Month: July 2017

Left Pittsburg for Cincinnati yesterday. 304 miles. Arrived in Cincinnati at 5:15 p.m. Found a hotel in 20 minutes. Put on my shoes and out the door to the game . The Cincinnati Reds vs The Arizona Diamondbacks. The Reds won there first game since the All Star Game. 4-3. Now its on to Cleveland for to the Indians vs The Toronto Blue Jays. tomorrow night(Friday) at “Progressive Field”.

On a side note I saw Paul Goldschmidt who plays for the Arizona Diamondbacks play last night. Paul got his Pro career started in Missoula Montana(The Osprey). My home town. He is a 5x All-Star. Very impressive! Now he is living his dream!

The reality of traveling is this… Got here at about 3pm. yesterday. Had to get the oil changed on the car. Kept thinking about getting to the Hotel, and everything that entails when you’ve never been in a city(in this case Pittsburgh) before.  I still had to find a place to eat, relax, unwind and try and figure out how I was going to get to the ball park, and a ticket for the game in less than four hours. Hmmm…    As Mick Holien(former voice of The Montana Grizzlies) has always said… “I’m just saying”…

Thanks Mick!

So back to the story of how the day would play out,

Luck…”Luck is when preparation meets opportunity”(thanks Tim Duncan). If you have it then you know what it is, its not something that you think about on a daily basis. Maybe  its more a feeling that you get sometimes when you are in your quieter moments, (or maybe in your best moments)  realizing that you have had times in your life where you said, “man was I fortunate there”.  Truth is, we all have those moments. I can’t possibly tell anyone how much luck I will need to get through the next 7 days without any problems. If that happens, then the next week, and on and on. This has never been tried before. The end result will be fine. Regardless of how it turns out.

We’ll move on.

I haven’t decided which direction to head next. Stay tuned.

People would like to know some of the numbers,

4060 miles

6  M.L.B. Stadiums…. Minnesota, Chicago(Cubs), Boston, N.Y. (Mets),Baltimore and Pittsburgh.

4 M.L.B. stadium hotdogs, (I’m not crazy about hotdogs), Sorry. LOL!!

approximately $320 in gas. Nice!

Hotel rooms….Scary money…I’ll leave it at that for now.(this is where I need one of those EMOJI’s that shows me holding my hands on my cheeks screaming)!

Oh, by the way,Pittsburgh Pirates win! 4-3

I travel with 3 books. Two of them are books that I write all my favorite quotes down in. The first one I started in 1984 when I was in the U.S. Army. The 2nd is a book I started writing in the last 5 years. The 3rd is a book by Steven Pressfield , I may have mentioned him earlier, called “The War of Art”.

-Fortunate to have all three.

Thanks, John Kelly

Arrived in Baltimore yesterday, the 17th day of July. Approximately 10 blocks from the Stadium, better known as Camden Yards.

Last night’s game had the Texas Rangers in town. Was looking forward to seeing the Park. Built in 1992. The Orioles haven’t won a World Series since 1983.  Three titles in all titles. The 1st was in 1966 followed by the 2nd in 1970.

It could be said that I could not have started this trip at a better time. My wardrobe has consisted of nothing but shorts and T-shirts for the last 14 days, with one exception that being the game in Boston. On that day Boston set a new record with the ”Lowest high temp”. on that day. 62 degrees for a high temp. the previous lowest high was 65. I wore long pants that day.

Today its off to Pittsburg for a 7pm game against the Milwaukee Brewers. Orioles won last night 3-1. All the ball parks are great to see. They all have their own  history. I’m going to try  find Babe Ruth’s  child hood home before I leave Baltimore today. The word is that it is very close the ball park.  That’s all for now.

Left New York yesterday. Figured if I was going to see Atlantic City now would be the time, so I decided to go that direction. Glad I did. Got a room at The Claridge Hotel. Located on The Boardwalk. Well known back in the day for where Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra stayed. Completely renovated and well worth the money. They were in the process of building one of those big ferris wheels on the pier. A impressive feat. Now I’m heading to Baltimore for the game tonight at 7:05 pm. Camden Yards!(Monday July 17th) for the game against the Orioles and the Texas Rangers. Ironically it is nearly the same distance from Atlantic City to Baltimore as it was from Queens N.Y. to Atlantic City.

Last night I couldn’t help thinking of Billy Joel’s “Allentown” singing,   -“Spent their weekends on the Jersey shore”!

After a great experience in Boston at Fenway Park it was back to New York, more specifically Queens  N.Y.

Checking into the Holiday Inn , just 6 blocks from CITI Field was a good decision. Walked out the door and was at the Park in time for the start of the game between The New York Mets vs The Colorado Rockies. A beautiful field and getting a ticket was as easy as ever. A beautiful night with fireworks right after the game. Mets Win!!

Now its off to Baltimore Md. Monday nights game against Texas Rangers starts at 7:05 p.m.   That’s it for now. Thanks for watching the site.

John Kelly

After spending Thursday night in Portland Maine and getting my hands on some Lobsters it was a fairly early start,(I was concerned about finding a hotel room near the Ball Park) to get to Boston for the night game between the New York Yankees and The Boston Red sox.  Fenway Park is so Iconic and I felt lucky to get such a great seat. Getting a Hotel in that city, near that ballpark is very difficult especially when the Yankees are in town. I always enjoy taking a few moments to stand back and just watch the “scalpers” work(I would not recommend buying from one though, if you can help it). If you keep your eyes open you can usually find a person that has a really good seat for sale. Most of the time they’re just trying to find a person who needs a single ticket and in my case the person just offered it to me. The Red Sox pulled out a nice win. So much of this trip is to see all of these ballparks, watch people and interact with the fan experience. All pizza taste good after a Friday night of baseball.(walking out after leaving the game I had to have a slice) It didn’t look all that good , but it sure tasted good!

Now its back to New York for the  Mets game tonight at 7:10 p.m. They are hosting The Colorado Rockies at CITI  Field in Queens. N.Y.

Leaving New York this morning. Thursday July 13th.  Heading North to Maine.  There saying 467 miles.

Here’s what I’ve learned about New York so far.  Staying on Staten Island was a good decision. The Hotel was priced right. The city bus to the Staten Island Ferry Terminal was priced right. The ride on the Ferry was  FREE!! That’s right, It never cost a dime to ride The Staten Island Ferry.   Thanks New York!  Somewhat reminiscent of being in Hong Kong. You don’t stay in Hong Kong. You stay in Kowloon so you can appreciate the beauty of The City of Hong Kong at nighttime.   Oh and by the way,  when you are on the Ferry coming to Manhattan, on your left, there SHE is.  The Statue of Liberty.

– “She’s a beauty” – The Tubes

Sorry I couldn’t help myself.

New York is everything they say it is. Have a Nathan’s Hot Dog. (just 1 though).  Take a city bus tour, get off whenever you want. You can always get back on later.  See The Rockefeller Center and everything that entails.  Go to the Freedom Towers Memorial.  Listen to people talk. More different languages than you can possibly imagine. Every single time I say that word “Imagine” I think of John Lennon.  Its true.  Sit down on a park bench and just watch people. Time Square, The Brooklyn Bridge, Madison Square Gardens and The Empire State Building. The list is long and rewarding.

The New York City Police are great!  Thank You New York.

-I’ll be back.

Just read Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” for at least 100 times in my life. I still enjoy it.

Also highly recommend,  Steven Pressfield’s “The War of Art” The book travels with me. That’s one lucky book. LOL!

Just like the car.   #that’s 1 lucky car. #theultimateyear

Now its off to New York. Its Tuesday morning July 11th. 2017

Wrigley Field was FANTASTIC!!!  It was everything I hoped it would be. Lester(pitcher for the Cubs) gave up 10 runs in the top of the 1st inning. They say that’s only happened 4 times in the past 100 years.       Its O.K. Johnnie , Its times like this that your 2007 World Series Ring must still feel pretty good on that finger. I didn’t even mention your 2008 No-hitter!!!

Checked out the fantastic Lambeau Field.  Priceless!!! The finest sports facility I’ve ever  had the pleasure of seeing…

Headed to Chicago this morn .  Cubs vs Pittsburgh Pirates at 12:10pm. Game was an interesting experience , the starting pitcher for the Cubs gives up  10 runs in the top of the 1st inning. That’s only happened 4 times in a 100 years. The night before Twins and Orioles matched up with the 1st  3 pitches….2 home runs. I hadn’t seen that before. was thinking about going to Comiskey park today after the Cubs game but found out they were in Colorado.** MLB All star Game  tomorrow for a few days, so no games for me to take in. A good time to head east for a couple days.