We made it to Dallas!!

Well the long drives are officially over as we have arrived in Dallas.  I can't believe we did it.  The total mileage was pretty close to 11,000 miles.  When it's all over next week, I'll put together the real numbers for the trip.

Anyway, we are heading to the Ballpark at Arlington to see the Texas Rangers take on the Baltimore Orioles in our final game of our road trip.  We'll have our review of the Rangers' Park tonight.

The trip isn't officially over until next Tuesday evening when go to Chase Field in Phoenix to see the 2011 All-Star Game.  But for us, this will pretty much mark the end of the trip that lasted 47 days total.  Tomorrow, we drop off the rental car and fly back to Phoenix from Dallas.  Before we go tomorrow, we hope to take a tour of the Cowboys new stadium and go to the area where JFK was assassinated to take a tour their.

I know we are behind in our videos, but we will catch up with them over the course of the next week.  We'll have one for New York, Baltimore/Washington DC, Atlanta, Tampa, New Orleans, Houston, Dallas, and of course our three-day experience at the All-Star Game in Phoenix.  There will also be a final park rankings and some more highlights regarding the trip.  I will also have a few other goodies that we will post and something special just from me.  Michael will have his own write-up and thoughts on the trip as well.

More later!

Updated Stadium Rankings - through Tropicana Field (Tampa) 7/3

Congrats Oakland!  You are no longer last on one list.  No way to spin it... Tropicana Field should be squeezed out of baseball.

Michael's Rankings:

1. PNC Park - Pittsburgh Pirates

2. Petco Park - San Diego Padres
3. AT&T Park - San Francisco Giants

4. Fenway Park - Boston Red Sox

5. Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia Phillies

6. Coors Field - Colorado Rockies
7. Citi Field - New York Mets

8. Miller Park - Milwaukee Brewers

9. Anaheim Stadium - Los Angeles Angels

10. Rogers Centre - Toronto Blue Jays

11. Nationals Park - Washington Nationals

12. Comerica Park - Detroit Tigers

13. Great American Ballpark - Cincinnati Reds

14. Turner Field - Atlanta Braves

15. U.S. Cellular Field - Chicago White Sox

16. Kauffman Stadium - Kansas City Royals
17. Wrigley Field - Chicago Cubs
18. Chase Field - Arizona Diamondbacks

19. Camden Yards - Baltimore Orioles

20. Safeco Field - Seattle Mariners
21. Yankee Stadium - New York Yankees

22. Busch Stadium - St. Louis Cardinals

23. TROPICANA FIELD - TAMPA BAY RAYS

24. Progressive Field - Cleveland Indians

25. Dodger Stadium - L.A. Dodgers

26. Oakland Coliseum - Oakland A's

Lance's Rankings:

1. PNC Park

2. AT&T Park

3. Camden Yards
4. Petco Park

5. Safeco Field

6. Coors Field

7. Citi Field

8. Fenway Park

9. Chase Field

10. Comerica Park

11. U.S. Cellular Field

12. Miller Park

13. Kauffman Stadium

14. Citizens Bank Park

15. Great American Ballpark 

16. Busch Stadium

17. Yankee Stadium

18. Turner Field

19. Nationals Park
20. Anaheim Stadium

21. Progressive Field
22. Dodger Stadium

23. Wrigley Field

24. Rogers Centre

25. Oakland Coliseum

26. TROPICANA FIELD

Our review of Minute Maid Park - Home of the Houston Astros - Day 46 (7/5)

Minute Maid Park in Houston is the fifth retractable domed stadium that we have seen.  Michael and I agree that of all of them, it is the most unique.  Unfortunately, the Astros were out of town, but we got to take a great tour thanks to our tour guide Kyle.  Michael and I give the Astros high marks for what they've got there.

The stadium opened in 2000 and it is situated just south of downtown Houston on the sight of the old Union Station.  Needless to say, it is a great place to see a game.  Outside of the park, there is not much in terms of bars or restaurants to visit before or after a game.  But the park looks nice from the outside.  The distinct feature, obviously is the huge retractable dome that sits on one side of the stadium.  The dome was open so it feels like an open-air park.  From the outside, a renovated Union Station building sits on the north side of the park and gives it that old-time feel.  There is also a really nice park/gathering area in front of the stadium that gives it a relaxing feel.  The Astros did a nice job of blending in the whole train station feel inside the park too.  More on that in a minute.

The view outside of Minute Maid Park

Michael and Chris inside of Union Station

Union Station in the ballpark.  Very nice!

When you walk into the stadium from the north side, you come into the Union Station building and it is very cool (figuratively and literally).  As you walk into the park in the outfield, the park does a nice job of giving you an immediate view of the field.  The walkways around the lower level are spacious, which is a good thing when it's hot, humid, and you have lots of people in one place.  The park does a nice job of blending in the team's colors and the old style part of the park.  It's one of the best parks we've seen that has blended the old with the new.  

The view of right field

The boys from left field

The boys loved the suites.

The views of the field are great from anywhere in the park.  The scoreboard is the second largest in the MLB - second only to KC.  We didn't like it perched up in right field, but I guess there's really no other place to do it there.  The out-of-town scoreboard is one of four manually operated  scoreboards in the MLB and it is placed perfectly along the left field wall.  Our tour guide told us that the manual scoreboard in left was designed to pay homage to Fenway Park's Green Monster.  It's only five feet further back than the Green Monster (315 feet) and only half of its size at 18 feet which means that home runs are plentiful in the stadium.

Inside the manual scoreboard in the left field wall.

The park has two other unique features.  First, although it has one of the shortest left fields, it has the deepest center field wall at 436 feet.  And in center field, there is a hill, yes a hill, with a flag pole that is in play.  Kyle said it was because the owner loved the old Crosley Field in Cincinnati that had a hill in center field and wanted to do something unique in Minute Maid.  Second, there is a big train that is full of oranges, rather than coal, in its coal car that comes out three times during a game - at the beginning to wish the Astros luck to win the game, during the game if there is a home run hit, and at the end of the game if there is a win.  Judging by how the Astros have been playing lately, it's only manage to make the first of those three trips.

The famous train

Chris and Michael in the dugout on the phone to the bullpen

Yes, that's a hill and flagpole in centerfield

The Astros' version of the Green Monster

On the tour, we got to go see some cool places in the stadium.  We went to the diamond club, the press box, and then we got to take a lap around the entire field along the warning track.  While doing that, we got to go inside the home and visitors bullpen, and inside the manual scoreboard.  Very nice!  We also got to see the seats that are reserved for the George Sr. and Barbara Bush who are frequent visitors to the park and big Astros fans.  We also want to give a shout out to our tour guide Kyle who was very nice and very knowledgeable of all things Astros.  

The view from behind home plate

The boys

Our famous pose behind home plate

Me and the main main

Overall, I really liked Minute Maid Park.  I would give it an 8/10.  Here's Michael's take:

Hi everyone - it's me Michael again.  I really liked Minute Maid Park.  My favorite part of the park was the choo choo train in center field.  I wish we could have seen a game to watch it in action.  I also liked the big scoreboard in right field although it should have been in center field.  I really like the tour.  It was great to walk  around the entire field and pretend like we were pitching in the bullpens.  The manual scoreboard was cool too.  The suites were awesome!!  In fact, I really can't find too many things I didn't like about it other than the fact that it was really hot and humid in Houston.  I give it an 8/10 like my dad.  My friend Chris wants to tell us what he thinks too.  Here's his review:

Hi everybody - it's Michael's friend Chris.  We go to school together in Tempe.  I liked the train just like Michael did.  It was really cool.  I liked seeing the hill in center field.  I had never seen a hill on the field of a ballpark.  I also liked how we learned that the Astros were the first team to put the words from the announcer on the big screen to help people who are deaf.  I thought the way the visiting team's bullpen is under the stands to protect them from crazy fans was also pretty cool.  There wasn't much I didn't like.  Overall, I give it a 7/10.

Well there you have it!  We are all done with our tours and we are down to one more ballpark - Rangers Stadium in Arlington, TX.  We will be there tonight (Wednesday) and then tomorrow we will be done!  We have a 4.5 hour drive to Dallas today.  We'll check in later this evening.

Day 45 of our trip - Spending Fourth of July in the Big Easy

Well, actually we spent most of our Fourth of July on the road to the Big Easy.  The trip from Tampa to New Orleans was the second longest drive of our trip, but it seemed like the longest.  Driving through the hottest and muggiest parts of the South can do that to you.

The boys and I got up early and were on the road by 6:00 am from Tampa.  The drive took about 13 hours total.  For the first time since June 8th, we got back into the Central Time Zone somewhere in Northern Florida, so we actually gained an hour.  The trip was long because it was mostly the same scenery - lots of trees.  We covered four states - Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and of course, Louisiana.  I intentionally took a detour off of I-10 when we got into Mississippi to drive along the Gulf Coast through Biloxi and Gulfport.  The beaches were full - something I was a little surprised by.  After Katrina and the oil spill I wondered what it would look like, but the beaches were quite busy.  It could have just been the holiday, but people seemed to be out in force.

Biloxi, Mississippi along US 90.  The gulf coast is a beautiful drive.

Anyway, we got in to New Orleans around 6:00 pm.  The boys were tired after the trip, but there's nothing like a little drive to the French Quarter to change that.  I told Michael and Chris that New Orleans will be probably the most unique city they've ever seen.  At least that was my experience when I was here last time.  They agreed.  We got down to Bourbon Street around 7 and people were starting to show up in droves.  First of all, as we came in to New Orleans, you can see that it is still suffering from the Katrina damage.  It was the first time I had been there since 1993 and it looked very different.  It wasn't as vibrant as I remember, but people there still know how to have a good time.

Once we got there, we feasted on some local cuisine, walked around Bourbon Street and in the French Quarter.  There's nothing like being there.  Hearing the jazz and smelling the food on Bourbon Street is a uniquely American experience.  We then made a pilgrimage to Cafe du Monde to feast on their world-famous beignets.  I swear to God if I lived here, I'd weigh 400 lbs within six months.

Bourbon Street

Michael and Chris on Bourbon Street

Try explaining all the crazy things you see in the French Quarter to a couple of 11 year-old boys.

Beignets at Cafe du Monde - YUM!

Man those Beignets are good!!

Fireworks on the Riverwalk

Me and my main man.

We walked around some more and then headed over to the Riverwalk to check out the fireworks for the Fourth of July.  The boys enjoyed the fireworks but the heat and humidity was getting to them.  We walked back to the car and drove back to our hotel.  We jumped in the pool turned in for the evening.  It was another day of driving for Tuesday so we will have to get up early.  Tomorrow (Tuesday) we're off to Houston for a tour of Minute Maid Park - the home of the Astros and some other local sightseeing at the Johnson Space Center.

A nice evening in Tampa - Trip Day 44 (7/3/11)

Sunday was a nice relaxing day in Tampa.  We needed one after the long drive from Atlanta the previous day.  What was really great was that one of Michael's best friends, Chris, joined us on the final few days of our trip.  He flew in from Phoenix Sunday afternoon.  After we picked him up, we went and grabbed a bite to eat and later went mini golfing.  

In Tampa, I guess you don't just go mini golfing.  You do it in the presence of alligators!

Anyway, the boys threw down a challenge to me to see who is the superior mini golfer.  Bad idea boys!  Needless to say, I destroyed them.  But the highlight of the evening came after we finished.  The mini golf place let's you feed the gators.  I can definitely say, that's a new one for me and the boys.

Driving across Tampa Bay (downtown in background)

Michael and his friend Chris had a ball getting their butts kicked by me in mini golf!

 

Basically, you can buy a baggie of cut-up hot dogs, put them on a plastic hook that's at one end of a stick and a long string and drop them down into this pit like you're fishing for gators.  While you're doing this, the gators go into a feeding frenzy as they jump over each other trying to grab the bait.  Wow!  Let's just say you  didn't want to fall in there.  Needless to say, the boys loved it!

Michael fishing for gators

You really don't want to fall in there

Michael and I hanging out over the gator pit

We finished up there and headed back to our hotel.  We had a really LONG drive from Tampa to New Orleans on Monday morning.