The von Bloggenschterns are off yet again, darlings!
We are headed en masse in a southernly direction, along with the beauteous German exchange student Countess Felicitas, to show her - among other things - the Great American Pastime.
And, noooooo. I do not mean the barbecuing of large forest beasts, scrapbooking, or the annual mooning of Amtrak trains (not that there's anything wrong with any of those things - they're just not on this particular agenda).
The Great American Pastime I'm talkin' about is baseball, baby.
While I'm no huge fan of the sport, I love the majesty of it all, and I love, love, love people watching and eavesdropping. The game itself is beginning to grow on me after some 20-odd (very odd) years with the Baron.
The hubster, on the other hand, is a huge fan, and one of his favorite sayings is "While I love hockey, baseball is my passion". It's an enthusiasm that has been passed down to Duke 1 and 2. Which, in my estimation, is a marvelous thing. There is nothing quite so enjoyable for me as watching the men folk bond over score sheets and garlic fries.
A few years ago, the von B's made a 3 week cross-country trip - we dubbed it the "Mall and Ball Tour". We started in Seattle, and ended in Nashville. We were indiscriminating in our choice of venues - we saw both Major League games and Single A games. The only rules were - for every hour we spent in a baseball stadium, we would spend an equal amount of time in a mall. Sometimes the pickin's were slim, let me tells ya (Boise? Hellooo?), but I stuck to my guns. It was a difficult mission, but a character-building one. It also illustrated to my children how perseverent (and ultimately insane) their dear maman is.
We had a grand old time, saw many a bizarro roadside attraction (courtesy of yours truly and my mad researching skillz), and ate at some of the tastiest, dive-iest places you'd ever be afraid to set foot it. It is a trip we still talk about to this day, and it's the gold standard against which our boys measure all other family adventures.
I am praying and hoping that this weekend's escapades rank right up there to create some memories for Countess Fee to take far away home with her.
So, dear people of Seattle, I beseech you - step up to the plate.
.
We are headed en masse in a southernly direction, along with the beauteous German exchange student Countess Felicitas, to show her - among other things - the Great American Pastime.
And, noooooo. I do not mean the barbecuing of large forest beasts, scrapbooking, or the annual mooning of Amtrak trains (not that there's anything wrong with any of those things - they're just not on this particular agenda).
The Great American Pastime I'm talkin' about is baseball, baby.
While I'm no huge fan of the sport, I love the majesty of it all, and I love, love, love people watching and eavesdropping. The game itself is beginning to grow on me after some 20-odd (very odd) years with the Baron.
The hubster, on the other hand, is a huge fan, and one of his favorite sayings is "While I love hockey, baseball is my passion". It's an enthusiasm that has been passed down to Duke 1 and 2. Which, in my estimation, is a marvelous thing. There is nothing quite so enjoyable for me as watching the men folk bond over score sheets and garlic fries.
A few years ago, the von B's made a 3 week cross-country trip - we dubbed it the "Mall and Ball Tour". We started in Seattle, and ended in Nashville. We were indiscriminating in our choice of venues - we saw both Major League games and Single A games. The only rules were - for every hour we spent in a baseball stadium, we would spend an equal amount of time in a mall. Sometimes the pickin's were slim, let me tells ya (Boise? Hellooo?), but I stuck to my guns. It was a difficult mission, but a character-building one. It also illustrated to my children how perseverent (and ultimately insane) their dear maman is.
We had a grand old time, saw many a bizarro roadside attraction (courtesy of yours truly and my mad researching skillz), and ate at some of the tastiest, dive-iest places you'd ever be afraid to set foot it. It is a trip we still talk about to this day, and it's the gold standard against which our boys measure all other family adventures.
I am praying and hoping that this weekend's escapades rank right up there to create some memories for Countess Fee to take far away home with her.
So, dear people of Seattle, I beseech you - step up to the plate.
.
8 comments:
Syd The Kid and Hossa are bringing the Penguins back and the Baron wants to watch baseball???
Count WP: Babe, believe me - the Baron is completely wired in. Between his Crackberry, his brother, any TV within a 30 foot radius, and his uncanny 6th (hockey) sense he'll know what's going on. No doubt when the kids are at EMP, we'll be at some crappy sports bar. As long as there are no peelers, I'm ok with that.
People watching - the fodder blogs feed on.
Dearest Baroness!
You will be in my neck of the woods (so to speak)!
The stadium you speak of is mere moments away from The Asthmatic Abode! How exciting for me to be so close to you!
I hope we will have good weather for you to enjoy here in the southland! Will you be taking in any new sights on this tour?
Countess AG: We're staying in Bellevue, and will spend most of Saturday afternoon shopping at Bellevue Square - are you close enough to come and grab a coffee?
Email me if you can this - how great would this be?
After ten years in the U.S. I love me some baseball too! I've spent many a summer day getting sunburned and people watching at a baseball game. Awesome fun.
There is no point to this comment. I'm just saying! Have FUN!
A trip to see some baseball and the world's biggest ball of twine? That is soooooo right up my alley! ... Babs Peapod
What a wicked cool idea. Evening out sport time with shopping. Damn, you are one fine lady. What a brilliant idea.
Guv: Thanks to your self-proclaimed pointless comment, we DID have fun!
I have fodder enough for a whole week's worth of posts. Who knew that so much could happen in 2 days?
Countess Babs: Whoa, there, Nelly!
Big ball of twine, you say? HOW on earth did we miss that? Truth be told, this trip had a very modest agenda - baseball, EMP and shopping.
All done in spades.
Countess NATUI: Yes, I'm of the strong belief you must have a balanced mixture of Americana and commercialism. The beauty of one balances out the ugliness of the other. I leave it to you to figure out which is which. Speaking of shopping, LOL, I found something for you. But I apparently can't send it until the end of June. Poor you. ;)
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