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Cheese steaks and baseball!
Tuesday, May 14
Our day began at 8:58 this morning. We had planned to get up around 8, eat some breakfast, and call Big D & Bubba before we headed to Philadelphia. However, our plans were thwarted because of our serious lack of sleep over the past week. Ethan made the call in time, though, and told Big D & Bubba about our day in the Big Apple and about our plans for today. They suggested we visit Gino’s, a cheese steak joint in Philadelphia made famous by the movie Rocky. After signing off the air, we all crawled back into bed and fell back asleep.
Around 11, we all were finally up and moving around, rested and ready to see what fresh, exciting experiences a new day would have for us. After a delicious brunch cooked by Mrs. Waller, we packed the Tahoe full to the gills and left Connecticut, bound for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with VanZandt at the wheel.
We pulled into Philly around 5 p.m., 30 minutes before we were supposed to meet our Phillies P.R. contact at Citizens Bank Park. We decided to take Big D & Bubba’s advice and hit up Gino’s.
It’s a good thing we did.
Gino’s had three cheese options: Swiss; American; and wiz, as in cheese wiz. We each ordered one and dove in teeth first. I think all of us chose wiz, and 3 out of the 5 of us ordered ours with onions. I am here to tell you, a genuine Philly cheese steak is much better than the attempts at a cheese steak I have tasted before in Texas. The cheesy, meaty, salty, oniony, awesome goodness really hit the spot as we chowed down on the way to the stadium. The food on this trip has been awesome; as we have taste-tested the food each city is famous for. I think we are all in agreement that Philly did not disappoint.
Upon arrival, we received tickets, a tour of the park and an opportunity to get on the field during the Atlanta Braves batting practice.
As we walked onto the field, Ethan was speechless as he watched his favorite players, Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, and Jeff Franceour swing the lumber, just 20 feet from where we were standing. We weren’t on the field very long but it was an awesome feeling as we stood there in the beautiful new Citizens Bank Park.
Our park tour included a view from inside the press box, a look at the Phillies World Series trophy from 1980, and a picture wearing the World Series rings of one of the Phillies old coaches. One funny thing we learned while on the tour of the park is that the sign labeling every room, such as the photography room and grounds crew locker room, has Braille on it, except for the umpires room. “Umpires don’t have a very good sense of humor when it comes to things like that,” our tour guide explained.
After the tour, we headed to our sweet seats located in the second deck, down the third base line.
The visiting Braves opened up the scoring in the first inning with 3 runs off Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick. But the Phils bounced back and took a 5-3 lead into the ninth. Former Astros closer Brad Lidge entered the game, trying to nail down the save in front of the sellout crowd. Due to his past performances with the Astros, we had our doubts, but after allowing a couple of walks and hits, and one run, the Phillies emerged the victor in a classic 1-run game.
We’re staying at VanZandt’s cousin’s house here in PA tonight and heading to Baltimore tomorrow for an afternoon match-up between the Orioles and Red Sox. Before the game, we’re going to try to hook up with some crab cakes; which is apparently the thing to eat in B-more. Any suggestions on where we should go to score some good crab cakes?
It’s time to practice the song we wrote that we are planning to sing to Big D & Bubba in the morning. Until tomorrow, keep us in your prayers and keep donating to the Susan G. Komen for a Cure at http://www.active.com/donate/tylerkomen08/4horsemen !!!
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