Day One. I left fairly early. 4:30ish. Traffic was light until I got to Melbourne, FL. In my last post I may have been a little harsh on the fine state of Georgia. I mentioned that they didn’t have rest areas on I-95. I have to say that was a slight exaggrasion. They have rest areas. But, at the first one the restrooms were closed. At least that’s what the sign on the interstate stated. I guess the other was open. Anyway, enough about that. I will give the State of Georgia credit on roads. They have three lanes of interstate for most of the drive. So, if you gotta go at least you can make pretty good time and not get stuck behind someone. The other thing I will mention is if you’re driving through Georgia in the morning look for a jazz program on 93.7 (I believe that’s correct). This cat played the best jazz tunes. I made great time through there and was sorry to hear the show end at 8:00am, which was about the time I got to Jacksonville. When I drive through Jacksonville I have to put on the Smashing Pumpkins. Having Billy Corgan screaming at me at 70mph helps me to stay focused.
The drive between Daytona and Vero Beach seems longer and longer everytime I make it. There are all these places that never existed until recently. Palm Bay, Cove Cay, Palm Cay, Cove Bay….These places pop up in former palmetto fields and become small enclaves of Spanish style stucco houses that all look exactly the same. Every time they build one of these eyesores it stretches Florida a little, thereby increasing the driving time down the coast. Of course, this could be useful. It’ll push Miami closer and closer to Cuba and one day we’ll just drive over a bridge and be in Havana.
Dodgertown and Holman Stadium was really a nice place to be. First it was packed. 7,000+ on hand. It’s also very intimate. I feel like I was practically on the field and I was in the second to last row. Second, the weather was great. Warm with a cool breeze and mostly to partly sunny. With most of the Dodgers in China, including Joe Torre, they asked Tommy Lasorda to coach. The fans are eating it up. Tommy’s getting up there in years and size. Maury Wills was on the bench also for the Dodgers. For you kids out there, Maury was the Jose Reyes of his day. Fast. I think I got a couple good photos of him.
Rick Ankiel hit a homerun in his first at bat. You could hear it. Crack. Later he put the Cards ahead with a three run homerun. The final score was 6-4. I didn’t know the starting pitcher for the Cards. Estaban Loaiza started for the Dodgers. Other highlights were two cold beers and a Dodger Dog. Burp.
Finally, on my way out this kid ran past me yelling “Mom, Mom” and he’s waving this piece of paper. He catches up to his Mom and says, beaming, “They gave me the line-up card for the Cardinals.”
On tap for tomorrow is Tradition Field. The NY Mets and the Cardinals.
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