Randy Lewis
World's #1 Ranked Trackchaser
CLINTON COUNTY SPEEDWAY, ALPHA, KENTUCKY
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RANLAY Racing Trackchaser Report
DAY 4 – SPRING MONSUNAL TRACKCHASING TOUR
HOW TRACKCHASING PREPARES ONE FOR LIFE
Editor’s note: My trackchasing trip to Alpha, Kentucky was followed by a fun weekend in San Francisco with Carol. Since that trip was not an official part of any trackchasing effort, RANLAY Racing bylaws do not permit me to report on it in the body of this Trackchaser Report. However, if you care to read about my San Francisco observations, please page down to the very bottom of this TR (yes, beyond the boundaries of the OFFICIAL Trackchaser Report). My comments appear there.
If you’ve been paying attention, you probably know that trackchasing is simply a “slice of life”. Trackchasing strategy can also prepare a person for the difficult situations they will encounter in life. You’ve seen how I have been trained to deal with last minute problems to find a successful and quick solution.
As an example, I might have a complete plan to travel to
When that happens, I don’t just pack it in and do nothing. I immediately go about finding a replacement. Usually I will be headed in the opposite direction within a few minutes of learning of the primary track’s cancellation. In aviation, this strategy is simply called “keep flying the airplane”.
What does that mean? It means keep trying whatever you can until there is absolutely no time “left on the clock” to get the job done. When time runs out, when the fat lady sings, you can then go sit down on the bench and commiserate with the other bench warmers about what went wrong, about what couldn’t be done and about how someone else screwed up your plan.
It was with this mindset that I attacked the major problem that I faced this afternoon. Carol and I were in San Francisco to attend the wedding of Allison Moody. She is the daughter of our good friends the Moodys. We were staying in a trendy boutique hotel in downtown
The wedding was set for 5 p.m. At exactly five minutes before four (3:55 p.m. for you digital fans), Carol and I were finalizing everything and just about ready to head out the door. I already had my dress shirt on and my tie was tied.
I went to slip on my suit and my problems began. For some unknown or at least unacknowledged reason my suit pants did not fit. As a matter of fact they came about six inches short of being able to fit. When I “sucked it in” and stretched the pants I was still about four inches short. This was not going to work, even for a couple of hours at a wedding.
What had caused the problem? Had I picked up one of my son’s suits by mistake? Had I eaten one too many (or more) track burgers? Carol acted as surprised as I was. That’s why I love her so much!
I had no backup plan. I had no backup suit. I did have a pair of khaki cargo pants and a navy blue Royal Troon golf sweatshirt. However, this was a more formal wedding. There would not be any man in attendance in anything less than a suit and tie. I needed a new plan and fast.
Trackchasing has trained me to handle the unexpected. This was just like learning that the Rockford Speedway had cancelled due to a tornado and I would have to make a u-turn and drive 300 miles in the opposite direction as fast as I could to see another new track.
We had 65 minutes before the wedding was to begin. This included at least a 20-minute cab ride from the hotel to the wedding site. I cinched up the suit the best I could with a manila folder covering the area that my suit didn’t! We hailed a cab and told the driver to “take us to Macy’s”. The Saturday afternoon city traffic was heavy and slow.
In about 15 minutes, we pulled up to a Macy’s. We now had 50 minutes before the wedding would begin. We were told the men’s “furnishings” were on floors two, three and four. We rode the escalator to floor two. No suits there. We rode the escalator to floor three. No suits there. Finally, upon reaching floor four, we found the men’s suit section.
I quickly encountered one of the more senior salespeople in the department. His name was William. I walked up to William and said, “You need to listen closely. I have ten minutes to find, try on and buy a suit or sport coat. Can you help me?” I believe that William could see the fear in my eyes. “Yes”, he said, he thought he could help me.
He immediately took me over to the Calvin Klein section of the men’s suit department. He eyeballed me and said, “44 long”. At that point, he pulled a three button black suit off the rack and told me “this should work, go try it on”. We now had 41 minutes before the wedding was to begin. We would still need to get a second taxi to traverse the afternoon city traffic.
I went into the Macy’s dressing room and tried on the suit. The coat fit perfectly. The pants fit perfectly. There would be no need for alterations of any kind. William rang up the suit and within 10 minutes of entering the store, I was walking out wearing one of the most beautiful suits I have ever owned.
We immediately hailed a cab. We now had 32 minutes before the wedding was to begin. Our driver did a great job of getting to the Presidio. We arrived in 16 minutes at 4:44 p.m. Folks were standing outside the church waiting to go in. Once more, just like in trackchasing, I had beaten the odds.
No, I had not been the best prepared. I had not been the smartest and I was no longer the richest. However, I had “kept flying the airplane”.
TODAY’S HEADLINES
Do I qualify as an “active senior?”...................more in “The Trip”.
If you’ve traveled through Alabama, you’ve probably seen signs for the Robert Trent Jones Sr. Golf Trail…………..details in “Trackchasing Tourist Attractions”.
Is it possible for Carol and me to appear unclothed in a YouTube video?...................more in “San Francisco, California – at bottom of this report”.
AND THE READERS RESPOND
From time to time interested readers write me about one thing or another. Many times, I feel that my other readers would be interested, informed and/or amused by the comments I get. Here’s what a Texas reader had to say regarding trackchasers “who are not having fun” in the hobby. I must admit I received several responses on this topic. Some were even more direct than the words shared below. Do I think this will open the eyes of the folks who complain that their foot hurts and want to place the blame on someone else? In a word, no.
“This is not a difficult call. Clearly, it's absurd for another person or two to "not have fun" because of how you choose to enjoy trackchasing. Are you familiar with the German term "Schadenfreude"? It refers to when people take pleasure in the misfortune of others. In thinking about the opposite of this, there is probably another German word for people who are made unhappy by the pleasure of others, but I don't know what word it is. Whatever that other word is, it certainly applies to track chasers who "can't have fun" because you're having a ball trackchasing, and beating the pants off of them. Their attitude seems incredibly childish to me. As a friend of mine says "F___ 'em and feed 'em fishheads".”
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GREETINGS FROM ALPHA, KENTUCKY.
I WOKE UP THIS MORNING IN CONWAY, ARKANSAS. I WENT TO SLEEP IN CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEEE. THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED TODAY.
PEOPLE/STRATEGY/TRAVEL NEWS
The Objective
This trackchasing trip exceeded my objective of seeing new tracks, meeting new people, playing new golf courses and having new experiences.
I ended up seeing five new tracks over four days in the three different states on this trip. I stayed overnight in yet a fourth state. I played golf in yet a fifth state. I met a couple of new golfing friends and was able to play golf for the first time with an old friend. I played four new golf courses and visited my fifth presidential library. Yes, this retirement life is not for the faint of heart.
Editor’s note: I am still recovering from computer problems that first surfaced all the way back at the beginning of my trip to Jamaica. I lead such a fast-paced life that continues to run at full speed that all of the computer projects (including my Trackchaser Reports) get left behind by the pace I set. I hope that I will be caught up soon. I apologize for my less than timely response to some of your emails.
The Trip
You might recall from my last report that bad weather in Atlanta forced me to divert to Arkansas for some Saturday night racing. I overnighted in Conway, Arkansas before it was time to get back to my original schedule. That schedule called for a race on Sunday in Alpha, Kentucky.
It didn’t make much sense to drive from Arkansas to Kentucky for two reasons. First, it’s a long way from Arkansas to Kentucky when the Arkansas race ends at midnight and the Kentucky race starts the next afternoon. Secondly, and more importantly, I had a rental car parked in the long-term parking lot at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Therefore with just 3 ½ hours of sleep, I caught a 6 a.m. flight from Little Rock to Atlanta. After landing in Atlanta and getting my car by about 8 a.m. I faced a 5-hour drive north. This took me through the state of Tennessee and into southern Kentucky. The scenery was beautiful as spring is trying to visit the region.
Following the race, I hopped over to Chattanooga, Tennessee for the evening. From there it was over to Alabama for two days of golf with some friends from Procter & Gamble. We stayed in Montgomery and Birmingham, Alabama. On Wednesday of the following week, I had a 6:15 a.m. (3:15 a.m. San Clemente time) flight back home. That trip was connecting through Denver. When we arrived in the “Mile High City” it was snowing! We actually waited in line for nearly an hour to have our airplane deiced.
I had less than 24 hours at home after being gone for seven days, to pick up Carol and fly her to San Francisco for the weekend. We were going to the Bay area primarily for a wedding but would have time to enjoy the city as well. I like to think of myself as an “active senior”.
The People
Following the weekend’s racing activity, I was able to visit with my good friend Steve Tomasek as we began a couple of days of golf in Alabama. Steve and I go back several years at P&G. We both retired at about the same time six years ago.
Steve is probably most famous for his chili “cook-off” achievements. He has won several titles including the Mexico national championship from a few years ago. I would love to attend a chili cook-off during my travels as I like both chili and spicy food.
Two of Steve’s P&G friends that I had never met until this trip joined us on the golf outing. It was fun playing with both Chuck and Jim and sharing our common bond of being P&G retirees.
Before I joined up with these guys, I was told we would be playing 36 holes of golf each day. Heck, I’m tired, more from the mental strain than the physical, when I play just 18 holes in a day.
During past golf outings, I’ve played 36 holes in a day. The schedule pretty much goes like this:
6 a.m. - Breakfast
7 a.m. - Tee off for round 1
12 noon – Lunch
1 p.m. – Tee off for round 2
6 p.m. – Cocktails
7 p.m. - Dinner
10 p.m. – Hit the sack
Day 2 – Repeat!
Playing 36 holes wasn’t as tiring as I thought it might be. We all had a great time playing in a beautiful setting. Gentlemen, thanks for inviting me.
TRACKCHASING TOURIST ATTRACTION
I very much enjoy the racing when I go on trackchasing trips. However, I am not the type of person who would feel the trip was complete if I simply left home, went to the race and came back home.
I do a good deal of traveling. I want to do my best to see the local area when I come for a visit. There are almost always unusual attractions that one area is noted for more than any other locale. I want to see those places. I want to touch them and feel them. When I leave an area, I want to have memories of these special places that I call Trackchasing Tourist Attractions. I will remember those experiences long after the checkered flag has fallen on whatever race I have seen that day.
Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail – Prattville & Birmingham, Alabama
Capitol Hill – Legislator Course, Prattville, Alabama (Course rating: 68.7, Slope rating: 117; score 82)
Capitol Hill – Judge Course, Prattville, Alabama (Course rating: 69.3, Slope rating: 129; score 84)
Oxmoor Valley – Ridge Course, Birmingham, Alabama (Course rating: 70.1, Slope rating: 133; score 85)
We also played the par 3 course at Oxmoor Valley.
Back in the late 1980s, the CEO of the Retirement Systems of Alabama was looking for a way to diversify the state’s pension funds as well as help the state of Alabama. He wanted to do something that would boost tourism, attract retirees and spur economic growth. He decided to build a golf course. No, he decided to build eight golf courses around the state (378 holes). He hired Robert Trent Jones Sr., arguably the premier golf course architect in the world to build the courses.
Today there are 11 courses that make up the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. It’s difficult to travel the state of Alabama without seeing signs for more than one of these golf courses. If you would like to see more info about the golf company check out http://www.rtjgolf.com.
The weather for our outing was wonderful. The temperatures were in the 70s and we did not get any rain. Given my travel schedule I was only able to join my friends for two days of their six-day trip.
The courses were all beautiful with lots of water and sand features. Golf green fees were reasonable. We played 36 holes each day I was there. My golf game is a little sketchy with the travel I’ve been doing during the past year. I’m hoping to get back into lessons if time permits.
RACE REVIEW
CLINTON COUNTTY SPEEDWAY, ALPHA, KENTUCKY
I was lucky to find a track racing on Sunday in early April. The Clinton County Speedway was supposed to race on Saturday night this weekend. However, when bad weather came through they were forced to change the event to Sunday afternoon. The announcer told the crowd that the promoter didn’t want to lose “his advertising dollars” that he had expended promoting this weekend’s event.
This afternoon’s race was run on a beautiful sunny afternoon. The quarter-mile dirt oval was almost more circular than oval. I had a nice talk with the promoter on the phone before getting to the track. He told me that racing would begin at 2 p.m. Actually, the national anthem was sung at 3:10 p.m. and wheel-to-wheel racing started thereafter. They did have hot laps and practice earlier. It is often unclear as to what the term “racing” actually means. To me, that’s wheel-to-wheel racing. Although to some tracks that might be time trials, hot laps and/or practice.
The pit area at this track is located beyond the backstretch. There is a good-sized grandstand that is 20 or more rows tall. I watched some races from there, but as most daytime tracks are, it was dusty. I had parked my car just beyond turn one on a hill. From here I was about 50 yards from the track. This gave me a nice vantage point that kept me out of the dust and sun.
The track did do a pretty good job of running one race after another. They ran 4-5 classes of stock cars including late models and modifieds their two premier classes. The feature events began at 4:30 p.m. All of the features were wrapped up by just before 6 p.m. I didn’t mind whatever pace they took, because I was comfortable in the car and didn’t have to be anywhere in particular that evening. Despite high gas prices, I did run my air-conditioning most of the time I watched the races from the car.
The racing itself was what a veteran racing fan might expect from a daytime race. There was some dust but not a lot. Most of the racers hugged the inside lane. There were also a good deal of yellow flags but most did not cause significant delays.
Given the wet weather forecast for the entire weekend in the south, I was more than happy to be able to see five new tracks in four days of trackchasing. Following the race, I was headed East to Alabama for a golf outing.
I do have a full portfolio of photographs of this track and the entire trip. Please go to www.ranlayracing.com to check them out. The photos can be accessed from the home page and/or from the “Trackchaser Reports” tab.
STATE RANKINGS
Kentucky
This afternoon I saw my 25th lifetime track in the Bluegrass state. I was surprised to be reminded I had seen that many here. This breaks my tie with Allan Brown and moves me into a tie with Ed Esser for fifth place. This gives me a fifth place finish or better in a hobby leading 34 states. Rick Schneider leads here with 44 tracks and is followed closely by Andy Sivi with 42.
Now you can see the entire up to date trackchaser rankings for Kentucky. Just click on this link or paste it in your browser:
http://trackchaser.net/statregion.asp?country=USA®ion=KY
COMPLETE TRACK TYPE CATEGORY RANKINGS OF NOTE:
Dirt Track Standings
http://trackchaser.net/statsurface.asp?surface=Dirt
Paved Track Standings
http://trackchaser.net/statsurface.asp?surface=Paved
Ice Track Standings
http://trackchaser.net/statsurface.asp?surface=Ice
Mixed Track Standings
http://trackchaser.net/statsurface.asp?surface=Mixed
Oval Track Standings
http://trackchaser.net/statoval.asp
Circuit (road course) Track Standings
http://trackchaser.net/statcircuit.asp
Figure 8 Track Standings
http://trackchaser.net/statf8.asp
Indoor Track Standings
http://trackchaser.net/statindoor.asp
RENTAL CAR UPDATE
Atlanta, Georgia – Thursday/next Thursday
I’ll be driving the National Rental Car Racing Chevy Malibu for seven days on this trip. I picked out a nice one with less than 5,000 miles on it, a sunroof and XM radio.
I drove the car 1,627 miles during the trip. 997 of those miles will be allocated to my trackchasing budget. I paid an average price of $3.26 per gallon. The Chevy gave me 23.9 miles per gallon in fuel mileage at a cost of 14.4 cents (U.S.) per mile. The car cost 17.3 cents per mile to rent, all taxes included.
Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,
Randy Lewis
Alberta’s #1 Trackchaser
That’s all the news that’s fit to print from
TRAVEL DETAILS
AIRPLANE
Los Angeles, CA – Atlanta, GA – 2,113 miles
RENTAL CAR
Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport – trip begins
Swainsboro, GA – 224 miles
Sylvania, GA – 318 miles
Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport – 578 miles (car parked temporarily while I was off to Little Rock)
AIRPLANE
Atlanta, GA – Little Rock, AR – 451 miles
RENTAL CAR – SATURADY/SUNDAY
Little Rock National Airport – trip begins
Centerville, AR – 119 miles
Plumerville, AR – 167 miles
Little Rock National Airport – 219 miles
AIRPLANE
Little Rock, AR - Atlanta, GA – 451 miles
RENTAL CAR (ORIGINAL ATL CAR)
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport – trip continues
Alpha, Kentucky – 825 miles
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport – 1,627 miles
AIRPLANE
Los Angeles, CA – Atlanta, GA – 2,133 miles
Total Air miles – 5,168 miles (4 flights)
Total auto and air miles traveled on this trip – 7,014 miles
TRACK ADMSSION PRICES:
Swainsboro Raceway – $20
Screven Motor Speedway - $20 (included drag strip and oval pits)
Centerville Super Speedway - $10
Central Arkansas Speedway - $8
Clinton County Speedway - $10
Total racetrack admissions for the trip – $68
RANKINGS
LIFETIME TRACKCHASER STANDINGS UPDATE:
There are no trackchasers currently within 100 tracks of my lifetime total. It’s not my fault!
1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 1,328
Full Lifetime World Rankings
http://trackchaser.net/trackchasers.asp
Other notables
These worldwide track chasers are within 10 tracks (plus or minus or more) of Carol’s current Trackchaser total.
26. Kevin Eckert, Indianapolis, Indiana – 450
27. Carol Lewis,
28. Ken Schrader, Concord, North Carolina – 354
29. Max Allender,
2008 TRACKCHASER STANDINGS
1. Randy Lewis, San Clemente, California – 30
2. Mike Knappenberger, Reading, Pennsylvania – 25
3. Ed Esser, Madison, Wisconsin – 18
4. Guy Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania - 10
5. Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 9
5. Paul Weisel, Orefield, Pennsylvania - 9
Tracks have been reported by 25 different worldwide track chasers this season.
Complete 2008 Trackchasing Standings
http://trackchaser.net/statyear.asp?year=2008
LIFETIME COUPLES TRACKCHASING STANDINGS
1. Randy & Carol Lewis, San Clemente, California – 1,686
2. Allan & Nancy Brown,
3. Guy & Pam Smith, Effort, Pennsylvania – 1,668
LIFETIME NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY STANDINGS
2007 NGD results are posted at www.ranlayracing.com
Official Trackchaser Rules
http://trackchaser.net/rules.asp
Past trackchasing reports are available at:
Official trackchaser standings can be viewed at:
Some of the data in this report comes from www.trackchaser.net and my Garmin GPS aka “Dusty”
UPCOMING TRACKCHASING PLANS
We’ve got a wedding coming up and I have a golf outing in Las Vegas the following weekend. This will likely prevent me from seeing any more new tracks for a while.
RACETRACKS VISITED IN 2008 (** not the first time to visit this track)
1,299.
1,300. Bira Circuit, Pattaya (road course),
1,301.
1,302.
1,303.
1,304.
1,305. Ozark Empire Fairgrounds (oval),
1,306.
1,307. Brainerd International Raceway Ice Track (road course),
1,308.
1,309.
1,310. Shawano Lake Ice Track –
1,311.
1,312. Mototown USA (oval) –
1,313. Moosehead Lake Ice Track (oval) –
1,314.
1,315.
1,316.
1,317.
1,318.
1,319. Autodromo Hermanos Rodriquez (road course), Mexico City, Mexico – March 16
1,320. Hartwell Motor Speedway (oval), Hartwell, Georgia – March 22
1,321. Lavonia Speedway, Lavonia (oval), Georgia – March 22
1,322. Dover Raceway (road course), Brown’s Town, St. Ann, Jamaica – March 24
1,323. Lake Country Speedway (oval), Ardmore, Oklahoma – March 29
1,324. Swainsboro Raceway (oval), Swainsboro, Georgia – April 3
1,325. Screven Motor (oval), Sylvania, Georgia – April 4
1,326. Centerville Super Speedway (oval), Centerville, Arkansas – April 5
1,327. Central Arkansas Speedway (oval), Plumerville, Arkansas – April 5
1,328. Clinton Country Speedway (oval), Alpha, Kentucky – April 6
San Francisco, California
San Francisco along with New York City is one of my most favorite U.S. cities to visit. We flew up to the Bay area on an early Friday afternoon flight. Carol and I had a wedding to attend. We took public transportation everywhere we went. We wanted to avoid renting a car and the heavy SF traffic along with the $40 per day parking charges.
We rode BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) from the airport to downtown. The one-way per person charge was $5.70 for the 25-minute ride. BART dropped us just 1.5 blocks from our hotel. The BART system is modern, clean and safe. This was a great way to get into the city.
I had booked a hotel on Priceline.com. Priceline typically offers hotels with a 1-4 star quality rating. In some cities, like San Francisco, they also offer “boutique” hotels. These hotels are normally four-star places that are smaller non-chain properties. We have stayed in them in New Orleans and now San Francisco. They have always been unique upscale properties. I prefer these kinds of hotels to the larger high-end chains because of their unique qualities.
We ended up paying about $90 per night for the Harbor Court Hotel located in the Embarcadero section of San Francisco. The Embarcadero area is at one end of Fisherman’s Wharf and directly on the water of the San Francisco Bay. It’s a wonderful location, maybe the best in all of San Francisco. The hotel’s website offered the least expensive room at about $225 per night with tax. As you can see from our transportation and hotel savings, it doesn’t cost that much to travel first class if you put some time into the planning.
The weather in San Francisco was most unusual. It was hot and sunny. Mark Twain once said, “The coldest winter I ever had was a summer in San Francisco”. Yes, SF can be cool and windy a good deal of the time.
We spent Friday afternoon in the shopping and tourist area called “Pier 39”. This is in the Fisherman’s Wharf area. We had a delicious lunch there and watched the sea lions sunning themselves in the cool waters of San Francisco Bay. Pier 39 offers an outstanding view of Alcatraz as well. If you come to SF, Alcatraz might be the #1 tourist attraction in the entire city. We’ve been there several times including their night tour that began recently.
We capped off the evening by taking a cab to Chinatown for dinner. We ate “Dim Sum” which is normally offered only during brunch time. Dim Sum consists of pot stickers, egg rolls and the like. We selected 4-5 different choices and had a very nice dinner.
On Saturday morning I went on a one-mile power walk along the wharf area of SF. My walk took me past the nearly new AT&T baseball park home to the San Francisco Giants. The park sits right on the Bay. Folks seated near the home plate area look out beyond the outfield and see the blue waters of San Francisco Bay, the city of Oakland and a good deal of seagoing traffic. I noticed the Giants would be playing an afternoon game tomorrow. We just might have time to see them play before we flew home.
The hotel concierge recommended the “Town’s End” restaurant for a late morning breakfast. This place is located on the Embarcadero just a couple of blocks from AT&T Park. They serve lots of organic choices and their food is outstanding. I’ve really never tasted anything better for breakfast and recommend it highly.
We then spent some time at one of the largest farmer’s markets I have ever seen. The entire Embarcadero area has been transformed over the past 10 years with the arrival of AT&T Park. This area used to be a “skid row” type of place. Now it has transformed itself into “Yuppieville”. There is one high-rise residential development after another all with spectacular views of the Bay. I don’t know how much these things cost, but if I was a “Young Urban Professional” I would want to live here.
Cabs are everywhere in SF. They are somewhat on the expensive side but very convenient. We grabbed a cab (described above) to get me to Macy’s to buy a new suit. From there it was on to the Moody wedding.
We met the Moodys when our sons were at UCLA together. That was about 15 years ago. We’ve taken several trips with them and have always had a wonderful time. Their children, Brian and Allison are solid citizens that any parent would be proud to have. Today Allison and her husband to be Todd would be married at the Presidio. For 218 years, the Presidio served as an army post for three nations (Spain, Mexico, and United States). Since 1994, the Presidio has been part of the Golden Gate National Park Area.
The wedding took place in an old and historic church on the Presidio grounds. The reception was held at the Golden Gate Club that offered beautiful views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and Angel Island. Everyone had a wonderful time and we wish the beautiful couple all the happiness in the world.
We returned to the Harbor Court Hotel at a very late hour. This jet setting can get us pretty worn out, but by the next morning we feel like “kids” again.
Sunday dawned bright and sunny. My walk took me past the AT&T Park again. There I was able to operate an ATM like machine to buy tickets to the Giants-Cardinals game. With a 1:05 p.m. start we would have time to watch the game, then ride BART back to SFO before hopping an early evening flight back to Orange County.
I have been to about 15 major league baseball parks. I first started going to Cubs games at Wrigley Field as a small boy. We lived about three hours from Chicago. Our one and only vacation all year was a one-day (no overnight) trip to Wrigley Field. It is probably my all-time favorite park, although I very much like Angels Stadium as well.
I would have to say that the AT&T Park is the most beautiful baseball park and setting I have ever seen. The view of the San Francisco Bay beyond the outfield fences is breathtaking. The park is fashioned, architecturally, like the brick ballparks of old. If you get a chance go see a game there.
I would say that professional “stick and ball” sports have the most expensive concessions of any place I visit. Today one order of chicken fingers and garlic fries along with two beers set us back $28. We finished the day with two ice cream waffle cones for $14. Yep, that’s pretty expensive.
We rode BART back to the airport following the game. Our baseball clothes were not our airplane clothes. As airline dependents we must adhere to a dress code. It’s not very strict but does require long pants for men and no tennis shoes for flying in first class.
Our BART ride had about 10 stops from downtown to the airport. We were the only passengers in our train car for the last 2-3 stops. This is when I decided that it would be a good time to change our clothes in the train car before we got to the airport. Surprisingly, I was able to convince Carol this was a good idea for the both of us.
We didn’t know when the final stop would come so we rushed to remove our baseball clothes and put on our airplane clothes. When we had completed this chore, we smiled at each other and commended ourselves for being such models of efficiency…….then I looked up to see that each car had a security camera scanning the car on a 24/7 basis!
You might do a Google search to see what you can come up with on YouTube as I’m sure we’ll be stars on there sometime soon.
Overall, we had a wonderful non-trackchasing weekend in San Francisco. It did remind me that there are plenty of things to do when I’m not chasing tracks.
