2211. Go to the Beyer Stadium in Rockford

 When planning our trip to St. Louis, I was trying to find a stretch break attraction for the hubby between Madison and Springfield. There is not much between Rockford and Springfield to begin with. I checked the bucket list. I checked Roadtrippers app. I checked Roadside America site. I checked Atlas Obsecura website. There I finally hit jackpot. I found Beyer Stadium in Rockford.

Beyer Stadium was the home of the Rockford Peaches, a team in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The team was also featured in the movie A League of Their Own about the Rockford Peaches.

The original entrance gate is still there and so are the dugouts.

The field itself is not in too bad of shape.

There are signs along the side of the field highlighting members of the team and the history of the league. There are also monuments about the league. It is very well done to highlight a mostly forgotten piece of history.

You want to park on Seminary Street as there is no parking on 15th Avenue. It is not a great area of town but then again it is Rockford. Just be aware of your surroundings and don't go after dark.

I was amazed to find this little piece of history and glad we stopped. Someone mentioned the field in Racine is still there too. I may have to check that out if that is the case. I love old baseball relics and so does the hubby. The field where the Rockford Expos played is also on 15th Ave the hubby believes as we drove by it. 

5382. See a game at Carson Park in Eau Claire

The hubby likes old school baseball stadiums. He grew up going to games at Goodlin Field in Appleton. He wants to see the Corn Crib in Bloomington. He's an old school baseball guy.  When he found out games were still played at Carson Park he wanted to see a game there.

Carson Park was built in the 1930s. It is an old school baseball stadium -- stone stadium, big wide wooden grandstand behind home plate. The press box on the roof. Just the kind of stadium the hubby likes. Hank Aaron played at Carson Park when he was in the minors as well as Joe Torre and Bob Uecker.

Since the games at the tournament were done early, we headed over to Carson Park to catch the second game of a doubleheader. The Eau Claire Cavaliers were playing the Westmont Red Sox out of Illinois. The Cavaliers are a college age team that plays in the Chippewa Valley League.

I was not a fan of the bleachers down the third base side. They were steep and metal and I felt like I might fall through. We sat there for a few innings then headed down the first base side to watch from that angle.

The local tournament director found us and invited us to watch from the press box for an inning. Remember I said the press box is on the roof? We climbed to the top row of the grandstand, the hand to take a narrow flight of stairs to the roof and cross a catwalk over to the press box. The hubby got halfway up the stairs and decided he couldn't do it. I was like I'll go and I did. 

The view from the press box was like any other view from high in the stadium. It was nothing special but it was still cool to watch some baseball from the press box while they called the game.

After my excursion to the press box, we sat in the grand stand and finished watching the game. 

I want to say Eau Claire won but I can't remember for sure. The play wasn't bad but it wasn't memorable. There were a few bad bounces that made for some interesting plays.

The hubby says he wants to ump a game at Carson Park. He is already talking to the umpire that assigns for that league and hoping to ump a game there next year. We shall see.

I would say if you enjoy baseball, you should definitely see a game at Carson Park. It is old school as old school gets -- kind of like Wrigley Field. It's full of history and there aren't many old school ballparks in as good as condition as Carson Park. Treasure the relics as you never know when they will be gone.