Sometimes, just sometimes, vacations aren’t ALL about baseball. I know–heresy! But it’s true; sometimes we take a vacation where we plan for little to no baseball.
Note the word “plan” and feel free to laugh.
Continue Reading…
When Mr. Baseball Fan was first planning this trip, he casually commented that I probably wasn’t interested in going to Columbus, and I might or might not have shrieked, “THERE’S A HUGE CHIHULY EXHIBIT IN COLUMBUS AND YOU CAN’T KEEP ME FROM GOING!”
Ahem. I’ve been a big fan of Dale Chihuly’s astonishing glass work ever since we went to his gallery in Seattle a few years ago (L.A. Angels annihilated the Mariners 10 -3, but the younger kid’s exuberant dancing got the whole family on the JumboTron), and I’m always on the lookout for more of it. So I was more than a little excited to go to the Franklin Park Conservatory.
But before that, we headed over to German Village for lunch at a traditional German restaurant, Schmidt’s. My online searching described the area as a charming, original neighborhood, with close-built houses. They weren’t kidding. The houses were packed in with scant feet between many of them, and I saw few garages.
A few weeks after our previous Indiana trip, I was having lunch with a friend when Mr. Baseball Fan called.
“Hey, babe, what’s up?”
“Do you want to go to South Bend for a game Sunday?”
(thinking) . . . Seriously? Another one? Already? In four days?
“Uh, do you need an answer NOW?”
This time it was his turn to pause. I could tell that he really would have liked an answer rightthissecond, but he also wanted the answer to be “yes.” Mr. BF is very aware that when I’m pushed for snap decisions, the chances of me saying “yes” diminish drastically.
“No, I can wait, but can you let me know SOON?”
Uh-huh.
Since the Tin Caps (the Single A team for the San Diego Padres) game started at 1, and we didn’t leave Indianapolis until after breakfast, we decided to forgo the frosting on this cupcake. If we’d had more time and it hadn’t still been so ungodly hot, I probably would have suggested that we check out Castle Gallery or Brookside Mansion–I’m a sucker for classic architecture.
Just what is a Tin Cap, anyway? You might think it’s about a certain heartless character from the Wizard of Oz, but it’s actually a reference to John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed. Yes, he was a real person who wandered around the Midwest, planting apple trees. It’s unlikely that he wore a cooking pot as a hat, but it does make for a cute logo, right?
It’s the first half of a two-fer! Since Indianapolis and Fort Wayne are only a couple hours apart, and their respective teams were playing at home on back to back days, off we set on an already stiflingly hot Saturday morning. We drove to Indianapolis first, because it was farther away. We’ve found that we prefer to get the longer drive out of the way first. The drive home always seems to feel longer to us, so who wants to add to that?
Indianapolis is most famous for the Speedway, but racing isn’t my thing, so even if a race had been going on, I doubt I would have picked it. I know, I know–heresy! It’s the ultimate, iconic experience in that part of Indiana! Absolutely, 100% true. Still not interested.
#SoSueMe #CarRacingIsDull
So how exactly did I become Mrs. Baseball Fan?
It didn’t start in childhood. My Dad followed our hometown team, but I don’t remember going to any games. I grew up with a vague knowledge of baseball, and I knew the basics, but the game seemed slow and not that interesting to me.
Fast forward twenty years.
I met a guy. Well, not just a guy; THE guy. At the time, I didn’t realize that he was also Mr. Baseball Fan. I thought he was just a regular awesome guy. Which was true, then and now: he is a regular awesome guy. But there’s more. There’s Baseball.
A baseball blog? Really? Me? What do I know about baseball? Uh . . .not much, frankly. But that’s ok, because I still end up at a lot of baseball games. So how does THAT happen? Read on, my friend.
I’m married, have a couple of kids and a basically normal life, and in general things are pretty good. I have hobbies, he has hobbies, and we still have plenty in common, so you might wonder what this whole blog thing is even about for me.
Here’s the thing. He likes baseball.
Continue Reading…