Reilly family roadtrips

Finally, time to leave Cooperstown.  Good bye, Lakes n Pines Motel!

First stop was Syracuse, NY, to see a good friend whom I had never met in person.  I met Dave Singley through ACP, American Corporate Partners, a great program that connects service men and women with folks in the business community as they prepare to transition out of the military.  Dave and I shared many calls together over the course of  years, talking about all aspects of this difficult transition. Moreso than the tactical resume updates and career fairs, the best part of the experience was the chance to talk with Dave about his personal goals and how his career could support that. He has a great partner in his wife Angie and together they have dealt with many challenges.  So happy to see Dave happy working for Lockheed Martin in Syracuse.  Great to see you, Dave!

Took the opportunity to stop at Syracuse University and their mini-Metrodome, the Carrier Dome.

 

It was then on to Buffalo, NY, a great town that I have spent alot of time in over the years with General Mills.  We actually drove directly past the plant due to road construction.  But more importantly, it’s the location of Key Bank Arena, site of the Gopher’s second of back-to-back national hockey championships in the early 2000’s.  I was there with Steve Lenertz and it was a fantastic time.

Thank you to Erin and Scott Richnavsky, our generous hosts during our short visit.  I had only connected with Scott when we were just outside Rochester to see if we could stop by to see them.  “Hey, Scott, I’m two hours away.  Mind if we stop by?”…..I guess you’d say we weren’t exactly following a tight agenda.  They were willing to join us on quick trip to Rich Stadium/New Era Stadium, home of the Bills.  Less than a mile from their home!

 

And, because we forgot to take a picture with them Wednesday night and they had to leave for work in the morning before we woke up, we did the next best thing: we snapped a photo with their pictures before leaving the next day!  Thank you, Erin & Scott!

A couple things about Oneonta, NY, about 15 miles sounth of Cooperstown, where we stayed our second night.

First, Brooks’ is a well-loved local BBQ joint, with “the largest charcoal grill east of the Mississippi”.  Killer BBQ and phenomenal cole slaw (no lie).  Good stuff.

 

Secondly, I now know where Carl Spackler retired to after leaving Bushwood Country Club (Caddyshack reference for those scratching their head).I’m telling you, he looked like him and talked to himself like Carl…..”Cinderella story…..”.

Finally, Oneonsa is the home to another Cooperstown field of dreams.  Called, “Cooperstown All Star Village”, this place houses 64 teams with basically the same schedule as Dreams Park.  That’s 164 teams playing baseball around Cooperstown every week all summer long.

Finally, a few pictures from the rest of the day in Cooperstown.

Proof my boys can get along.  #amazing

Here’s what bracket play looks like for a field of 104 teams. (BTW, our Wayzata team’s first opponent in bracket play: Chaska.  Can’t make it up.)

The Hall at night. 

Monday was spent at the Baseball HOF.  The rest is details.  We met the team at the museum when it opened at 9am.  Tyler and Nicholas left around 11am and went to the 1pm game with Andy Green while I stayed and spent the next three hours in the hall by myself.  Nirvana.

Before indulging in all the pictures I took, here’s the answer to the question I didn’t have an answer for: “Why is the baseball HOF in Cooperstown, NY?” It was made up.

The museum ends at the Hall of Champions.

Outside the HOF, we walked a few blocks down to Doubleday Field, the mythical home of baseball.  Most amazing thing is the HOF’ers that have been to the field.

What a great day!

 

After a beautiful 90min drive up from Binghamton, our first stop: the Cooperstown Dreams Park, where a bunch of Tyler and Nicholas’ friends are playing baseball this week.  An amazing set up to say the least: 16 fields, lodging & food for 104 teams, including coaches and the umpires each team br0ught along.  Arrive Friday/Saturday, play two games/day for three days, Sun-Tues, and then a single-elimination tournament beginning  Wednesday and done by Thursday.  Right before next 104 teams arrive Friday. Same schedule for 13 straight weeks every summer.

Between games, we visited one of the many (many) restaurants and breweries serving the families of those 104 teams.  We were told to check out the Red Shed.  Bags and beer: good call.  Had a 10yr old ask if he could play bags with us.  Long story short, he carried my team and we barely lost a game.  Kid was a shark.

Every restaurant has a huge collection of pins from the various teams.  This is the smallest collection we found.  Most have these pins stuck to walls and wood beams everywhere.  Can’t imagine the money spent on these pins by all the teams.

Finally, stay the night at Lakes n Pines Motel on Lake Otsego.  Any place that still uses old-school keys is good with me.  A classic up-north family-owned place that would fit perfectly in northern Minnesota.

I now know that western PA is hilly, very hilly. Saturday was day of driving through this area, stopping at both Penn State and Williamsport before staying the night in Binghamton, NY, home of the “Spiedie”. More on that later.

First stop was in College Station, home of Penn State. Beautiful campus with a huge football stadium.

After a quick stop there, we made our way to Williamsport, home if the Little League World Series.  Beautiful setting.  The grounds are open to walking around, so as we did that there just happened to be an employee around who offered to let us into the field. Just five of us, noone else around.

16 teams from around the world all staying in the same dorms together for two weeks. A beautiful place.  For the record the fields are in South Williamsport, across the river from the home of the first LL field in Williamsport. 

At that site is a historical minor league ballpark, Bowden Field, where the pros play a game during the World Series.  Pretty small place to imagine a big league game taking place.

Finished the day by driving another two hours up to Binghamton, NY.  A “spiedie” is a sub filled with charred pieces of kabob meat, typically chicken or pork. A local favorite, the annually “Spiedie Fest” occurred while we were there. 100,000 people over three days every August.

Fried pierogis and charred meat.  Yes, please!

And PNC Park is a beautiful ballfield.  Has a bit of Target Field (smallish, open OF views) vibe but different in many ways.  Glad we came here.

Found out it’s not cheap to drive on the PA Turnpike.  Right as we cross the state line, we got to pay $7.90.  I asked the toll taker if it mattered how far I drove across the state or was it the same price regardless.  Sheepishly, she says, “this is for the first 30 miles, then you get a new toll ticket.”  Gulp.

Thankfully, there were no more tolls before driving through the hills of western PA into Pittsburgh.  (oh, if going to the airport, there was a separate toll road for that as well) What a beautiful city, with the three rivers intersecting right in the heart of it.  Hills all around it.

Had a bit of weather to deal with pregame but everything cleared out in time to start on time at 7:05PM.

Heinz Field just down the road from PNC Park.

Pittsburgh was site of first World Series.  Who knew?

Also, had a chance to see Francisco Liriano throw his 1,800th strikeout.  Nice.

Then, just to show we’re not the only ones on a baseball roadtrip, we ran into Jimmy from Joliet again.  We met Jimmy and his family the night before in Cleveland.  When we arrived early for batting practice, we saw a huge line waiting to get in.  Suddenly, we hear, “hey, Mike!”.  Jimmy pulls us right into line.  To make things even serendipitous, our seats are one section apart at the game.  Before game time, Jimmy comes running by and says “Mike, let’s go!  Boys, you stay here.”  Jimmy had found out they have a Friday Happy Hour in the stadium from 5:30-7:00PM, which was located right by us.  $6 for a beer is still expensive but tastier at half-price.  Thank you Jimmy!

We decided to skip the 5hr drive to Philadelphia and are heading towards Cooperstown today.  Noticed this morning that Williamsport is on the way.

Bye for now!

Had a great time in Cleveland.  Don’t believe what people tell you; this is a fun town and fun place to visit.  Won’t get to the Rock & Roll HOF on this trip but will be coming back again.  Good place.

Boys wanted to sit in left field, what they call the “mini Green Monster”. Not the greatest seats, but that’s where they wanted to sit.

Saw Yasiel Puig’s debut with the Indians (big dude!) and our second gem in two days, this one from Gerrit Cole (7.0 IP, 4H, 1 ER, 3K).  Thank you, Houston, for beating the Tribe!

There is definitely a bunch of kids at the game that are on their way to Cooperstown as well.  We ran into a family from Farmington and saw a group from Iowa headed that way.  Can’t get to Cooperstown from the Midwest without going through Cleveland, I guess.

Had a great experience at the ballpark.  They have definitely updated since I was last there in late 90’s.  Must have had at least 10 different local brew stands and every type of food under the sun.

The key to the day was Shirley, in the picture here.   Upon arrival, seeing my Twins hat, she asked if we were from out of town.  She quickly told us to go get wrist band to watch an inning of the game from the former visitors bullpen.  Only 15 passes available per game.  Great spot to watch from:

Also showed us where Jim Thome hit a bomb.  611 ft.  Wow.

Thank you, Shirley!!

Finally, had a chance to see some of Cleveland’s finest fans.

A great time and the boys are ready to get moving to Pittsburgh!!

 

Astros BP.

Waffle House, duh!

Well, it’s clear the boys are already (very) sick of all the pictures I’m having them take.  (“Ah, gawd, dad….another one??”)  Saw Luis Castillo pitch a gem against the Pirates (7.0 IP, 6H, 1 ER, 7 SO) on a beautiful 80 degree day with a couple of HRs, incl a first pitch HR in the bottom of the first by Jesse Winker.  A fun day at the park.

We then drove 2hrs up to Columbus, where we stayed the night.  We’ll take a drive through the campus of “the” Ohio State University this morning and then two more hours up to Cleveland.  Rock & Roll HOF is calling but not sure I can convince the boys to go.  We’ll see.

More updates later today!