6,584.4 miles later...

Our Kia Optima's odometer

You read that right. Six thousand five hundred and eighty four point four miles. We reset Trip A upon leaving our garage on July 1st and took that picture upon pulling in on August 2nd. The car started with 247 miles on it and now has 6,832. I can't imagine Hertz is too thrilled about that (although I'm sure they're ok with how much we paid for the rental)!

Our drive back was largely uneventful. We left the Cleveland area at about 8 PM and stayed over in New Columbia, PA, which was 4+ hours away. We then got up the next morning and headed for home, making one pit stop, which I'll get to in a bit.

First, a picture of a road sign we took on the border of Pennsylvania and Ohio upon getting on I-80.

Next stop...NYC! 390 miles away!

Apparently the government agrees that there is nothing of major importance between Cleveland and New York City off of I-80 either! 7+ hours away and New York City is the next major stop. Unbelievable!

Now as far as our pit stop went...have you ever been to a Sonic?

I always see commercials for Sonic on television, but there are none in NYC and I've always wanted to see what the fuss is all about. During the trip, I had a goal of stopping at a Sonic along the way (I know...I reach for the stars), but every time we passed one, we weren't hungry or just had lunch or didn't want to go there for dinner...whatever. But on the way home, we found one! And we got a Hot Fudge shake!

Excited for my first Sonic shake

That was the pinnacle of the ride home until we went through the Holland Tunnel. If you've ever driven on I-80 for awhile, you know what I'm talking about.

It didn't take us too long to get from the Holland Tunnel across to the Brooklyn Bridge. Upon getting onto the bridge and looking up, we couldn't believe what we saw!

Check out the warm welcome we received!

Ok, fine...it didn't quite go like that, but it was nice to be home.

Pier 6, Brooklyn Bridge Park - Right around the corner from our apartment

It's hard to believe, but after all of the talking, planning, packing and preparing, it's now all just a memory.

We know some of our family and friends questioned whether this was a good idea, from the enormous amount of driving, to us possibly killing each other along the way, to me taking a month off from work, but at the end of the day, you only live once and a trip like this was always something I wanted to do.

Notice the word choice there...a trip like this was always something I wanted to do.

I think it's pretty obvious to everyone that Heather wasn't too excited to visit 8 baseball parks in a month, but soon into the trip, she felt that going to the games was just a small part of the trip.

If you've been following our adventure along the way, you know we don't hold back from seeing as much as we can when we're visiting a new place. Why? Our philosophy is we don't know whether we will ever be back so we try to maximize our time. If you know me...that's a lot different than my philosophy when I'm at home.  :)

We know when we start seeing our family and friends we will be asked a lot of questions about the trip (ask away!), but the one question we discussed on our way home was this: what was our favorite?

With seeing so many things and visiting so many different places, that's obviously a tough one, but I think we have a good answer.

In the end though, one thing we do know is that this was a trip of a lifetime and one we will never forget.

To all of our family, friends and my co-workers who checked in with us along the way, supported us and allowed us to take the trip...thank you!

And of course, if you've been following along on the blog, we really hope you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed writing it and sharing our experiences with you.

Cheeeeeeeeese...and Chicago!

So before sharing our day in Milwaukee, I'm going to share a picture from our morning drive on Friday on the way to Chicago. Can you take a guess what it might be?

If you guessed something to do with cheese, you're right! Who goes to Wisconsin and doesn't get some cheese? Come on now! They aren't called cheese heads for nothing!

Mars Cheese Castle in Kenosha, WI

We picked up some 4 year old cheddar, a cheddar and jack mix and mozzarella string cheese. It was pretty darn good.

Anyway, back to Milwaukee.

On Thursday morning, we drove another 5 hours on I-90 to Milwaukee for the 1:10 PM Brewers-Padres game.

The game turned out to be a pretty exciting one with the Brewers losing 10-8 and because the game had a lot of offense, we were even able to see the Brewers famous mascot, Bernie Brewer, slide down on a home run!

Bernie Brewer sliding down on a HR

But the best part of the afternoon was my picture with the sausages from the famous sausage race!

The sausages from the famous sausage race

If you're a baseball fan, you might remember Randall Simon taking a bat and knocking one of the sausages out during a race. Well, it was during this race that he did it!

The famous Miller Park sausage race

As you can probably tell, we had unbelievable seats for the game. Clearly, the one nice thing about going to a game in a small market with a team that's doing terrible is you can score $30 seats right behind home.

The field at Miller Park

They did a nice job on the park. It has a retractable roof, which is a pretty impressive site (you can see pieces of it in the top left corner of the above picture and some of it on the below picture) and the fan experience is positive despite the team being terrible. We couldn't believe it, but there were close to 35,000 people there for a Thursday afternoon game!

Outside of the stadium, there are statues honoring Hank Aaron (played for the Milwaukee Braves and Brewers), Robin Yount (Hall of Famer), Bob Uecker (Hall of Fame radio announcer and ex-Brewer) and Bud Selig (ex-owner of the Brewers and now MLB Commissioner), which was definitely a nice touch.

Outside of Miller Park

After the game, we headed to the Harley Davidson Museum for the rest of the afternoon and evening. The museum was very enjoyable and we're glad we went despite not knowing anything about Harleys or bikes in general.

The collection of unrestored bikes, paraphernalia and other things that were showcased was extremely impressive. We spent about 2 hours at the museum and barely got through both floors. The explanations on the bikes, how Harleys are different from other motorcycles and how the company started and has changed through the years was extensive adding a great deal to our specific experience. If you ever make a trip to Milwaukee, we'd highly recommend checking it out.

Here are some pictures from it:

Serial Number One - The Oldest Harley in the world

Explanation on Serial Number One

The "EL", introduced in 1936, set new standards in the motorcycle industry

Promotional poster about the Sheepshead Bay Classic (early 1900s)

The most memorable pictures we took though were probably at the very end of our self-guided tour of the museum when we were able to touch and get on some of the Harleys...

Heather on a Harley

Brian on a Harley

After the adrenaline rush we got from sitting on the Harleys, reality struck when we were greeted by Bike Night, an event that occurs every Thursday outside of the museum where the real bikers show off their bikes. There were tons of bikes, which was really cool to see.

Bike Night at the Harley Davidson Museum

On Friday, as you already know, we started our day with a stop at Mars' Cheese Castle in Kenosha, Wisconsin. When we got to Chicago at about 2 PM on Friday afternoon, I drove around for about an hour looking for a reasonably priced parking garage for the rental car and then we closed out an otherwise uneventful day spending a great evening with our friends Zach and Taina at Lou Malnati's for some deep dish pizza (unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures!).

Since Heather and I have been to Chicago recently and saw all of the major attractions, we decided to check out the Lincoln Park Zoo (which is free by the way).

I got some pretty cool close-up shots of the animals, but our favorite is probably the meerkats who decided to pose for everyone taking pictures of them.

Meerkat posing for pictures

Rhino

Polar bear playing with his ball

Tiger having some dinner

From the Lincoln Park Zoo, Heather and I headed over to US Cellular Field to meet up with our friend Zach for the White Sox vs. Royals game at 6 PM.

Now as far as baseball parks on this trip go, US Cellular was definitely the least exciting and impressive. The park itself wasn't terrible, but there just was nothing special or unique about it...although it doesn't help when the team sucks.

The good news is that we got to see a great pitching duel with the White Sox ace Chris Sale pitching a complete game (but losing 1-0) and some really nice fireworks.

Outside the front gate of US Cellular

From our upper deck seats at US Cellular

Fireworks after the game

Now on Sunday afternoon, we did something completely impromptu all thanks to Zach. Since Heather and I have been to Chicago recently, our original plan was to spend a couple of days, have brunch or dinner with Zach and Taina, see a ballgame and head out. But Zach asks me a few days before we arrive whether we want to goto the Gold Cup Final soccer game at Soldier Field with him on Sunday at 3 PM. At that point, the US was in the semi-finals, but either way, how could I turn it down?

Suffice to say, Heather wasn't all that thrilled with going to a baseball AND soccer game, but considering she came along on this trip, what's another sporting event, right? So we went.

Outside of Soldier Field

Before the Gold Cup Final

During the National Anthems

Despite the trek getting over to Soldier Field and the ridiculous crowds to get into the stadium, even Heather admits it was awesome to see the US win the Gold Cup over Panama 1-0 in a nail biter.

The Americans parading around Soldier Field

Presentation of the Gold Cup

After the game

We were all so proud and excited that the US won that Zach couldn't resist buying and wrapping himself in the stars and stripes!

Zach with his newly purchased US flag

And that's how we ended things in Chicago...on a great note!

Next up: Detroit (where we visited The Henry Ford today and where we will be returning tomorrow before heading to Comerica Park)!

After finishing up Detroit tomorrow, we head to Cleveland and an Indians game on Wednesday and the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Thursday with the plan to complete the trip and arrive home sometime either Friday evening or Saturday morning.

Depending on how much time we have to write, the next post may sadly be coming from Brooklyn...

Until next time!

Better late than never: Kansas City Recap!

Apologies for the lag in recapping our stop in Kansas City, but the last couple of days have been busy spending quality time with friends and the fam including celebrating my little cousin Kash's 5th birthday party on Wednesday. Check out this awesome new hoop that my cousin Matt (Kash's dad) got him for his birthday!

Kash jamming on his brand new hoop

We finally arrived in Denver on Tuesday night 9 PM local time after getting delayed 4 hours due to that flat tire in the middle of nowhere. What an adventure! Tomorrow morning we're off to Arches National Park in Moab, Utah and then Yellowstone on Monday until next Saturday, July 20th. We should have access to the Internet in Moab, but not too sure about Yellowstone. We will do our best to keep the blog up to date!

Heather and I both really enjoyed Kansas City. Directly from the diner where I ate that awesome waffle, we went to Kauffman Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals. Kauffman Stadium is about 10 minutes outside of Kansas City in a sporting complex that also houses Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs (think the Meadowlands).

Kauffman Stadium

Arrowhead Stadium

As you can see, from the outside Kauffman Stadium doesn't look like much. It kind of looks like a big monstrosity in the middle of a parking lot. The inside though? Absolutely awesome. What a fantastic job they did on the stadium. If you're a baseball fan, you're probably familiar with the can't miss fountains out in CF (the largest privately funded fountains in the world), but they also have a dedicated kids section called the Outfield Experience and a really impressive Royals Hall of Fame with statues of 3 Royals greats: George Brett, Frank White and Dick Howser.

In front of the fountains

George Brett statue 

View from our seats

The game itself was not nearly as great: the Royals got blown out by the A's, it was about 100 degrees and to top it all off, Heather got hit by a foul ball in the back and we didn't even get the ball (yes, I'm never going to live that one down). I thought at that very moment she would want me to drive her to the airport to head back to NYC, but she was a trooper. She went to the first aid office, got some ice and enjoyed a concrete (frozen custard with a blend of different ingredients) afterwards.

Heather enjoying a concrete after getting hit by a foul ball

After the Royals game, we headed to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and American Jazz Museum, which were both fantastic, but the best part of the day was definitely our dinner at Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue in Country Club Plaza...

Jack Stack BBQ

Prime Ribs, Beef Ribs, Lamb Ribs and Burnt Ends

Zagat rates Jack Stack's as the #1 BBQ place in the country and it definitely didn't disappoint! Heather and I shared Prime Ribs, Beef Ribs, Lamb Ribs and Burnt Ends (pieces of meat cut from the point half of a smoked brisket and cooked further). If you ever are in Kansas City, Jack Stack's is a must!

Another must is Country Club Plaza. The Plaza, as it's called, is an upscale shopping district and residential neighborhood with classic European influences (especially those of Seville, Spain) that opened in 1923 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_Club_Plaza). I never knew this, but the reason why Kansas City is nicknamed the City of Fountains and Kauffman Stadium has those fountains in CF is due to the numerous fountains in Country Club Plaza. With over 200 fountains throughout the city, Kansas City claims to have the 2nd most fountains in the world behind Rome!

And the last must is what we did all day Monday: The World War I Museum. Wow! Everything you ever wanted to know about World War I is at the National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial. We got there at about 11 AM and spent a good 5 hours touring the grounds and the exhibits. Highly recommended!

National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial

Liberty Memorial

WWI Service Vehicle

View from the observation deck of Liberty Memorial

So that was our stop in Kansas City. We're done with baseball stadiums until Milwaukee (which is definitely a relief to Heather!) and now the focus will be on beautiful scenery and wildlife from a bunch of national parks. We're looking forward to it!

Columbia, Missouri!

We are not dead! Just been a very busy last couple of days in St Louis!

As I write this, we are sitting at Cafe Berlin in Columbia, Missouri, home of the University of Missouri Tigers. Check out this waffle!

The waffle has homemade granola, peanut butter, honey and fruit and it's damn good!

After we eat, we will be on our way to barbecue central, Kansas City, to see the Royals play the A's at 1 PM. We hear its brutally hot on the east coast, but you're not alone, it's going to be a scorcher in KC heating up to 95 degrees at game time.

Check back later for a recap of our St Louis adventure!

A day in Pittsburgh

Well we made it to Columbus, Ohio late last night after spending a full day in Pittsburgh.

We started off the day by heading over to the Nationality Rooms at the University of Pittsburgh and it was well worth it! Each door we walked through transported us into another country. Here is a blurb from Wikipedia about them:

"The Nationality Rooms are a collection of 29 classrooms in the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning depicting and donated by the ethnic groups that helped build the city of Pittsburgh. The rooms are designated as a Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation historical landmark...Although of museum caliber, twenty-seven of the 29 rooms are in almost constant use as functional classrooms and utilized daily by University of Pittsburgh faculty and students..."

The Israel Heritage Room

The Turkish Room

The English Room (Designed after the House of Commons)

Naturally because we were in an academic setting, Heather decided to take advantage of her unique surroundings to teach a lesson...

And I relived my college days of falling asleep.

After I woke up, we headed to the Strip District for a Primanti Brothers meal. Richard, Kenny and the hotel staff all said we couldn't leave Pittsburgh without eating at Primanti Brothers. And holy cow was that an experience. Every sandwich is loaded with french fries and cole slaw!

And then it was onto PNC Park to see the Pirates host the Phillies!

The game was pretty exciting (even Heather thought so) with the Phillies winning 3-1. We even witnessed a pierogie race.

Overall, I give PNC Park a huge thumbs up. The area surrounding the park is absolutely beautiful and as you can see from the pictures, the views are breathtaking. Compared to Citi Field, I felt the park itself was a bit lacking and there was nothing unique about it. For example, no Rotunda, no Shea Bridge, no Apple in CF, no Monument Park. There was a statue of Roberto Clemente in the back and Honus Wagner in the front (pic above), but the walls were green! The Pirates colors are black and gold!!

But man......the views are awesome.

Now it's onto Cincinnati! We're seeing the Reds host the Giants tomorrow afternoon for a July 4th matchup. Maybe we'll see the 2nd no hitter of the series?  :)

Until next time!