was a beautiful scene, especially as the sun was setting and the bright lights of the city began to take over.


The park was a great place to spend a relaxing evening. There were big wooden beach-like chairs, some hammocks, and other place to lounge around and take in the view.

We stayed in the park until nightfall and decided it was time to try some of that famous New York style pizza and found a spot near us that had good reviews called sLICe. It was a small establishment that had some outdoor seating in the back. It was a cool little spot, where two slices and a drink costs less than $10.


This is when we experienced our first mishap on the subway: We went to the side of the station that was heading East when we wanted to go West. Our MetroCard — which we highly recommend getting one for anyone visiting; we got unlimited subway rides for a week for just $33 — cannot be swiped again within 18 minutes of the first swipe. So, when we went to the correct station, we could not get in because we had just swiped our cards at the other station! 

The assumption is that policy hopes to keep people from swiping their card and then passing it back to be used again, which makes sense. So, to kill time, we found a bar right by the station. 

P J Leahy's was a small establishment, but it was a good time. The bartender was friendly and the beers weren't as expensive as we expected, $6 for a craft beer. We ended up staying there for a couple rounds before heading back to our hotel. It was on our way back that we experience subway "mishap" number two. 

We downloaded an app — "Citymapper", which was very helpful and is recommended —which told us that the subway was two minutes away as we were walking out of the bar. In a rush, we got down to the station as the train pulled up. Ben and Nate got through, but I could not get my card to swipe. 

I look up, and see the guys on the train, waving me towards them and encouraging me to successfully swipe my card. I look down and swipe two more times, realizing that in my haste I'm going too fast. I slowly swipe the card and it goes through! I look up again to see the doors closed and a bewildered look upon the guys face as the train pulls away.

Luckily, it was only 10 minutes until the next train came to the station, and the guys were nice enough to wait until I got to our station, and then we finally walked to our hotel.

We had a tour at 10 a.m. looming, so we got some rest underneath the classic painting of "The Creation of Adam," dog version.

Real New York


We booked our tour through Real New York Tours (https://realnewyorktours.com/) and chose the NYC In A Day tour, which lasts about six hours and hits several of the major spots in Manhattan — Time Square, Central Park, Greenwhich Village, SoHo, Little Italy, Chinatown, Wall Street, and the 9/11 Memorial site (we did not go in the museum on this tour, but we did later. Keep reading and check it out).

The tour costs $80 and you need a MetroCard, as you take the subway quite a bit. Also, make sure you have your walking shoes. I think we finished with roughly 30,000 steps and 14 miles on the day.

Our tour guide was named Trey, and he has been living in the city for about 20-some years. The tour was more on the informal side, but you could tell Trey knew where he wanted to take the group — there were eight of us — and he really knew a lot about the city and its history.

We started in Time Square, and while the giant advertisements, Broadway theaters, and fun stores (like the M&M's store) are fun, it was also very commercialized. It makes sense and it's not all bad, but apparently New Yorkers HATE Time Square because of all the tourism. Trey told us horror stories of a million people being cramped in the few blocks that make up the square for New Year's Eve. He said people show up early in the morning and can't leave without giving up their spots. Some have even reportedly worn adult diapers so they don't have to leave their spot to go to the bathroom!

After Time Square, we made our way to Little Italy and Chinatown, which are right next to each other. According to Trey, Little Italy used to cover more space than it currently does — it's about two blocks by two blocks — but Chinatown has overtaken much of it.


As we moved from Little Italy to Chinatown, Trey told us about the gang violence that happened in the early 1900s. There was even a street commonly known as the Bloody Angle because of all the bloodshed.

Our tour then took us to Wall Street, where we saw the New York Stock Exchange building and learned the history behind the naming of Wall Street — shockingly, there used to be a wall built in the street's place, before it was torn down and made into a road known as, Wall Street. Go figure.

We stopped to see the monument at Alexander Hamilton's grave before heading to the 9/11 Memorial. This was very cool. There are two huge square fountains in place of where the Twin Towers stood, and inscribed on the edges of the fountains are all the names of the people that died on September 11. A rose is placed in the name to commemorate the birthday of the perished.


We didn't go into the museum during the tour, but we did later so be sure to keep reading.

We took the subway to Greenwich Village and got some lunch before we continued the tour. Trey showed us the places around the area to grab a bite and gave all the people on the tour about 40 minutes to go where they wanted. We were told that Dos Toros Taqueria had NYC's best burrito then got dessert at Pasticceria Rocco, which was rumored to have NYC's best cannoli. We definitely understood why both statements have been made.


After lunch, our group reconvened and made our way through Greenwich Village. Trey showed us some iconic buildings, like Jon Lennon's place (which was also where he was shot) as well the building used to film the outside of the apartment complex in the show "Friends."

We even got to see the smallest building in the city!


The final leg of our tour took us through Central Park. The park takes up 1.3 square miles of Manhattan, and in a city nicknamed the "concrete jungle," it's nice to visit one area where you can enjoy some form of nature.

There are walking trails throughout the park, as well as large open areas for people to enjoy and relax. We walked by a couple bodies of water, including one that Jerry Seinfield's place of residence overlooks (the photo below), and you can rent small boats to hop in and paddle around the lake.

We were in the park for roughly an hour, but you spend a larger part of the day just enjoying all it had to offer. (That's Trey in the photo)


Before we booked the tour, we were a little worried whether or not we'd have enough time to finish it and then head to the Yankees game. Fortunately, Trey said he was going to the game, so we knew he wouldn't let us miss the game.

We thanked Trey for the awesome day and the insightful tour and parted ways, as we set out for the Bronx.

The game


The subway took us a couple blocks from Yankee Stadium, and we got there in enough time to go get a drink. Trey told us about a bar across the street from the ballpark that had $4 beers; it was called the Dugout.

The bar had two main areas. The first was right when you walk in and was a smaller area, but when you walked around the back side of the bar, it opened up to a bigger room with some seating areas. This back room had one of the most brilliant additions to a bar we've ever seen: a walk-up Taco Bell window.


We were told that Monument Park — an area inside the stadium featuring busts of the greatest Yankees to ever don the pinstripes — closed an hour before the game started, so we went into the stadium about an hour and a half ahead of the first pitch. Unfortunately, the time we were told was apparently mistaken because the area had already closed by the time we got there.

Instead, we visited the team's Hall of Fame museum. While it was not the famous statues many see on TV, it was very cool to see game used memorabilia from Babe Ruth, Micky Mantle, Roger Marris, and Yogi Berra, just to name a few.


The game was Yankee-Red Sox, the greatest rivalry in baseball, and it was nationally televised as part of ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball broadcast. The crowd was intense, as was expected, and while our cheap seats sent us up into the nosebleeds of the stadium, the environment was still awesome.


Our seats were way up in highest section possible, but they weren't bad by any means. It was pretty cool to be able to take in the sight of Yankee Stadium in its entirety.

The ballpark had its fair share of food options, including its own Hard Rock Cafe. Nate got the traditional hot dog, I went to a concession stand called Bareburger and got the El Matador (a bison burger with jalapenos, lettuce, pico de gallo, and Habenero Mayo; yum), but Ben may have won the night with one of the wackier food items we've seen: bacon on a stick.


This edition of the rivalry featured two veteran pitchers dueling, Boston's David Price and New York's CC Sabathia. Both hurlers went at least six innings and neither gave up more than three earned runs. Heading into the seventh, Boston held a 3-2 lead.

And then it got crazy.

Rain started falling but the game continued on. The Boston offense tacked on three runs in the top of the frame, scoring on singles by Eduardo Nunez, Brock Holt, and Andrew Benentindi. After the Red Sox took a 8-2 lead in the top of the eighth — the big lead also led to the first noticeable physical altercation in the stands (we were surprised it took until the eighth) — the Yankees looked like they were going to get back into the game when they loaded the bases with no outs.

New York got a run on a balk, a ground out and a sacrifice fly but only had one hit in the frame. The Yankees pulled within 8-5 in the inning, but that was as close as they'd get. The Red Sox fended off the rain and the Evil Empire to avoid being swept in the series.

Postgame


After the game was over, we met up with our friend Michael, who was living near the city and stopped by to visit. We tried going back to the Dugout bar, but Michael had just gotten off the train and met us outside the stadium with his backpack, and the bar was going to charge a fee for holding it at the front, as backpacks are not allowed. So, instead of paying the fee, we went back to our hotel in Queens, picking up some beers from a gas station along the way, and we prepared for our second full day in the Big Apple.

New York's finest


We wanted to try and visit as many attractions as we could through our City Pass. And our first stops were the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

The City Pass covers the cost of the ferry ride to each island, but it does not get you inside of the Statue or pay for anything on Ellis Island. The Statue of Liberty was cool to see, but it would have been a better trip if we would have gotten to go inside and look around.

It was cool to see the rooms in the building on Ellis Island, where immigrants from the early years of our nation's history spent their first hours in the U.S. The rooms were marked and most of them had descriptions of what they were used for — like a medical examining room or even a courtroom. Ellis Island would be a great trip when you're with your family and want to find information on your ancestors' arrival to the United States. You do have the option to sign up for a 30-minute appointment with a member of the staff and they will attempt to find your relatives' documentation from their arrival to the island. It costs $7 and there is no guarantee that they will find anything, but it seemed like a fun option. However, we did not do it because there were three of us from different families, and with the other sites we wanted to see, we knew we had to get moving.

We grabbed some lunch at Steve's Pizza — two slices of New York style pizza and a water for $11 — and met back up with Michael, who had ventured elsewhere since he had already seen the Statue and Ellis Island. Our next stop was the 9/11 Memorial Museum, which was definitely a highlight of the trip.


The museum goes underground, into the base of where the Twin Towers used to be. We highly recommend buying the audio tour option, which lets you select audio clips pertaining to the exhibits you are viewing.

As you embark on the self-guided tour, you work your way through the events that led up to the attacks, and then chronologically revisit the moments of the day. It's powerful, heart-wrenching, and absolutely worth spending a few hours of your trip there.


There are definitely some intense parts of the museum that may not be for everyone. There are rooms you can go into that play recordings of people reliving their experience. Some clips are voicemails from people that were able to reach out to loved ones from the plane. Those areas are clearly marked and anyone that does not wish to experience that part of the museum can move past them. We soaked up all the material we could, shed a few tears, and were very pleased with the way the museum presented all of the events that unfolded on that tragic day.

Time to unwind


After our experience at the museum, it was already time to get some dinner and transition from such a powerfully emotional scene to a more relaxing, fun environment. Near our hotel, there was a Mexican restaurant called Juquila Kitchen and Bar.


They start you off with some chips and a couple different kinds of dips. We had some great drinks, amazing fajitas, and left the restaurant full and satisfied.


Across the street from the restaurant was a pub called Dutch Kills Centraal. We stopped by for a couple of drinks, with craft beers being mostly what was available. The bar was very neat, and nearly all of it was made from polished wood — the tables, chairs, stools, etc. We only slightly jokingly thought that the establishment was run by some type of mafia organization, as it had a very European feel to it but was clearly trying very hard to fit in by playing a ton of classic rock music.

After a couple of beers, we made the short jaunt back to our hotel, where we got ready for another big day in the Big Apple.

Ratings


We'll display our ratings after Part II of our New York trip. Having two stadiums in one city causes us to take a little different of an approach to our rating system. Be sure to check back soon for the second NYC posting, which will feature more fun in the concrete jungle, as well as our visit to Citi Field to see the Mets. And below you can see a reminder of how our stadiums have stacked up against each other thus far.

RankStadiumRating
1.Petco Park (Padres)8.9
2.Sun Trust Park (Braves)8.4
3.Wrigley Filed II (Cubs)8.4
4.Marlins Park (Marlins)8.4
5.Kauffman Stadium (Royals)8.4
6.Target Field (Twins)8.3
6.Citizens Bank Park (Phillies)8.3
7.Angels Stadium (Angels)8.3
8.U.S. Cellular (White Sox)8.3
9.Wrigley Field (Cubs)8.3
10.Busch Stadium (Cardinals)8.3
11.Chase Field (Diamondbacks)8.2
12.Miller Park (Brewers)7.2
13.Rogers Centre (Blue Jays)7.1
14.Coors Field (Rockies)7.1
15.Comerica Park (Tigers)6.4
16.Dodger Stadium (Dodgers)6.2
17.Tropicana Field (Rays)6.1

On deck


Next up, we’ll post our adventure to Citi Field where we saw New York Mets. Also like our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter, @MLBjourneymen, and check out our Instagram account, mlbjourneymen. 

Monday, June 3, 2019

City of brotherly love: Smile and say "Cheese(steak)"!!

  • Date: May 31, 2019
  • Overall trip rating: 8.3
  •  Liberty bells rung: Zero
  • References from the TV show It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Way too many

Back on the road

For the second time in six years, we found ourselves beginning our journey in the airport. This time, we were flying into Newark, N.J., bags stuffed to the seams and bodies full of cold, airport beer and dramamine.

The flight, which was through United, was quick and we were thankful to not have a layover. Yours truly scored an extra bag of pretzels on the flight while Ben was able to talk his way into a second beer. Contrary to previous flights we’ve been on, the beers on this flight didn’t cost us anything — a service we were big fans of.

We arrived in New Jersey around 10:30 p.m., and after picking up our bags we scheduled a Lyft and went outside to meet our driver. The passenger pickup area was packed full of people with a seemingly endless stream of cars flowing in front of the travelers. It helped having a little bit of distance between the three of us so we could spot our car as it pulled up and still have someone ready to run to wherever he was able to park and make sure we could flag him down.

Cheldon was our Lyft driver, and he was a great traveling companion. He let us relax in the car and listen to music, and when we struck up conversation he had plenty of information to contribute. (This will be a common theme for us while in Philadelphia; we really hit the jackpot on our Lyft drivers) 

We were very thankful Cheldon was willing to take us from the airport in Newark to Philadelphia, which was about an hour and a half trip. We chose to go that route because it was still cheaper (split three ways) than it would have been to buy three tickets on the Amtrak.

The hotel we booked at was on the pricier side, but it was in a great location right off of the Delaware River. It was after midnight by the time we got to our hotel and we had thought about walking around the area to explore, but, knowing we had a day game looming just 12 hours away, we called it a night.

Game day


The Phillies were hosting Nate’s favorite team, the St. Louis Cardinals, so he was not shy at all going into enemy territory donning the “wrong” kind of red in support of his Red Birds. The game was set to start at 1:05 p.m., but we wanted to get there in plenty of time to explore.

Citizens Bank Park is in the same area of the city as the NFL stadium for the Eagles and the NBA arena for the 76ers. In between all of them: XFinity Live!

XFinity Live! is a building full of bars and restaurants, very similar to Busch Stadium’s Ballpark Village. The three of us arrived shortly after 10 a.m., only the main commons area was open at that time — as most of the other establishments didn’t start doing business until 10:30.


A few staff members had a surprisingly hard time unlocking the entry doors, so a small group formed — us included — waiting for our chance to pregame before the contest!

Beer was not terribly expensive, six bucks for a draught of Summer Shandy. But the real beer special was being saved for after the game, as posters all over advertised $3 Miller Lite. We stayed at XFinity Live for about and hour and a half and headed to the stadium a little after noon.

The game


Before heading to our seats in Citizens Bank Park, we explored the inside of the stadium. And if there was one thing that stood out, it was the Phillies’ emphasis on food. Vendors stretched nearly the entire 360 degrees of the ball park with different varieties of cuisine.

Our seats were near third base, 11 rows up from the field. It was a great sight for the first game of our trip.


We sat down for a couple innings before deciding to get some food and a drink — and find some shade for a bit (the sun was scorching us!).

Nate and I went in search of a food item that had been suggested to us from the Twitter account @philliesphood: the donut burger. The incredible culinary creation is exactly what it sounds like, a hamburger with a halved glazed donut as buns and sweet peppers and bacon as toppings.



One thing we noticed about the prices at Citizens Bank Park was that the beer ranked up there on the more expensive side for beers. A tall can of Bud Light and Bud Light Lime cost $14.

One of the nicest aspects of the stadium was the standing bar at the top of nearly ever section. It allowed us to set our food down on it and eat rather than dealing with the awkwardness of eating with your food in your lap. This was especially pleasant since our donut buns provided a very sticky surface; it was much more enjoyable since we could use a fork and knife to eat our delicious burger.

While we were getting our food, the Cardinals got a pair of home runs from Marcel Ozuna and Matt Wieters in the second inning to take a 2-0 lead. The Phillies cut the advantage to one, but St. Louis got two more homers from Jed Gyorko and Matt Carpenter.

Philadelphia attempted to stage a rally, getting RBI hits from Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins in the eighth inning, but the Cardinals brought in fireballer Jordan Hicks — who consistently lit up the radar gun at 101 mph — and he closed out the game.

Postgame


After we got our souvenirs from the stadium, we went back to XFinity Live! for our $3 Miller Lites. We enjoyed ourselves for a couple of hours, visiting a couple of the bars inside, and then headed back to our hotel.

By this time, we were getting hungry, and we knew we couldn’t leave Philly without getting a cheesesteak. Lucky for us, there was a neighborhood that had plenty of food choices, just a few blocks from our hotel. We walked by the string of establishments and elected to try one called Oh Brother.

It was a unique setting; customers were allowed to bring their own alcohol and forms of entertainment. Some were playing what appeared to be the board game Risk while others were playing cards. Some others brought ingredients needed to create their own alcoholic concoctions.

All three of us got cheesesteaks — despite there being other options on the menu, including burgers and chicken sandwiches. We also got bacon cheese fries and truffle parmesan fries, which came with a French onion dip.


The meal was extremely filling. Nate got his cheesesteak with American cheese while Ben and I, inadvertently, stuck with cheese wiz as our option. Now, we understand most of the places in Philly say the original cheesesteak is supposed to have cheese wiz, but Ben and I both agreed we’d probably prefer a different kind of cheese.

Stomaches as full as can be, we walked back to our hotel to regain our strength. Ben and I headed out to the casino for a short time, leaving after losing only the smallest bit of money — $1 and $17 — so we considered it a success.

We went back to the hotel to join Nate in resting up for our second day.

History lesson


Obviously, a huge part of what Philadelphia has to offer involves its key role in the founding of our country. There are many historic sites in Philly, which was the nation’s capital from 1790-1800 while Washington, D.C., was being built.

Our first stop was at the Independence Hall Visitors Center where we picked up our tickets for the tour of the Hall. If you’re planning on visiting Independence Hall, you can reserve your free tickets ahead of time (they recommend six months) or you show up the day of and hope to get some walk-up tickets. Being the big planners we are, we went with the latter.

Tickets were available at 8:30 a.m., and we showed up just a little after. There was a small line, but we were able to get tickets to the time slot that worked best for us, which was later in the afternoon. But we had plenty to do before that tour got underway.

We started the morning with a walk to City Hall, where we rode the elevator up the clock tower for an awesome, 360 degree scenic view of the city. While overlooking the city from about 500 feet in the air, we noticed a site made iconic by a fictional movie character. In the movie Rocky, the boxer runs up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and celebrates his feat at the top. There were a couple school field trips waiting to take their photo with the Rocky statue, but we decided not to endure the long line.


We had been told to check out the Reading Terminal Market as a place to find some food, and we are glad that we did. This place was awesome! With more than 80 different food vendors, the scene was mesmerizing and yet a little overwhelming.


We found some Chinese food and a BBQ joint, all of which was delicious. We also indulged in some ice cream and took home a few choice meats from one of the largest beef jerky selections we’ve seen.

After eating lunch, we continued our history lesson by taking our tour of Independence Hall. Our tour guide was Steven, and he clearly had a wealth of knowledge when it came to the early years of our country. We had some elementary school groups with us, so Steven mostly catered to them, but we still learned a lot as we stood in the same rooms as our founding fathers of the USA.

The final historic site we had planned to see was the Liberty Bell, which is right by what is left of George Washington’s house. Spectators go through a building lined with information on the famous bell, culminating with a showroom featuring the bell itself.


On our way back to the hotel, we were pleasantly surprised to find a cool alley known as Elfreth’s Alley. The street was filled with colorful, historic houses on the old fashioned stoned street. It was quite a visually stimulating site.

Beer, games, and space invaders


We ventured out to a place along the river near our hotel called Morgan’s Pier with the intent to grab a drink and a bite to eat. The restaurant was packed, and we ended up waiting at the bar for a table to open. Meanwhile, we had a delicious local beer and soaked up the view of the river. We eventually got a table and continued drinking the beer, but we weren’t really in the mood for the food offered — which was blend of seafood and bar finger foods.

Instead, we walked a block further down the river to the largest Dave and Busters we’ve seen. It took a while for us to get our food — so long they gave us one of our entrees for free — but that (and some Jell-O shots) didn’t keep us from enjoying the night, playing arcade games that made us feel like kids again.


We dominated a large screen version of Halo, a futuristic space invader role playing game, which captured our attention and took us on an intense mission for about 40 minutes.

Our work as gamers earned us some sick prizes: a pop up spider, a sticky hand, and some awesome vampire teeth.


We capped the night off at a bar right by our hotel, called La Peg. It was an outdoor venue with tables and yard games. It was a great finish to a great trip.

Ratings


The biggest positives on this trip were the nightlife and the ease of transportation — which, as we discussed, has certainly evolved since the early days of our trip thanks in large part to Lyft and Uber. The ball park also gained bonus points for its atmosphere and the fun environment of the XFinity Live! area.

Overall, our Philly trip earned a score of 8.3, which sits in a six-way tie for sixth in our trip.

RankStadiumRating
1.Petco Park (Padres)8.9
2.Sun Trust Park (Braves)8.4
3.Wrigley Filed II (Cubs)8.4
4.Marlins Park (Marlins)8.4
5.Kauffman Stadium (Royals)8.4
6.Target Field (Twins)8.3
6.Citizens Bank Park (Phillies)8.3
7.Angels Stadium (Angels)8.3
8.U.S. Cellular (White Sox)8.3
9.Wrigley Field (Cubs)8.3
10.Busch Stadium (Cardinals)8.3
11.Chase Field (Diamondbacks)8.2
12.Miller Park (Brewers)7.2
13.Rogers Centre (Blue Jays)7.1
14.Coors Field (Rockies)7.1
15.Comerica Park (Tigers)6.4
16.Dodger Stadium (Dodgers)6.2
17.Tropicana Field (Rays)6.1

On deck


Next up, we’ll travel to the Bronx and Queens to visit the New York Yankees and New York Mets. Also like our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter, @MLBjourneymen, and check out our Instagram account, mlbjourneymen. 

Friday, August 10, 2018

Wrigley Pt. II: Back to the friendly confines

  • Date: July 25, 2018
  • Overall trip rating: 7.1
  • Designated hitter: Tyson 
  • Heat index in the Wrigley Field bleachers: A million degrees

Reunited and it feels so good


We were more than happy to break up the trip from London to back home with a stop in Chicago. Not only would it make the drive more manageable and we'd get to see family, but since Nate was not with Ben and I on our first year of the journey, we knew going back to Wrigley Field was a must. 


We got to Chicago around 3:30 p.m. and dropped our stuff off at my brother-in-law's (Tyson's) place. The first thing we wanted to go see was the Hancock building, which is the fourth-tallest building in the city. For 28 dollars, we got a ticket to the observation deck and a drink coupon for the bar, which overlooked downtown Chicago more than 1,000 feet in the air. 



Unlike the elevator in the Skylon tower, you cannot see outside the one at the Hancock building — and that may have been a good thing. The ride up almost resembles a carnival ride, as it shoots up 94 floors in about 45 seconds. We agreed it may have left a more unsettling feeling in our stomaches if we had been able to see the street below quickly resemble a miniature lego set. 


Inside the observation room was a bar, places to sit, and a gift shop. There was also the Tilt attraction, where a portion of the glass windows on a ledge are able to tilt about 45 degrees over the edge, giving people a unique and somewhat terrifying view of the city below. There are handles to hold yourself up off the glass as the floor you're standing on begins to tilt in a manner that leaves you almost perpendicular to the ground below. While some that took part in the adventure let out a scream of sorts, the ride provided no sense of terror for Ben. 



We each had a drink from the bar and soaked in the view of the city and then took the 45-second ride back down and set out for a place to get some food. 


Eventually, we decided to try Lou Malnati's Pizzeria, and we were not disappointed. After scarfing down an appetizer sampler, some pasta, and some deep dish pizza, we were stuffed. Fortunately the happy hour drink specials helped us wash down the food. 



Full of pizza and alcoholic beverages, our walk back to Tyson's was more of a trudge than an actual walk. But we finally made it and rested for a little bit, as the Italian food settled. Once our energy had been restored, we went to a common favorite of ours, Howl at the Moon, which was surprisingly well attended for a Tuesday night. The experience was highlighted by an extended period of late 1990s, early 2000s song request that flooded the piano players — only some of which were by us.  


We capped the night with a stop at a hole-in-the-wall place to get gyros, which we also visited the last time we were in Chicago, three years ago. It may not have been the greatest decision to stack even more greasy food on top of already full stomaches, but we did it anyway.

Game day


Our game at Wrigley started at 1:20 p.m., so we left for Wrigleyville around 11:30. We wanted to get there with plenty of time since we were sitting in the general admission bleacher seats in the outfield. Being at the stadium a little more than an hour before was plenty of time to reserve good seats for ousrelves. We were front row of the GA section closest to the left field foul pole, behind a group tickets area, which consisted of barstools in front of a long bar to place your food and drinks. 



We were excited with our seat selection for about 10 minutes before the 80-degree day seemingly became triple digits. Being at the bottom of the bleachers there was little-to-no wind, and the sun was amplified by the metal bleachers. We stayed in the front row for five innings before moving to the top of the bleachers where the wind was blowing like a cool fan on the hot day.  


During the hour and a half we waited for the game to start, we got our food. The outfield section had some of the typical ball park food with a few signature foods at each stand. You can venture outside the outfield area, but you will have to show your ticket when you return. Tyson had a chicken strip basket — much better than the one Nate got in Toronto — Nate bought a fully loaded Chicago Dog, I found a delicious meatball sandwich, and Ben returned to the bleachers with a savory filet mignon sandwich.


The game


This was one of the lower scoring year of games we witnessed. In Detroit, the score was 2-0 while Toronto did get up to 5-4. But the Cubs vs. Arizona Diamondbacks game was a pitcher's duel throughout. Chicago's Jon Lester threw six scoreless innings and Arizona's Robbie Ray allowed just one run in his seven innings of work. Lester went out to pitch the seventh but gave up a leadoff home run to A.J. Pollock to tie the game at 1-apiece.  


The Cubs faithful went crazy when Javy Baez stepped up to the plate to pinch hit, after leaving the previous day's game with an injury. Baez singled on an infield hit and advanced to second on an error. It was pretty clear he was still feeling the injury as he hobbled to second rather than sprinting to third in true Javy Baez fashion.  


A walk put runners on first and second for Jason Heyward, who grounded into a fielder's choice, but the throw to first for the double play sailed into the Cubs' dugout, scoring the go-ahead run. Pedro Strop took the mound in the ninth and earned the save, sparking the Cubs' victory song.


Postgame


After the game, like most spectators at the game, we headed down the street to take part in all that Wrigleyville had to offer. Drained from the sun, we walked a ways down Clark Street to avoid any overly crowded bars decided to go into the Country Club Bar and rehydrate with water. And beer.  


It was a nice bar and had good service. We even had a drunk Cubs fan come over to our table and offer to buy us shots so we can all go out and tear up the town! Respectively, we passed since we were already on our way out. We had more important things on our mind, namely pizza. 


We visited a favorite spot of our from the last time we were there, Dimo's. Chicken and waffle pizza, macaroni pizza, philly cheesesteak pizza, and chicken bacon ranch pizza; it had it all! 



Still tired from the day, we went back to Tyson's place to rest. We eventually went out and got some coffee and rented the movie to cap the night in, since we planned on leaving at 6 the next morning. 


The road home was your typical 10 hour drive, with the exception of a stop for food at Maid-Rite, a sloppy joe fastfood restaurant. They were greasy, they were messy, and man were they good.

Ratings


As we've said before, the main reason we were going back to Wrigley Field because Nate wasn't with us on the journey the first time around. It was a good thing that we went back, because Wrigley looks amazing after renovations inside and outside the ball park. They have new scoreboard, updated some of the seats, and have an awesome big screen outside the stadium with seating for fans to watch the game on Addison Street.

The last time we went to Wrigley, we felt it had the tradition, but the ball park itself needed some work. Well, they've definitely done the work, and this was one of our favorite trips. Wrigley Part II earned an 8.4 from us, tying it for second place. We loved the nightlife the city has to offer, and the ball park experience was as good as it gets. And with the Red Line being so easy to use to get to the field, transportation was a huge plus in Chicago.

RankStadiumRating
1.Petco Park (Padres)8.9
2.Sun Trust Park (Braves)8.4
3.Wrigley Filed II (Cubs)8.4
4.Marlins Park (Marlins)8.4
5.Kauffman Stadium (Royals)8.4
6.Target Field (Twins)8.3
7.Angels Stadium (Angels)8.3
8.U.S. Cellular (White Sox)8.3
9.Wrigley Field (Cubs)8.3
10.Busch Stadium (Cardinals)8.3
11.Chase Field (Diamondbacks)8.2
12.Miller Park (Brewers)7.2
13.Rogers Centre (Blue Jays)7.1
14.Coors Field (Rockies)7.1
15.Comerica Park (Tigers)6.4
16.Dodger Stadium (Dodgers)6.2
17.Tropicana Field (Rays)6.1

On deck


We're evaluating our options to make sure we're making the most efficient field choices, and a lot of that depends on the 2019 MLB schedule. For now, our goal for next year is to visit the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, and the New York Yankees. Also like our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter, @MLBjourneymen, and check out our Instagram account, mlbjourneymen. 

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Oh, Canada! Do you take Discover Card?

  • Date: July 22, 2018
  • Overall trip rating: 7.1
  • Journey milestone: Coldest bar we've been to, by far. 
  • Number of sushi eaten: 61

All metric all the time


If you recall from our last post, while visiting Detroit, we were staying across the river in Windsor, Ontario. The city was so close to the United States border that it gave speed limits both miles per hour and kilometers per hour. But the further we got, the more calculations we had to do. The one we could never get right was guessing how many milliliters we needed to fill the car up with gas — mostly because we never wanted to do all of the math to figure it out.

*Another tip: Nate found out the hard way, the majority of places in Canada will not or cannot accept Discover Cards.*

It wasn't a terribly long trip from Windsor to Toronto, but when we finally got there, we were starving. The desk clerk at the hotel directed us to a shopping plaza nearby, and there we found a place that had all-you-can-eat sushi. You would think we would have thought such a deal for 15 U.S. dollars should have raised a red flag, but it didn't.

The place was called K B Sushi, and it was actually all-you-can-eat for everything on the menu. Each table had an electronic tablet that broke down the menu into categories with photos of each dish. You simply click the plus sign to add that item to your cart and then send the order. You can do this any time throughout your stay.




















As you can see, we put in quite an order:


The final tally came down to a total of 66 sushi ordered, with 61 being eaten. We also got several chicken dishes, calamari, scallops, rib tips, and salmon. Needless to say, we weren't very active or swiftly moving for quite some time.

When our food babies had finally stopped kicking and our stomachs had settled, we went out to check out Lake Ontario. It was a cool, overcast and windy day, so being at the lake was not ideal, but there were tons of people in the parks. And despite the gloomy clouds, we still had a beautiful view of Toronto across the lake.

Beer (and people) on ice


After visiting the lake, Ben had one of his best ideas of the trip. He found a bar in Toronto that had a room made completely of ice, so we figured we had to try it out! It was downtown and attached to another bar, which was blaring music way too loudly in terms of how few people there were inside. But we got our drinks, put on the complimentary coats they let you borrow, and opened the freezer door to enter the ice room.

It was pretty cool (get it?) inside the room. There was an ice beer pong table, a frozen ice hockey table, and a table-top version of curling. For seating, there were two semi-secluded areas with long rows of ice to sit on with a table to set drinks on.


As cool as the room was, we felt it could be even better. There was a bar in the ice room but no bar tender. That may have been because not many people wanted to go in the ice room — or do people not want to go to the ice room because there's no bartender there (quite the conundrum). Anyway, we stayed there for one beer and then ventured out for more fun.

We walked down King Street W, which was packed with people taking in the Toronto nightlife. The range of styles of bars on the street amazed us. Some were dressed in suits and dresses for the fancy establishments, some were in casual clothes for one of the sports bars, and others were dressed to go to one of the many nightclubs on the block. We're pretty sure we saw Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Randal Grichuk outside one of the clubs.

We were definitely part of the casual crowd, as we parked ourselves at the Banknote Bar for a few drinks, including wine and a Moscow Mule (which disappointingly did not come in a copper mug; thanks, Canada). Finally, we ended the night in typical MLB Journeymen fashion, with late night pizza. This time we went to Pizzaiolo, which had a nice variety and was reasonably priced. Judging by the crowd that was there, it was a popular stop for many of the bar hoppers.

Game day


Our game at the Rogers Center was at 1 p.m., so after showering and eating breakfast, we decided to just head to the ball park and explore the immediate area. And it's a good thing we didn't wait any longer, because getting downtown was a mess.

Without any indication, the main highway that goes to the heart of the city was closed, causing a standstill and forcing everyone to exit onto a service road. Once we got closer to the stadium, the service road had a lane closed due to a triathlon, which only caused more delays. We felt helpless as several triathlon runners raced past the line of cars, leaving us in their dust.

We finally got to the Rogers Centre and found only a few available parking lots right by the stadium, costing anywhere from 20-35 dollars. The outside of the arena was concrete, much like the one in Tampa. However, unlike the Rays, the outside had banners and photos of players to make it more appealing.

It was "Jr. Jays weekend" so there were kids everywhere inside the ball park. Stadium workers were painting kids' faces — no, not any of ours — playing games with the kids, and taking photos of the youngsters with Ace, the mascot.

We scoped out the food situation, and the place we ultimately went to was the Muddy York Market. It resembled a grocery store and had healthy options for food in addition to some of the typical options for ball park food. We ended up getting Korean BBQ tacos, a brisket sandwich and chicken strips.

The game


Our seats were in row five down the left field line, the closest to the field we've been — maybe with the exception of our first-row outfield seats in Anaheim.


For the first four innings, the game had the making of a pitchers' duel, with Toronto leading 1-0, but as soon as we got up to get our food, the Baltimore Orioles finally got on the scoreboard with a run off of Blue Jays' pitcher J.A. Happ — who finished the game with five innings pitched, one earned run given up, and striking out nine. Baltimore added two more in the top of the eight, but Toronto responded with a pair of two-run home runs from Yangervis Solarte and none other than Grichuk, the party guy we saw the night before!

After the big inning, the Blue Jays' Tyler Clippard entered the game and closed the door on the Orioles to earn the save and seal the Toronto victory.

Postgame


With the game being in the afternoon, we had the rest of the day to explore downtown. We tried going to the CN Tower right after the game, but a two-hour wait scared us away. If you plan ahead, you can order tickets online and, for eight dollars more, you can pick a time slot for when you go up in the tower. If we go back, that's what we would do.

We walked around for a while and decided to plan our next move over a drink at St. Louis (restaurant), which had a nice outdoor seating area right by the Rogers Centre.

A popular suggestion we received was to go to Centre Island, and after finding out there was a brewery with food on the island, we were all in.

You have to find a parking lot downtown, but you can then take a ferry from Toronto to the island, which gave us a beautiful view of the city's skyline. The ferry was about 15 dollars a person.


The island was beautiful. There was a variety of flowers and plants, playgrounds and activities for kids, and you could even rent bikes and kayaks. The culmination of the island adventure was making it to the other end of the island to see the pier overlooking Lake Ontario.

The only problem we had with Toronto Island was the fact that on this particular day, all of the businesses and restaurants were closed! We asked one of the ferry workers why nothing was open, and apparently the establishments close down if there's rain, which there was earlier in the morning.

After walking all over the island and not getting to eat anything from the brewery, we had worked up a pretty hardy appetite. And with it being our last night in Toronto, we wanted to go to a nice, sit-down restaurant. So, we found a place called the Fox and the Fiddle, which had a nice menu of entrees ranging around 20 bucks. It was a pretty place and the outdoor seating gave us a lovely view of the city at night.


We left downtown after 11 and ran into some concert traffic, getting us home late. The saddest part of our trip was when we got home and saw on the TV that a gunman shot 14 people downtown earlier that night. We were a mile or two away from the scene, but we didn't hear anything; though, we did see plenty of emergency responders heading that way. Of course, at the time, we didn't know what they were responding to.

Niagara Falls


We left Toronto for Niagara Falls on our final full day in Canada. It was only about an hour and a half drive, and when we got to Niagara we were surprised with how big the city actually is. There were tons of places to eat, shopping places, and, of course, attractions relating to the Falls.

The first thing we tried was the Skylon Tower. The inside of the base of the tour was like a mall in itself, with stores, an arcade area, and even some glass blowing demonstrations. The cheapest tickets to go up in the tower were 15 dollars, but the ones we got were 17, and they came with free admission to the Falls movie, Legends of the Niagara (more on that later).

There are some great views from the tower's observation decks provide some pretty amazing views of the Falls and the whole city.


We stayed up there for 15 minutes or so and then headed back down to watch our feature film. This is the one part of our experience we would not recommend. The film was very cheesy and didn't offer any historical information about the Falls other than a couple tidbits. We were hoping it would have been more educational. But, if you're really wanting to see it, it's about 15 minutes long and is 3D/4D, with blowing air representing wind from the Falls.

After the movie, we needed something to restore our energy and positivity for the trip, and the Maid of the Midst boat ride did just that. We got our tickets, vouchers, and our complimentary ponchos and made our way down to the boat on the lake. Traveler tip: Bring a ziplock baggie or something similar for your phone, wallet and anything else you don't want ruined. You get plenty soaked on the boat, and while our phones and belongings survived in our pockets, it would have been nice to not have to worry about their destruction.

That being said, the boat ride was amazing! This may have been one of our favorite things to do on our journey.


The boat is out for maybe 15 minutes or so and takes up near the horseshoe of the Falls. We stood at the front of the boat, so we got drenched! It was definitely a blast. When we got back, we took advantage of our drink vouchers in a patio setting with the Falls roaring behind us and a woman playing an acoustic guitar for the crowd. It was relaxing and peaceful.

'Ello, Govn'or


Our final night in Canada was spent in London — partly because of the name and partly because of it breaking up our trip for the next day. We really only had time to get a late dinner and then head back to the hotel, so the food truck we stopped at is about the only thing to report from London. It was so messy, but it was pretty darn good.


Ratings


We were a little surprised with the way our ratings turned out. While we loved pretty much everything about Toronto, the stadium itself left us wanting a little more. Because of those low ratings, this trip earned a rating of 7.1.


When it comes to aspects other than the stadium, transportation was the only thing that really got any sort of knock; everything else was about as high as we could rate it. As for the ball park, it's in a great spot with plenty to do around it, so the atmosphere was great. But it lacked in "sex appeal" and in food variety. Despite the trip being lower on the ratings, we all still talked about going back to Toronto in the future.

RankStadiumRating
1.Petco Park (Padres)8.9
2.Sun Trust Park (Braves)8.4
3.Marlins Park (Marlins)8.4
4.Kauffman Stadium (Royals)8.4
5.Target Field (Twins)8.3
6.Angels Stadium (Angels)8.3
7.U.S. Cellular (White Sox)8.3
8.Wrigley Field (Cubs)8.3
9.Busch Stadium (Cardinals)8.3
10.Chase Field (Diamondbacks)8.2
11.Miller Park (Brewers)7.2
12.Rogers Centre (Blue Jays)7.1
13.Coors Field (Rockies)7.1
14.Comerica Park (Tigers)6.4
15.Dodger Stadium (Dodgers)6.2
16.Tropicana Field (Rays)6.1

On deck



On our way back home, we're going back to Wrigley Field since Nate was not with us that first year we went. Plus, it will be nice to see the friendly confines after the renovations! We'll have that post soon. Also like our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter, @MLBjourneymen, and check out our Instagram account, mlbjourneymen.