On July 3, 2008, I quit my job. 815 days after the start of my employment at Accenture, I officially hung up my computer and took my last ride on the 135 bus. Quitting gave me nearly two months to relax and enjoy life before I started the first year of law school at Notre Dame. Several months ago, instead of working I spent a day thinking about things to do during this time period. In the late afternoon, I get an email from my dad titled “CHECK THIS OUT!!!” containing only the following:
An epic near-3000 mile route across the midwest and east coast of the US spanning 13 cities. The common thread: baseball. My recently discovered love of baseball has only grown in the past year and a cross-country roadtrip in my dad’s 2001 Corvette is the perfect way to celebrate my changing careers. Inspired by the brilliant idea, I immediately went to work finding out the schedules of all the possible teams and coming up with a workable two-week schedule. After a week of tweaking and verifying timing, we came up with the following itinerary (excel of trip can be found on the sidebar):
July 18 – Schaumburg Flyers @ Kansas City T-Bones (Independent League)
July 21 – Detroit Tigers @ Kansas City Royals
July 23 – Milwuakee Brewers @ St. Louis Cardinals
July 25 – Colorado Rockies @ Cincinnati Reds
July 26 – San Diego Padres @ Pittsburgh Pirates
July 27 – Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim @ Baltimore Orioles
July 29 – Philadelphia Phillies @ Washington Nationals
July 31 – Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim @ New York Yankees
August 1 – Harrisburgh Senators @ Akron Aeros (Double A affiliates of Washington and Cleveland, respectively)
August 3 (my BDay) – Pittsburgh Pirates @ Chicago Cubs
Over the next two weeks, my dad and I will drive 2,307 to visit 10 different stadiums and see 18 different teams.
To document our journey, we will both be updating this blog throughout the trip. Here, we will share our thoughts on the ballparks, food offerings, cities, each other’s driving habits, and anything that happens to cross our minds. Simultaneously, I will be reporting on the various local beer offerings on my other blog, the Illiterate Drinker.
Stay tuned, because it’s going to be a great trip!
While you are in Pittsburgh and you like wings you should try http://www.quakersteakandlube.com. They have a location at the ballpark and also one in Pittsburgh. Great place for wings. Your trip sounds like a great time.
By: Brian G. on July 20, 2008
at 10:41 am
If you happen to drive through Columbus on the way to Pittsburgh and need a place for lunch try this place http://www.paninisgrill.com/. They have great oversized sandwiches.
By: Brian G. on July 20, 2008
at 11:27 am