Baltimore recap-Part 1

I clocked out of work at 5 pm, or four hours later than earlier than I normally do on a Wednesday. I headed into the break room and finished off what was left of my salmon and roasted vegetables. I guess I was doing what I could to avoid eating at the airport. I took off from Hoffman Estates around 5:30 and began driving east on I-90 towards Schiller Park. Over the last six months, I've gotten familiar with Blue Sky O'Hare parking and I'm a regular customer of theirs now. Compared to parking my car at the airport, even at remote parking, it only takes me an extra 20-30 minutes of time and I save ten bucks a day. Even for just a weekend trip, that money adds up quickly.

So I got through security pretty fast and almost three hours to kill before my flight. I started walking towards the G concourse and spent a few minutes in the bookstore. But I picked a copy of Sports Illustrated. I had heard there was a very riveting article on several former NFL players, including Jim Mc Mahon, and their issues with concussions and how it has affected not only the lives of the players, but also the women in their lives.

When I was done reading, I looked at my phone and the time was only 6:45. I had no idea how I was going to pass all this free time before my 8:55 flight. But then I saw a sign for Terminals 1 and 2. All of a sudden, it occurred to me that the Chicago Blackhawks bar was located in Terminal 2. I figured this was as good time as any to go, so I headed over. I liked that the centerpiece of the restaurant is the four Stanley Cups. And also I'm glad the restaurant isn't colored completely red and black; it's mostly neutral beige and white, but still has a lot of nice memorabilia like photos and signed sticks. Very classy and fun at the same time, and that's not always easy to pull off.

I found just one empty seat at the bar and grabbed it. I sat right next to the beer taps, which looked frozen, like they had just been sprayed with a Freeze gun. Nice touch there. I ordered the New York burger with American cheese, grilled onions, and pickles on a brioche bun. But in my honor, the bartender told me for the night, they were re-naming it the Ranger burger! And I enjoyed the burger very much, very juicy, great toppings, well melted cheese, and a soft roll that did not get soggy even with all that juice. It came with pretty decent shoestring fries and I ordered a Stella Artois on draft. Now had I known the beer cost $9.69, I might have opted for iced tea instead.

Sitting next to me was a guy from Denver on my left and a guy from Rhode Island on my right. I had brief conversations with them about baseball and we shared some flying stories. Then another guy, maybe 40, strolled in and took a seat three spots down from me. But there was something about him that caught my eye. He was wearing a burnt orange t shirt that said "Serve the World." Underneath that were the letters FBCG. I recognized it instantly as a shirt from my old church in Geneva. I said out loud, "Hey, I have that shirt!“ His name was Tim and we chatted about the church and some different roles we had played there. And like me, he had done the Kentucky trip, albeit he did it a couple years before me.

So I left the bar around 7:15 and walked back to the G concourse in Terminal 3. I wound up getting the last seat in the last row of the plane, 18C. We landed just after midnight. Even though I should have preferred to save the money and take a light rail to downtown, I opted for a cab. And I knew the trains shut down at 12:15 am, that was the only reason really. The ride cost me thirty bucks and the driver dropped me off at the Hampton Inn, which is right across the street from the left field gate at Camden Yards. My father was waiting outside, dressed in plaid sleep pants and a red t-shirt with a pocket in it, which is the style he always seems to wear. Indeed, like he said, he had lost weight. I wish exercise had been involved, but he has monitored his eating and that's a good sign. He has an even more pronounced mullet, which I'm sure would delight Mom (sarcasm). We tried to sleep starting around 1 am, but we chatted about random stuff until maybe 3 am.

The next morning, we woke up around 8:30 and ate a little bit of breakfast down in the lobby. I went with the scrambled eggs and melon. the eggs were actually decent and the melon was good to have for a change since we never have cantaloupe in the house with Mom's allergies. From there, we walked around the Inner harbor, which was a little over half a mile east of the hotel. Since he has a Panera card and felt like some iced team, we stopped there first. I opted for the iced green tea. I was tempted to try a pumpkin pie bagel. They even have a sign hanging there encouraging customers to try the seasonal bagel with their NY cheesecake flavored cream cheese. Not to sound like Jay Leno, but how fat are we getting in this country when we're adding cheesecake into cream cheese?

Then we headed back west to the ballpark. We walked up Eutaw Street, which goes behind the left field wall. The giveaway was free orange Buckle up t-shirts, as in manager Buck Showalter. I saw one guy wearing a shirt that said "Buck the Yankees" but I wasn't about to buy that one. We went over to Boog Powell's BBQ for a couple sandwiches and opted for a beef and a turkey. Once again, I have to say I preferred the turkey, especially with the BBQ sauce all over it. Also, a few former Orioles were signing autographs for the fans. And the only one I recognized was Joe Orsulak. I was hoping Mike Bordick would be there so I could yell at him about stinking it up for the Mets in 2000, but hey, you can't have everything.

The game against Tampa was one of the best I have ever seen live. Probably the craziest moment was the top of the 11th when Rays second baseman Ryan "Ink" Roberts took a swing and went down like he was shot. He had to leave the game with an injured lower leg. But apparently Rays manager Joe Maddon had no position players left on the bench. All of a sudden, the Rays bullpen door swung open and out came Chris Archer, sprinting to the dugout. This guy is a relief pitcher that almost nobody has ever heard of and he had to pinch-hit, facing an 0-2 count. Luis Ayala threw three straight balls and the crowd was really groaning. But, he still got the strikeout looking.

And then there was the top of the 13th. The Orioles loaded the bases with nobody out and we figured it was all over. Maddon played five infielders with just two outfielders and Robert Andino grounded into a force play at home. Matt Wieters pinch-hit and struck out. Then on a 3-2 count, Nate McLouth also struck out. We left after the 13th  since we had a dinner reservation. We should have waited just one more inning. At the end, the game lasted 14 innings. Baltimore won it when Manny Machado's single to left field eluded a diving Matt Joyce, scoring Adam Jones. And the Orioles took sole possession of first place in the AL East and clinched their first winning season since 1997.

We cleaned up and walked one mile east, just past the harbor to Little Italy. I had heard of Sabatino's, mostly from Jim Cornette. It's located in an old house in the neighborhood which consists almost entirely of either old townhomes or Italian restaurants located in old townhomes, within walking distance of the Harbor. We sat down and I was so ready to place the drink order. I gulped down glasses of water and iced tea. They brought us a basket of thick Italian bread, which was good, but i would have liked a little but firmer crust. I definitely wanted to try the Bookmaker salad, since I'd heard this was really good. It came in a wooden bowl and it had the ingredients of a pretty standard house salad: iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, etc. But the additions with the Bookmaker put it over the top. This had shrimp, Genoa salami, provolone cheese, and a hard boiled egg. The house dressing tasted like a creamy garlic with a ton of grated Parmesan cheese. I certainly did like it, but I would have liked a few more ingredients like artichoke hearts, roasted peppers, etc. We were delighted with the mussels marinara appetizer. My father remarked that the sauce reminded him of Brooklyn. And I have to agree, their gravy tastes bright and has a great tomato and garlic flavor, especially after I dipped the bread in it. My one issue was the mussels were a little smaller in size than I was hoping. but they still tasted very tender.


For main courses, I chose the baked rigatoni with a side of sausage. The waitress asked me if I wanted the sausage baked in with the pasta. But I said no, just so my father could have a taste of it. The pasta was alright, but tasted too cheesy for me between the mozzarella and provolone. My solution was to take the leftover marinara from the mussels and add it in; that made the dish much more enjoyable to eat. I really liked the sausage, I was able to cut it with a fork. Two very tender, very juicy thick links. My father ordered the shrimp Juan, which was shrimp sauteed with lemon, garlic, and white wine and served over a bed of linguine. I tried one of the shrimp and it tasted like a good Francese. I wouldn't order it myself, but it was okay. He also got a side of meatballs. They were a nice tennis ball-size and I could really taste the herbs and garlic inside. But I still preferred the taste of the sausage. And the staff was very friendly and courteous. We were greeted warmly by the gentleman host and my father's issue with butter and cheese were handled by our server and the kitchen accordingly. All in all, I think I would return, but I would have to change the ordering up.

For dessert, we stopped by Vacarro's bakery, only a block away from Sabatino's. They had about 15 flavors of gelato and a couple of different Italian pastries. We opted for four of their mini-cannolis, which were filled to order and we took them back to the room. We continued playing Uno for another hour or so while playing a ton of WFAN clips. Finally, we crashed at midnight.