This past weekend I flew up nort’ to God’s Country to attend my first Twins game at Target Field with the free tickets I had won. As a double bonus, my baby brother Craigy drove down and we were able to spend the better part of a couple days together as well as the ballgame.
As Monday morning rolled around, we visited a card shop, then spent the next few hours roaming the downtown skyways and the blocks around Target Field.
statues of Kirby Puckett, Tony Oliva, Rod Carew, and Harmon Killebrew
Once again we included a Spring Training game in our vacation at Ft. Myers, and once again we scheduled our trip to include the Cardinals March 7th visit to Hammond Stadium. The tickets I picked up were just two down from last year’s seats, fourth row just downfield from the Twins’ 3rd base dugout. The weather was sunny and ~80°F with a light breeze, so we were workin’ the sunscreen.
We were parked on Puckett Pkwy this year, and noticed Hammond Stadium again had a liberal sprinkling of Cardinal Red shirts in the capacity crowd. Who were the first ballplayers I saw when visiting the neighboring practice field?
left to right: Trevor Plouffe, Danny Valencia, Alexi Casilla, Tsuyoshi Nishioka
Posted in Minnesota Twins, travel
Tagged Ft. Myers, Hammond Stadium, Spring Training, St. Louis Cardinals
Mo & I had kicked around a few ideas off-and-on this winter regarding where to vacation, and when we came back to it, we decided to visit Ft. Myers area again this year. Why not — we knew our way around now, and we hadn’t seen everything when we were there last year. So we checked the Spring Training schedule, and made our reservations.
We arrived on Wednesday afternoon, got our rental car (a Chevy Aveo) and checked into our hotel, which was nicely located on Colonial Blvd. On a tip from a pizza delivery guy we shared an elevator with, we had a relaxing meal of grinders and Sicilian pizza at Bellacino’s and then called it a night.
Thursday: Because we gave Ft. Myers Beach short shrift last year, we started out this year’s vacation by heading to the south end of the Trollee line and going to Bonita Beach Park in Bonita Springs. We picked shells, laid out and read books, and watched a small (~18″) shark near the shoreline. It was a little breezy, but pleasantly warm.
Bonita Beach Park
We grabbed lunch at Doc’s Beach House and then rode the trollee up to Ft. Myers Beach pier and hung out there for a while before finally heading back for the day.
Day Three: With supplies dwindling, we learn that travelling parties are again being led across the Eppley-Lambert Pass, and we brave frigid temperatures to reach the trailhead. Our party is the first of the day allowed to set out, and we anxiously make our way onward. Upon nearing our destination, we were made to wait interminable minutes while room is made at the Lambert end of the trail (travellers were arriving from all corners of the country). I heartily bade farewell to my fellow journeymen, and completed the rest of the trip while surveying the weather-beaten countryside. There was nothing more exciting to these tired eyes than seeing the homestead coming up over the rise, and reaching the warm embrace of loved ones.
- Rhubarb_Runner
Day Two: The driven snow blowing horizontally across my view mirrors my hopes of making it home being snatched from my grasp. I’ve huddled together with other stranded travellers, and we at least attempt to bolster each other’s spirits. We are extremely rationing our provisions in an attempt to subsist for the indeterminate time we will be here. No information forthcoming as to when the Eppley-Lambert Pass may be opened. News from home also is not good, but they are facing the dangerous weather courageously. Although they try to hide it, I can tell they are only putting up a good front in order to help keep my outlook up. It is not really working…
- Rhubarb_Runner
Day One: Rations are low but holding out so far. Weather started wet and cool, but quickly turned to chilly and mixed. I have endeavored to delay transportation home an extra day in hopes that the journey will be safer, but I am now unsure whether provisions will last. Have also procured an additional night of shelter at a local establishment, but spirits are waning as the weather looks to steadily decline. I will attempt to continue these journal entries as a document of my travails here, either as a tribute to my unflagging hope or as a memoir of my miserable last days. Only the good Lord knows which at this time…
- Rhubarb_Runner
Okay, it’s not one of those papers written for school, but I’m due to post a note about our family trip up to The Homeland and all our activities there — boring to some, even more boring to others. Well, here goes…
The 14hr 2min drive up nort’ went about as smoothly as it could, and we arrived with most of the clan already there. The first couple days were spent visiting with family and friends, checking out the Polk County Fair, and getting over the “jet lag”. I swung a trade with a baseball card booth in one of the display buildings, and picked up grab bag goodies for the young nephews. Staying just ½ block from the fairgrounds is pretty darn convenient, and a nice location to watch the fireworks, too. And since we apparently brought our St. Louis weather north with us (we had a couple days of 90°F+/high humidity) the shorter walks were appreciated as well.
Friday night the four brothers and their wives had a nice supper at Joe Dimaggio’s Pizza & Grill. (My first car was a 1977 Honda Civic hatchback previously owned by Joe, and I got to tell him that it served me well. And yes, that is his name.)
We had a pleasant surprise when Max (our foreign exchange student from Germany back in the 80′s) dropped by in the middle of his business trip in the US. We were two Texans and a serviceman in Iraq away from the entire shebang.
Saturday morning started with a 5-K walk/run, and many of the clan were among the 140+ that participated.
Polk County Fair 5-K Walk/Run (K on the far right)
Now that we got back our camera from the rental car agency, I can wrap up our Ft. Myers’ vacation writeup with a few of the photos that arrived with the camera. These were taken at the Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium:
a section of the walking trail boardwalk through the cypress forest
cardinal wild pine bromiliad, an epiphyte (or “air plant”) growing on a tree
