Baseball Stadium Tour 2017: Community Field

Our final stop on our Brewer/Cardinal Road Trip was Burlington, IA for the T-Rats and Bees game. It just worked out that the T-Rats were playing the Bees that night. The Burlington Bees are the LA Angels A team.

Community Field, the home of the Bees, is your typical small town ball park. There was no parking lot and we parked for free on the grass. The stadium was remodeled to accommodate the needs of the league. However it was still very old school. The locker rooms were right next to the bathrooms -- visitor's next to the men's room and the Bee's next to the women's room. The umpire room was accessible from outside the park. I am used to stadiums with several concession stand windows -- Community Park had 1 and it looked like something you'd find at the community pool. There might have been a second one down there third base line. 

There is not a lot of seating in community park and almost all of it is protected by netting. Like usual we sat right by the dugout. Unfortunately there weren't really seats down the lines. Most of the seating was behind home plate in an old school grand stand set up. Luckily there weren't many people there so we could move down so we could see the scoreboard better. Speaking of the scoreboard... I have seen high school fields with better scoreboards. It was your basic scoreboard that said Visitor instead of being digital for the teams. 

Unlike the other minor league ball parks we've been to, there was very little fan fare between innings. I think they had about 3 promotions and all done by kids in the stands. I am not even sure what they won. If I remember correctly, there was a t-shirt toss with 3 shirts towards the end of the game. However with the netting tossing things in the stands is difficult and the shirts were tossed (or handed out) from the stands.

The game itself wasn't very good. T-Rats played poorly and it was a like 9-3 or something like that. Because of the netting and lack of setting down the lines, it was difficult to get foul balls. The hubby tried to beat a kid for a foul ball in the grassy area outside of the seating area but wasn't quite fast enough. I stood around for a good 10 minutes and another one didn't get hit our way. Luckily the T-rats catcher handed us one later in the game.

As far as ballparks go I wasn't impressed but the hubby loved the old school ball park. I think I have just gotten used to the all the amenities and fanfare that comes with Minor League Baseball. Maybe I am just spoiled. Either way it was still a nice night at the ballpark. I hope the Burlington Bees and Community Park keep the baseball alive in the town because it is good cheap entertainment. 

Baseball Stadium Tour 2017: Busch Stadium

Our second stop on our Cardinal/Brewer Road Trip was Busch Stadium in St. Louis to see the Brewers take on the Cardinals. They were playing a day/night doubleheader and we scored $5 tickets to the afternoon game. Since it was our second trip to Busch Stadium, we weren't too concerned about not staying for the whole game since we had to head north to Iowa for a night game in Burlington.

We picked the train up at the first stop past the airport so it was about a 30 minute train ride to the stadium. I chatted with a nice Cardinal fan who has been to Wisconsin while waiting for the train. Who said Cardinal fans are annoying?? Everyone we talked were very nice... maybe because we were on their home turf.

Once we got to the stadium, it was so hot that we wandered around the concourse trying to stay out of the sun as long as we could. The main concourse was full of concession stands and ACTUAL tables to sit down and eat at. Because it was Busch Stadium there really wasn't any extra frills that I remember.

Since our seats were upstairs, we rode the elevator to the top and found a hot dog stand with a nice table partially in the shade for lunch. For $6, the hot dogs were pretty good. Since we were able to carry in water, we just drank our water. We just chilled in the shade while the beer man tried to sell his $9 beer.

The first 2.5 innings of the game went by pretty fast. Our seats were in the left field corner. The only thing we couldn't see was the left field corner otherwise there were very good seats. And the best part -- there were in the shade which is great when it is 90 out. We would sit there again. We were too far away to attempt to get a ball but we already have a ball from Busch Stadium.

I wish we could have stayed the whole game but since it was so hot I was glad to be back in the AC train after a couple of hours. Busch Stadium is one of my favorite stadiums to visit -- even if it is home to one of my least favorite teams. I know we will be back to Busch Stadium since it's easy to get to and great stadium to watch baseball in.

#163 See the Cahokia Mounds

When we were planning our Cardinal/Brewer Road Trip, we had some time built in this morning and I told the hubby I'd like to see the Cahokia Mounds. There were on the way to St. Louis from Springfield and almost right off the interstate. The Cahokia Mounds are on the original bucket list and my brother wanted to know where I found my bucket list stuff. This one I honestly have no clue. The only thing I can think of is I wrote the bucket list while still in college and I must have read about it in my Cultural Anthropology.

One of 70 Mounds

The Cahokia Mounds is what is left of the Mississippi Civilization from the 700s-1400s. Not much known about the largest and most sophisticated pre-historic native settlement north of Mexico. The civilization is name after the Cahokias but the Cahokias did not create the civilization. The Mississippians who lived in this area were accomplished builders who built everything from homes  to monumental public works.

The Cahokia Mounds are an Illinois State Park and a World Heritage Site. There is a visitor center with artifacts and displays on the different buildings that were found in the mounds. Outside, you can explore some of the 70 mounds of the original 90 mounds in the area. It was 90 degrees out and opted not to explore the grounds.

Across the street is Monk Mound the largest of the mounds. Monk's Mound was probably used foras the tribal chief's residence. We opted to drive across to the parking lot there. You can climb the 156 steps up to the top of Monk's Mound. It is popular with runners. The hubby managed to climb up and down because the stairs aren't straight up and not overly steep. From the top of the Mound you can see downtown St. Louis.

As we headed back to the highway, we past Woodhenge which were circles of wooden posts. It can be concluded that they were calendars. We didn't stop but you can clearly see the posts.

Even though I am not sure why this ended up on the bucket list, I am extremely glad it was. It was very interesting... even the hubby liked it. This was probably my favorite stop on the whole trip. I just wish it wasn't so hot. If you are ever in St. Louis area, take the 30 minute across the river and check out this World Heritage Site. It will be worth your time.

AP US Mini Golf Tour 2017: Springfield, Illinois

One of the things I want to do in every state is play mini golf which I have probably mentioned several times by now. Since the hubby likes playing mini golf this is a good way for us to spend an evening (or afternoon) when on vacation. It is usually fairly cheap entertainment.

As unbelievable it is sounds, I never played mini golf in Illinois. Between family vacations visiting relatives, and baseball trips, I'm surprised I've not played mini golf in Illinois before (or at least remember playing mini golf). Since there was a mini golf place near dinner and Scheels, after we were done killing time in Scheels, we stopped at Knights Action Park to play mini golf.

Oh so close

Knights Action Park is a water park and amusement park in one. The water park side is only open until 6 while the amusement park is open until 10. There were 2 different mini golf courses to choose from as well a driving range, a Ferris Wheel, batting cage, go karts, and something called Paratroopers. We just stuck with mini golf.

Each course had a different theme. We played the South Pacific course. There was also the Medieval Course. It was an old school mini golf course with castles and other obstacles to navigate around and through. Fortunately for me there was no windmill. Unfortunately there were several holes where you had to master to hitting the ball with just the right amount of power to get up the hill but not back down the other side.

Most of the holes on the both courses were Par 2 with a couple Par 3 holes. One would think that I would do fairly decent. Most holes it took me 3 or 4 putts to get it in the hole. I came close to a hole in one once. Let's just say my bowling score at Scheels was lower than my mini golf score.

Despite my bad golfing.. even the hubby shot 10 over... it was a fun course. If we are ever back in Springfield and looking for something to do at night, I'm sure we would be back. Maybe next time we will try the other course.

Killing an hour or two in Scheels

After dinner, we stopped at Scheel's Sporting Goods to see if we could find the hubby a new Brewers cap since he hasn't replaced his since getting it autographed last fall. Well.... since we were in Springfield, IL it was Cubs and Cardinals gear... nothing for the Crew but we did find some Packer caps.

It wasn't a wasted trip though. As we wondered through the store checking stuff out since we had nothing better to do because it was so hot out. We have Scheels in the mall in Appleton but it isn't anything like the one in Springfield.

There was a full size Ferris Wheel that nearly reached the ceiling. Because of the hubby's fear of heights, we didn't ride the Ferris Wheel.

Upstairs I found a bowling alley. It was a 2 lanes and could accommodate up to 4 bowlers per lane. It was like duck pin bowling as we used mini balls and could have had bumpers in the gutters. The hubby chose not to use the bumpers... I think we should have. After the beer I had with dinner, bowling with a bowl with no holes proved kind of difficult. I had at least 4 gutter balls in a row. I did manage to pick up a spare but I didn't even break 50. However since the hubby barely broke 100, I didn't feel too bad. It was only $2 a person to bowl.

As we kept wandering we found a NASCAR driving experience. There were full size cars that moved like you were really driving in the Dayton 500. Initially I had some difficulties with steering... I did flip the car. You only had to barely touch the steering wheel to keep the car on the road. Once I got the whole driving thing down, I was doing good until I caught up with the other cars. I actually yelled "SH*T, there's cars." I forgot I was inside a Scheels. We drove for about 10 minutes -- long enough if you ask me. I managed to top out at 181 miles an hour and finished 14th out 19 cars. The hubby finished 7th with a top speed of 191 mph. I don't think I stopped shaking for 10 minutes. Driving in a NASCAR race is not my thing.

We also got a history lesson as we saw a few presidents as well. Shopping, games, and a museum all under one roof. Impressive.

James Madison

Harry S. Truman

And of course, Abraham Lincoln

We probably killed a good hour at Scheels browsing and playing games. It was an unexpected way to spend our evening in Springfield but it truly beat sitting in the hotel. Who knows may our Scheels may get a bowling alley and I will already have experience throwing those mini balls down the alley.

Baseball Stadium Tour 2017: Dozer Park

When the hubby discovered I had a couple of days of PTO that I needed to use before the end of the month, he decided we needed to hit some ball parks. The only problem was trying to find teams that were home and within driving distance of each other. He put together a nice little road trip that included 3 games in 2 games in 3 different states. I dubbed it the Cardinal/Brewer road trip since we were seeing the Cardinals A team at home, the Brewers/Cardinals in St. Louis, and the Brewers A team on the road.

Our first stop was Dozer Park home of the Peoria Chiefs -- St. Louis A Team. Dozer Park is located downtown Peoria, IL. It built into a triangle piece of land with main roads on all sides of the ballpark... a foul ball or home run might just hit a passing car -- that's how close the stadium is to the street. You could park on the street or in one of the lots. We ended up parking in one of the Caterpillar lots next to the diamond.

The hubby got seats right next to the first base dugout. We were right by the walkway from the dugout to the outfield and bullpens. Periodically we had players walk right by us. This proved very helpful in the top of the ninth when the centerfielder made a spectacular catch and he tossed me the ball. The only "problem" with our seats was that kids tried to get autographs and balls from the players in the dugout during the game blocking our view.

Despite the temperatures in the 90s, it was a good game. The Chiefs played the Clinton Lumberkings and ended up losing 7-6 in the ninth. There were some good catches and hits.

Dozer Park is your typical A-League Stadium with the normal baseball fare at concession stands. We had fairly decent hot dogs for lunch. I think hot dogs were $4 each. Not bad. It was too hot to have much else. The Shaved Iced looked huge and refreshing.

Besides being the home of the Chiefs, Dozer Park is also the home of Bradley University Baseball. Kirby Puckett played for Bradley and has his number retired. There is a wall dedicated to Bradley Baseball.

We have now crossed off our second minor league ball park. The hubby is on a mission to see all the major and minor league parks. That's a lot of baseball. It may have taken me 10 years for him to agree to this mission but now he is on a rampage. Good thing I like traveling and baseball is just a bonus.