Kevin's Excellent Adventure

I had not had a vacation for over a year so having last week off alone was wonderful but throw in a baseball adventure at the end and it made for something special. This past weekend I and four other friends from my days at Ocean County College relived a little bit of our past as we traveled to Milwaukee and Chicago for three games in three days with a little unplanned extension which got us back home a day later than planned.

Dan O’Connor put the adventure together through his company, “Docs Tours” which saw Tom Caffrey, Joe Perone, Carroll Oakley and I leave for Milwaukee Friday morning. We had a smooth trip and after getting settled in our hotel were enjoying lunch at a brew pub, one of several establishments we would take in before heading to Miller Park for the Brewers game with Houston. This is a relatively new ballpark with all the comforts and modern conveniences and with the Brewers winning fans are selling out the place on a regular basis. They also tailgate in the parking lot much like you would expect at a football game.

We were up early Saturday for a 90-minute Amtrak ride to Chicago and after checking into our hotel took the subway to Wrigley Field. I was the only one who had never been to this 94-year old shrine and it was amazing to see the stadium right in a neighborhood of apartments, bars and restaurants and even a 7-11 right across the street. There we met up with another friend, Mark Kashuda who lives nearby in Indiana at a landmark bar across from the stadium called “Murphy’s Bleachers.” Wrigley Field was like going back in time and while it might be old and lacking the bells and whistles of new stadiums it was everything I’ve heard and even more. The fans (young and old) are into the game from the first pitch and the only thing better than being there Saturday was knowing we would come back Sunday when still another old friend Pat Browne would join us from Kansas City. This game was even better as the Cubs rallied for an exciting win and after the final out 41,000 people stood to sing their victory song…. “Go Cubs Go”

It was also about this time that we learned our scheduled flight home that night was cancelled because of the thunderstorms in the east. At the airport the best we could do was get on a Monday afternoon flight and we then found a nearby hotel just in time to watch the Yankees-Red Sox game on TV. Out trip back yesterday was especially smooth for three of us who someone were re-booked in first class which I must say is a nice way to travel. Three baseball games in two cities in three days with good friends for more than 30 years. That’s priceless.