Baseball Trip

No, not a Timothy Leary '60s kind of trip, mind you, but a trip through America's Heartland, the Midwest.

This was my fifth trip with Sports Travel and Tours (sportstravelandtours.com) and every one of them has been fantastic.

We started on Saturday (7/25) in Kansas City. Kauffman Stadium just underwent a major remodeling -- $400 million worth -- and it is a beautiful place to see a game. We were treated to a rare Royals win. Right next door to the home of the NFL Kansas City Chiefs, the complex is easy to get to. I made some points with the group when I told them that the International Space Station & Space Shuttle would be visible almost directly overhead that night. Sure enough, just as we were getting off the bus at the hotel (9:36 pm CDT) there it was.

The next day we had an all-to short visit to the National Negro Baseball League Museum, and then back to Kauffman. Fortunately, our seats were in the shade (granted, the weather was perfect - temps in the mid 80s - but the sun was very bright). Included in our tour group were two couples from Bolonga, Italy (they play in a softball league and are very knowledgeable about our national pastime). One of the men caught a foul ball! After the game, as we were boarding the bus, he proudly displayed his prize walking down the aisle. I told him "You know, you're going to have to declare that in customs." At first he was somewhat baffled, but after everyone started laughing, he caught on.

The next morning we were off on our longest driving leg, a nine hour sojourn to the home of Mary Richards, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mile after mile of Iowa cornfields did little to keep one's eyes open. When we finally reached the larger of the twin cities, we encountered major construction (we had a Minnesota native in our group, and he told me, "there are two seasons in Minnesota; winter and street repair.") We had about 30 min to check-in before hoofing the half mile to the Metrodome. A perfect place to see a game -- that is, of course, providing the game is football. Our seats faced directly to the space between center and right field, so we had to twist about 80 degrees to the right so we could see the pitcher and batter.

After about 15 hours in Minneapolis, we were on the road again, this time heading into Wisconsin (the 37th state I've been in) and a date with the Brewers.

However, before that was my Peep Meet with Dragonflies, and our brief encounter at Milwaukee's Safe House (this was after the photo op with The Fonz).
Miller Park is another great place to see a game. I was surprised (well, maybe not) to see so many beer vendors plying the aisles (Dodger Stadium prohibits the sale of beer in the seating area). Another member of our little troup was Andrew, a 14-year old avid fan of the hapless Washington Nationals. The Nats happened to kick the Brewers butts, so we had a very happy teenager the rest of the trip.
After Milwaukee was a fairly short trip south to the Windy City - Chicago - and our appointment with a game at the Friendly Confines. I've been to 27 major league stadia in my travels, and there are no fans like the fans at Wrigley Field. They're crazy (but in a good way). The fact that the Cubbies won 12-0 did little to discourage normal behavior from the faithful.

The next morning we had a city tour, but it went all too fast (plus the fact that we used our same bus -- I made the suggestion that city tours should use the open top-double decker type bus that most tours have). However, the best part was my second Peep Meet; this time with the lovely Dakota.

Our meeting was disrupted by the World's Rudest Resturant Manager. We were sitting at a table outside of a Subway shop that was next door to some other local bistro. After a couple of minuets this woman yells out from the door "those tables aren't for Subway people!" OK, but there were four empty tables, plus another table occupied by a single diner quietly munching on her Subway six-inch Spicy Italian...
Not wanting to anger her neighbor, Dakota suggested that we retreat to her stoop two doors down, where we finished our chat.

That night we headed over to the home of the White Sox, US Cellular Field. I wanted to see the marker showing the location of home plate for old Comiskey Park. Our tour host directed us to it, in the parking lot near gate 5. I snapped a couple of pictures, in honor of the 50th anniversay of the Dodgers World Series win at that very spot. The evening started out rather gloomy, as we had to sit through a 64 minute rain delay (the only bad weather during the entire trip). However, that was more than made up for when the Pale Hose rallied in the ninth to beat the Yankees 3-2. Oh happy Day! (My baseball philospphy is quite simple: any day the Yankees lose is a good day.)

During our stay in Chicago, the hotel was home to some serious lawyer-in-training torture. The Loyola Law School was conducting interviews for students to enter their Patent Law program. Prospective Patent Lawyers had to sit in chairs placed in the hall outside of rooms -- looking for all the world like miscreant fifth graders waiting to see the Principal. Granted, I'm all for lawyers suffering, but this was close to unconstitutional misery.

The final leg got underway early on Friday morning, as we headed back south, eventually returning to the Show Me State and Busch Stadium, St. Louis. I spotted the Gateway Arch about four miles from the mighty Mississippi River. Our hotel was across the street from the ballpark - a distance of maybe 70 feet wall-to-wall. Cardinal fans are without a doubt the most knowelable and appreciative fans in all of baseball, so I wanted to honor them. I went to the team store about 4 hours before gametime and purchased several items (though I did focus on All Star Game memorabilia). I wore red to the game, another thrilling win for the home team as the Cards beat the Astros 4-3.

My flight home was at 8:40 am, which meant a 6 o'clock shuttle pickup for the airport. I booked my flights through Orbitz, and got a decent first class fare - but had to endure two layovers (St. Louis to Denver; Denver to Salt Lake City; Salt Lake City to L.A.), finally getting home about 5 pm PDT (13 hours after boarding the shuttle).

Vacations are great fun (for the most part) but getting home is the best part.

Vegas -- and a Happy Ending

Vegas – ah Vegas

Every year I take advantage of the third week of Winter Break for a trip to Sin City. I usually go during the week (commonly Tue-Thur) but this year I decided to go over the weekend, mainly because of the availability of David Copperfield tickets. I’ve been a magic fan for as long as I can remember, and have tried to see this true master magician for many many years.

When I checked on Vegas.com right around Thanksgiving, I was pleased to see Copperfield tickets on the list. However, there was a problem with the weekday dates, so I bit the bullet and grabbed a Saturday matinee spot.

I flew in on Friday afternoon (somehow, and I don’t really know why, I eschewed my normal practice of taking early flights – it was weird, waiting around the house until noon before heading to the airport. But I digress…) and got to the Luxor around 3:30. There was a huge line of people waiting to check-in (one reason why I like the Tue-Thur schedule), and finally got to my room just after 4. After dropping my bag, I headed for the casino.

I have claimed to many that Black Jack is my game in Vegas, so after a quick survey, plopped down at a $10 table.

And was $120 down within 15 min. Yikes. I took a break with some slot play – and rebounded with a net $5 gain. There are dozens of different themed slot machines (we can’t really call them “one armed bandits” anymore, as the classic pull mechanism is quite passé, and actually a minority on most casino floors these days) but the basic operation is similar. You can bet multiple lines (some as many as 25) and designate values ranging from 1 – 10 ‘credits’ per pull.

This means you can be betting up to 250 ‘credits’ on each play.

Another innovation is the fact that one no longer has to lug around buckets of nickels (or quarters, dollars, etc) to feed the machines. In fact, there is no coin slot to be found. The machines take bills only -- $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 are all welcome, even if the ‘credit’ value is a paltry 1¢. When you ‘cash out’ a ticket is printed with the remaining value. These can also be inserted into another machine. If you want to get cash for your ticket, there are automated kiosks located throughout the casino that will disperse funds (but they don’t issue dimes…).

I discovered a group of four Star Trek (Original Series) themed machines that looked like they would be fun to play. They had the usual video display, along with an extra video screen above that showed a slideshow series of images from some of the more popular ST:TOS episodes.

These were very friendly to me, as my net was a nifty +$75. I broke even (or so) in other slot play. I never did get back to the Black Jack tables. I also managed to come out $8 ahead in sports betting, thanks in a large part to a last minute shot on the Flyers beating the Ducks.

However, my real purpose was to see some shows. Copperfield was Saturday afternoon, and I still had Friday night to deal with (“deal” – Vegas – get it?). Carrot Top is at Luxor, so I got a ticket. I had seen his show a couple of years earlier, and was expecting much of the same (prop humor, topical jibes, along with an occasional self-deprecating gag) which is just what we got. It was pretty good. However, I was surprised to see, at the end of the show, Carrot Top’s got himself some major guns (and pecs) – really rather gross, IMHO – and youtube posters insist that they’re implants.

Saturday dawned cold in Vegas (32°F) and I still had several hours before Copperfield. I wanted to check out the CBS Television City spot at the MGM Grand (they do audience surveys/polls). I was in the first group of the morning, about six or seven, and we saw an episode of Rules of Engagement. I’d seen one or two episodes on the tube and my ‘meh’ opinion didn’t change.

However, during the pre-show background survey, I managed to find myself selected for a special focus group discussion that afternoon, along with the promise of $75 for my time.

There were ten in the group, and we had to fill out several pages of questions (technology in the home – computers, video, games, ect.) before we saw a very interesting presentation with some nifty new iPhone, Blu-Ray, and interconnect features. “Blu-Ray Live” will allow you to use your computer/TV pair to chat/blog/view special features straight from the studio (Disney is leading the pack right now). An easy $75.

David Copperfield started with a short video clip with snippets of Copperfield references in popular culture (various TV shows tossing off “I’m not David Copperfield” when confronted by a no-way-out situation, and so on) finishing with a David Letterman bit featuring a Copperfield look-alike cruising the streets of New York.

The show itself started with Copperfield appearing, along with his motorcycle, in a small cage on stage. He then did some slight-of-hand tricks (a ladies diamond ring getting tied in the string of a tiny shoe shoved in his back pocket, etc) He did several other illusions (some with his trademark duck companion).

The highlight of the show had several aspects. He starts off telling the story of his father, who had a dream of being an entertainer (he had won a couple of awards and a scholarship to a prestigious acting school), but his own father (David’s grandfather) was dead-set against it. “Those people are no good. They never make any money.” So a dream was shot down.

Years later, the 13-year-old David told his grandfather of his own dream of being a professional magician. Same reaction. But David persisted, and his grandfather refused to talk to him again. After his first professional show, David thought he saw his grandfather in the back of the audience. He rushed out, but couldn’t find him.

Another part of the story, Copperfield’s grandfather was also devoted to the Irish Sweepstakes (at the time, there were no state lottery games, and unless you wanted to deal with the Mob and their numbers rackets, the Irish Sweepstakes was the only big prize game in town). He always played the same group of numbers, and wanted to win enough to buy a brand new convertible (he wanted a turquoise sedan). He never did win, and when he died years later, the family found all his old Sweepstakes tickets. And one other surprise – the ticket stub from young David’s first professional performance.

On stage, he tossed an old Tupperware® lid into the audience – apparently making random a selection. He asked the winner (a man who said he was from Argentina) for two numbers between 1 & 50. After he gave his choices (18 and 7), Copperfield asked him “boxers or briefs?” which was answered with “31”. After a linguistic battle, we finally got “briefs – blue” The lid was then tossed deeper into the audience.

The next contestant was from Russia – more language fun, but we got the numbers 21 & 6, along with “4 months” (last time you ‘got busy’ – how that translates into Russian, I’m sure I don’t know). David asked him to toss the lid to another spot, and it flew – right into Copperfield’s hands on stage.

I shouted out “give me two numbers…” and got a chuckle from the Master Magician.

He tossed the lid right in my direction, but it sailed just over my outstretched arm. The woman who caught it gave us the numbers 8 & 47, along with her birth date of April 7. After each number and ‘secret’ was revealed, David had written them on a large poster dangling from the ceiling.

Copperfield then brought them on stage. He pointed out the sealed clear plastic box that had been suspended over the stage (in easy view of everyone) throughout the performance. The box was lowered and the new assistants opened the six locks. Inside was a cassette tape and two large envelopes. He brought out a tape player, and the “April 7” lady put the tape in and pressed play.

David’s voice comes out, “earlier this evening I made a prediction… the numbers 18, 7, 21, 6, 8 and 47… and blue briefs, 4 months and April 7…” as we hear the voice, David is unfurling a large paper from the first envelope, which has the same information written on it. He then had the “4 months” guy open his envelope – inside were two old car license plates, with the numbers 18 – 7 – 21 on one and 6 – 8- 47 on the other.

He then had the two men move over to a couple of pillar-like stage props, having them bend down and put their arms completely around them (hugging). A curtain was lowered to about 4 feet above the stage and – presto – there was a 1948 turquoise convertible sedan. He climbed in and started the motor…

The finale was a twist on a classic illusion. Once again, it involved audience participation. 12 large silver beach balls were released into the audience and we were told to knock them around until the music stopped (knocking beach balls around – I’ve spend enough time at Dodger Stadium to be an expert…)

And when the music stopped, there was one right in front of me. “Anyone with a beach ball in their hands, come on stage!”

ME!

I trotted to the stage and was directed to a side view location – I was going to be one of the witnesses, but still on stage. Eight of the others were sent into a ‘jury box’ like structure with chairs that had been lowered from above. Once they were seated, each was given a flashlight, and they were told to move the lights around, shining them on the inside of the curtain. (I did get to see one secret – as the people were loading into their jury box, David was ‘introducing’ them – “the Waltons – John Boy, Mary Ellen, Elizabeth … Dr. Evil …” but moments before I had noticed placard with those same names on the stage right were Copperfield would stand.)

The curtains were pulled and the jury box contraption raised about 10 feet. I could see the mechanism pulling them up, and the stage lights went out and a spot hit Copperfield. He pulled the curtain away and the people were gone.

Then he pointed to the back of the theater, and there they were, flashlights still moving around. I never saw them leave the jury box…

The rest of the weekend was uneventful – some more Star Trek slots, too much time in the buffet, and some great tacos and tequila (marvelous pomegranate margaritas, fer sure) and home.

Well worth it, but next time I’ll go back to my regular week-day sojourn.