Perfect Weather Enhances Victoria, B.C. Trip With Long-Time Friends

It isn't often you get to visit a real castle.  But we did so last weekend on a trip to Victoria, B.C. with our long-time friends, Dwight and Lynnette Klassen, from discovery Bay, California.  Dwight and I have been friends for over 50 years, first meeting as incoming freshmen at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California.  That's Craigdarroch Castle above, located in the heart of Victoria.  Completed in 1908, the castle was primarily the home of coal barron Robert Dunsmuir (the namesake of the city of Dunsmuir, California) and his wife, Joan, and several children and grandchildren.  It has also served as a military hospital, a college and a music school.







Above are Dwight, Lynnette and Kay Lynne at the entrance to the castle.  Below is the "everyday" dining room of the Dunsmuirs, reflecting the opulence in which the very rich lived at the beginning of the 20th century.

The formal dining room used when there were guests was even more elaborate.





We arrived in Canada on Friday evening and made our way to Brentwood Bay, where Kay Lynne and I had first visited about 40 years ago.  Then it was called Brentwood Inn and was a small motel with a coffee shop.  Now it is Brentwood Bay Lodge and Pub with hundreds of waterfront rooms and a dock and marina at water's edge.  That's the four old friends above, Lynnette, Dwight, Kay Lynne and moi.

On Saturday, we visited the Royal Canadian Museum, also in downtown Victoria, known for its exhbits of pre-historic creatures and its re-creation of Victoria streets as they looked about 100 years ago.   Above photo is a reconstruction of one of the dinosaur skeletons.

Saturday morning we spent down at the harbor.  Above pic was taken from a harbor dock looking toward the famous Empress Hotel.  We passed on afternoon tea this time.

We enjoyed absolutely fabulous weather for the entire weekend -- an unusual occurrence in Victoria.  On the way back to the ferry dock in Sydney for the return trip home, we stopped and had lunch at the Rum Runner Pub, a delightful eatery.  Above is the view from the restaurant looking back toward Anacortes and Mt. Baker, which you can make out in the distant mountain range just to the right of center.  You can click on any photo for a larger view of it.  The ferry ride back through the San Juan Islands was the perfect ending to a wonderful weekend.

Three Ancient Jocks Attempt to Conquer Spring Training in Phoenix – Post #3

We Actually Saw Some Baseball


Amidst the disorientation, forgetfulness, old-men-driving-in-a-strange-town-antics, and just general tomfoolery that all went on during our time in Arizona, we actually saw some baseball!

In fact, all three games that we took in were good baseball games other than the scores, which in two cases at least, could have been different. The first game we saw featured the Giants hosting the Cubs in Scottsdale. The good guys (Giants, of course) scored first but ended up losing the game, 8-6.

We sat behind a boisterous group of Cub fans who were enjoying the 85-degree temps with us, and who normally would be happy to be away from the friendly confines at this time of the year, but the temps in Chicago were not far behind – very abnormally in the 60’s. A gal, who obviously knew her baseball and who also was not afraid to speak her mind, began raving about the Cubs reorganization and their new president, youthful phenom Theo Epstein.

Unfortunately, the Cubs, again this year, are not figured to go anywhere in the NL Central – not with St. Louis, Milwaukee and even Cincinnati in that same division. The gal yakked on and on about Epstein, so finally I asked her, “What’s so good about him so far?” (the Cubs haven’t made many changes in the time he’s been with them).

Her answer: “He’s cute.”

About then the Cubbies rallied for a few runs and all the Cub fans came to life. I was born in Chicago, so I’m not exactly a Cub-hater. But the best part of this game, for me, was that I think sitting in the hot sun for several hours put the nail in the coffin of the bad chest cold I had had for a couple of weeks previous.

The second game we saw was against the Cleveland Indians, again in Scottsdale. But this time our seats were down the right field line – Giants territory. In spite of that, we happened to sit behind a young couple who were from the Cleveland area but who had recently moved to Kentucky so the man could attend seminary. They were Cleveland fans.

He was a married Roman Catholic who was planning to enter the Diaconate (new to me) of the Church and eventually assist a priest in a local parish. He was a knowledgeable baseball fan as well as a smart seminary student, and so he, Joe and I had a wonderful discussion about the church, his mission – and baseball.

He may be one of the most interesting young men – if not one of the most dedicated – I’ve ever encountered. Dwight and his wife talked family dynamics (wives serve equally in the Diaconate) and kids (they had two young children). Another excellent game, which, incidentally, ended up tied at 6. They don’t go into extra innings in Spring Training.

The final game – Giants against my hometown Seattle Mariners in the Mariners stadium in Peoria – turned out to be the best game of all (pic above shows M's stretching and warming up before the game -- #20 is hard hitting Mike Carp). Giants bats finally came to life in this one, and they pretty much sewed up the game early, although the M’s came on late to get within a couple runs. Final score, if I remember correctly, was 8-6 Giants.

But the interesting thing was how beautiful the Mariners stadium complex was in comparison to the Giants’. The M’s are in a farther-out suburb of Phoenix and share the complex with the San Diego Padres; however, there is a beautiful new stadium, ample parking and a slew of restaurants and shopping across the street.

The Giants, on the other hand, play in downtown Scottsdale in an older park with uncomfortable seating and totally inadequate parking (see first post). The Giants facility is fine overall, but it’s obvious the newer complexes have many fan advantages.

I’d have a photo of the three of us normally in this post. Dwight had a lady take one on his FILM camera (he’s techno-challenged) but she somehow didn’t click the shutter correctly. So when he got home and developed the film, nothing was there but the shots he took.

He told me yesterday he’s looking at an iPhone. Guaranteed more interesting stories if he gets one. :-)  

Three Ancient Jocks Attempt to Conquer Spring Training in Phoenix – Post #2

My Smart Phone Saves Our Bacon

When three old codgers, once proficient baseball team mates, rendezvous in Phoenix some 50 years after their prime to take in several Spring Training games – well, strange things can happen.

Cell phones can vanish. Deteriorating brain cells can short out and cause the loss of all sense of direction. Meticulously laid plans can unravel. And it all happened the first day we were there (see previous post).

Of the three of us, Joe is probably the least tech savvy, but I’m not around him enough to really know. He’s a retired high school teacher, as is Dwight, and they obviously had to have enough skills to navigate the school system – of 10 years ago. However, Joe had given his cell phone to his daughter recently and came on the trip without one.

As we learned after the fact, Dwight’s cell had fallen out of the pocket of his loosely fitted pants onto the floor of his car on the way to his departing airport, and he arrived in Arizona without one as well. As for myself, I’m an age-appropriate tech junkie, so my phone was strapped securely to my belt.

Why is this important? My smart phone (an i-phone4) saved our bacon. Many times.

Of course the phone has built-in GPS, and so we were able to easily navigate out of the airport and quickly head in the right direction to the ballpark of the first game we were going to see. Dwight drove the rental car, I sat in the right seat as navigator, and Joe periodically – no, often – shouted what he perceived as warnings from the back seat – which were usually ignored.

The phone GPS system does not talk to you sweetly with directions. However, it is a good mapping device, and shows your location, so you can navigate better than if you had a paper map. And it’s search feature was primarily the element which saved the hides of these old, directionally handicapped friends.

For example, after the first game in Scottsdale on Tuesday, I just plugged in the name of our hotel in Mesa (we got by far the best deal there), and my trusty phone pointed the way without error. When we got hungry later in the evening, the i-phone suggested three great restaurants, all less than a mile away.

And so it went. When Joe needed to text his daughter, it was a snap. When we needed to find the Giants’ minor league practice facility (photo above) – no problem. And when we needed to find the best way to drive 60 miles to the Mariners’ game in Peoria on Thursday, the i-phone came through again.

I wonder how bad-off these three old friends would have been without a smart phone. Not sure I want to think much about that.

Is Las Vegas Losing it’s Luster?

Kay Lynne and I spent a few days in Las Vegas this past week, mainly to enjoy some time in a warmer, sunny clime with lifelong friends, Dwight and Lynnette Klassen.

We encountered a city that is going through some enigmatic changes.

Of course we had to go through the casino to get to our room on the 21st floor of the Mirage, and we found the cavernous gambling center rather startlingly sparsely filled. Nearly three quarters of the slots and gaming tables were empty in a place that was relatively recently designed to accommodate large crowds of people.

We weren’t there long enough nor did we visit enough other places to make an accurate observation, but it sure seemed like there were FAR less people there this time than when we last visited the city in January of 2008.

There were two high points, for me at least, on the trip. The first was the latest Cirque du Soleil show, Viva Elvis (top pic -- look closely; those are acrobats on a large "jungle Jim" set designed in the shape of a guitar), at the incredibly beautiful Aria Resort in the new city center complex. Btw, the city center complex (photo above), in contrast to the Mega-Casinos, is bustling with activity – especially the Crystals Retail and Entertainment Center.

It’s hard to put into words what happens at a Cirque du Soleil show. It’s a truly unbelievable combination of art, physicality, acrobatics, music, sound, video, film and visuals. I would even call it “sensory overload”. Suffice it to say, if you haven’t seen a Cirque du Soleil performance – do so if you can!

The other high point was a visit to the new Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge which spans Black Canyon some 900 feet above the Colorado River. You can’t see much while crossing the bridge (it’s walled about five feet high on each side for safety reasons) but from the visitors center you can actually walk across the dam side of the bridge. Above photo was taken from a helicopter high above the structure after its completion last October but before traffic was allowed across it.

Dwight and I took a side trip to the site (on the north end of the Strip) of the Pawn Stars reality TV show on the History Channel. It’s amazing what television exposure will do. A perpetual long line of people stand in line daily to get inside the shop where Rick Harrison, his curmudgeonly father, son Corey and “gofer” Chumley roam the aisles. Interestingly, two nearby pawn shops were virtually desolate.

Buddy is in “Paradise” For Five Days

Our dog is in Paradise. No, he hasn’t left us.

Instead, he’s at the “Paradise Pet Lodge” while we travel for a short time. Note the appropriate yellow "convenience station" (above). The place bills itself as “An Exclusive Resort For Pets.” I sure hope it’s a kennel as well, ‘cause that’s really all we were looking for.

The good thing is that we know he’ll be well taken care of. That’s important to us, because Buddy suffers from “separation anxiety.” He won’t eat or drink water on his own when we’re gone. The folks at the “Resort” said they’d hand feed him if necessary, so OUR anxiety levels can remain normal.

Buddy is a great dog. He’ll enjoy the companion-ship of other dogs and the loving care of some good people. Which means we’ll enjoy OUR trip all the more.

His Eye Is On The Sparrow

When, with a thankful heart, I read this story on my son Gregg's blog, I was reminded of the late, great, jazz, pop and sacred vocalist from yester-generation, Ethel Waters (pictured).

After a career as a jazz/pop singer, on Broadway, and also in Hollywood films, she often sang at Billy Graham crusades later in her life. Her most famous song, and of which I was reminded when I read Gregg's blog post, was the spiritual, His Eye Is On The Sparrow.

In her unique style -- sort of half-singing and half-speaking, but with deep emotion -- she would go through the verses. You would cling to every word as her eyes twinkled and she smiled to accentuate the words.

The song ends with these lyrics, and she would sing it this way: "For His eye is on the sparrowwwww... and I KNOW... He watches... YOU." And then she would smile from ear-to-ear and wink, pointing directly at the audience.

I thought of dear Ethel Waters, once again, when I read Gregg's story. Thanks be to God.

LA Weekend Post #3 – A “Wicked” Saturday Night at Hollywood’s Pantages Theater

We walked among the sidewalk Stars of Buster Keaton, Jackie Gleason and many others on Hollywood Boulevard last Saturday night as we made our way to the historic Pantages Theater right near Vine Street, where we saw the stage play/musical Wicked for the second time.

To parody a famous quote, “Wicked is (even) better the second time around”. And, it is nuanced.

Since we saw the play in Chicago last year, the script has changed significantly – and all for the better. It is funnier, more engaging, has more dialogue and the plot is clearer. All of us thought the Hollywood version was superior to the Midwest version of a year ago.

Wicked is the prequel to the Wizard of Oz. We learn how Glinda becomes the Good Witch and how the green-skinned Elphaba becomes the Wicked Witch of the West. And we also learn that the Wizard has some deep, dark secrets in his past. If I’m correct, we also caught a glimpse (actually heard only a cry) from baby Dorothy as the play ends.

The gorgeous and spirited Megan Hilty plays Glinda and carries the show. Both she and Eden Espinosa (Elphaba), pictured, have incredible voices. The musical is based on a novel by Gregory Maguire and on a book by Winnie Holzman. Music and lyrics are by Stephen Schwartz, most noted for his work in Godspell.

Wicked is a wonderfully entertaining show and gives you plenty of fodder for later discussions about “good and evil”. I give it FOUR stars and a “thumbs-up”.

LA Weekend Post #2 – A Visit to the Getty Center, An Incredible Philanthropic Gesture

On Saturday (see previous post for intro) we all drove to the newer Getty Center, located on a magnificent hilltop campus just north of Brentwood along Interstate 405. And if you can believe it, the entire facility is FREE, fully supported by the J. Paul Getty Trust.

At the Getty Center that we visited (there is also the Getty Villa in Malibu) we found an expansive, open campus with panoramic views of Los Angeles, and we saw the incredible Getty Museum's collection of Western art from the Middle Ages to the present (top pic is one of the art museums) . Amidst it all are the beautiful three-acre Getty Gardens created by Robert Irwin (photo below).

Over a million visitors a year enjoy this magnificent philanthropic gesture by the J. Paul Getty Foundation. We noticed virtually every race and socio-economic class among the guests, and the Getty Foundation is to be congratulated and acknowledged for making these cultural gems and icons available to all.

When have you last been anywhere you could view original paintings by Van Gogh, Cezanne and Monet in one location? Here, you can do so at no cost! That's my available-light snap of Van Gogh's “Old Man in a Military Costume” shown.

However, I should point out that the parking does cost $8, but you enjoy a gorgeous tram ride from the parking lot up to the campus as a side bonus. The Getty Center, in our opinion, must be the most understated and underrated public museum and destination anywhere.

It’s a cultural treasure, to say the least. One more L.A. post tomorrow on our Saturday evening visit to the Pantages Theater in Hollywood to see Wicked.

One Incredible Weekend – Virgin America, City Walk at Universal City, the Getty Center and the stage play/musical WICKED in Hollywood

We’re back at home after a whirlwind weekend in Los Angeles, compliments of my son, Doug, and his wife, Jamie, our daughter-in-law.

We flew on Richard Branson’s Virgin America, and it is truly an adventure into the future. Check the Star Wars-like cabin interior in the photo. But the big thing is that you have your own personal multi-media computer/screen on the back of the seat in front of you. You’ve gotta try Virgin America soon if you haven’t already.

Doug put together the weekend for his mom in celebration of her May 1 birthday. She got to pick every venue and chose extremely well. Last year Doug took his dad on a four-park midwest Major League Baseball tour in which his brother Gregg joined us to make a memorable excursion for dad and sons.



This year the focus was on mom, and I got to go along as a happy accompanier. As an added wonderful bonus, Kay Lynne’s brother, Rick (a birthday on May 2), and his wife, Danielle, flew out from Chicago to join us for the two-plus days in LA. We stayed at the Hilton Universal City, an incredibly good experience in hospitality. The photo above is of the six of us just after breakfast this morning at the hotel. (L to R) Jamie, Doug, Danielle, Rick, Kay Lynne and moi.

Doug could easily have been highly successful in the travel business, but instead he’s a theology professor (well, technically, an assistant professor) who just had his first book published (I’ll post about that in the near future).

Friday night we ate at the Daily Grill in City Walk overlooking Universal City Studios, and we went to the incredible Getty center on Saturday afternoon before the stage play. More posts to follow on the fabulous weekend in Los Angeles. But we miss our dog Buddy – he’s still at the kennel until morning.

Six Bedroom “Cottage” on the Oregon Coast

This past weekend we were in Oregon with our granddaughters while our son Gregg and his wife Elaine spent some time away at a spectacular beach-front getaway on the Coast at Seaside with a group of close friends.

Kay Lynne and I enjoyed a great three days with Talli, Hayley and Aubrey while mom & dad were gone. Aubrey, the youngest at 5, showed off her “creativity” in this photo taken Sunday afternoon. We have no idea what it means or what prompted her. That’s a curling comb she’s “wearing.”

Talli heads into high school come September, while Hayley will enter middle school. Aubrey will begin serious studies, as she starts first grade. Time is sure flying by, and we treasure every one of these times we have together with family.

“Prayer Is Something That We ARE” – Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia

Yesterday we ventured over to the Emerald City and the Seattle Pacific University Campus to hear a talk on the Orthodox Christian view of “prayer.” The speaker was the most Rev. Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia, the man probably most responsible for explaining Orthodox beliefs to the western world. He was the featured guest in the school's annual Palmer lecture series.

Born Timothy Ware in England, he was raised an Anglican but converted to the Orthodox Church in his mid-20’s. After a long and distinguished career as a priest and educator (at Oxford) he was consecrated Bishop of Diokleia (part of the Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain) in 1982. Since his retirement in 2001, he continues to lecture around the world, and in 2007 he was elevated to Metropolitan.

“We should think of prayer as something we are” (in contrast to thinking of prayer as something we do), offered Kallistos. He underlined the thought with a fourth-century quote from Gregory the Theologian, “Remember God more often than you breathe.”

He was expanding on Jesus’ charge to “Pray without ceasing”. As we learn, he said, the Holy Spirit works in our heart to allow us to listen to God’s leading. He admonished that too often we “listen” by asking God for something, when, instead, we should “be quiet and just listen.”

These concepts are developed further in his books The Orthodox Church and The Orthodox Way (required reading in most universities), both of which have been widely read in the western world. His most recent writing is titled The Inner Kingdom, if you’re interested.

SENSORY OVERLOAD in Las Vegas Shows

I don’t think I’ve ever before been in a venue where I could not take in all that was going on.

But it occurred twice this past weekend in Las Vegas where we saw a couple of incredible performances under the “umbrella” of Cirque du Soleil (which has grown exponentially to sponsor shows in quite a few of the major LV Strip hotels as well as around the world).

We saw LOVE, a show that visually, auditorily and spectacularly celebrates the music of The Beatles through dance and gymnastics (and is quite nostalgic), and we also took in Mystere, a “classic” Cirque du Soleil show that combines powerful athleticism and high-energy acrobatics with amazing visual imagery and fabulous new age music.

Both shows take entertainment to an altitude perhaps never before achieved. You simply can’t absorb all that is happening at any point in time. You kind of have to “pick and choose” among a seemingly endless variety of sensory stimuli. On a scale of "10", I'd rate LOVE a "12" and Mystere an "11"

The music is in surround-sound so it seems like it’s going right through your head (instead of just into your ears). The visuals are as good as any Hollywood screen production, and the human acrobatic performances defy the laws of nature. All are choreographed to create a blended and synchronized presentation.

Plus, the shows are performed in large (up to 1,000 people), specially built, bowl-like Casino theaters with a “wheel-and-spoke-like”, multi-sectioned center-stage. Each section is individually hydraulically controlled so entertainers can appear from below and then disappear to the dark depths just as quickly. The action takes place from ceiling to floor, and permeates the atmosphere, much like a fireworks display, with acrobats in the air and on bungees, thousands of light impulses seemingly everywhere, confetti, panavision-type movie screens and all varieties of stage activities and entertainment “smoke”. And that doesn’t even describe it adequately.

All together, it’s sensory overload!

We were fortunate enough to be able to enjoy these entertainment spectaculars due to the generosity of Kay Lynne’s brother, Rick, who invited extended family to share in Danielle’s festive commemoration (see last post). And we are deeply grateful for his gesture.

The bottom line is that if you want to kick your “show-going” activities up a notch, take in a Cirque du Soleil performance, either in Las Vegas or when it comes to your area. You’ll long remember it.

Back From Las Vegas

Kay Lynne and I returned home this afternoon from a too-fast, two day trip to Las Vegas. We went there to celebrate the “major milestone” birthday (the one usually associated with "pushing" retirement) of our sister-in-law, Danielle, and to spend time with the Keethler family which includes KL’s brother, Rick, and daughter, Kate. They all flew in from the Chicago area, which right now is colder than Alaska.

A close friend of Danielle’s had highly recommended one of the shows there, and so that became Danielle’s choice for a landmark celebration. Every hour was packed with fun-filled, family activities, the highlights of which were two incredible Cirque du Soleil performances, which I will describe in more detail in a future post.

If you like crowds of people everywhere, bright lights, smoky hotels with zillions of restaurants, crawling traffic on the Boulevard, gambling of every variety, and the desert, then this is your place. However, we did not go to Sin City for the typical reasons that people usually do. We went to enjoy a family gathering.

I drove over to Hoover Dam, about 35 or so miles east of LV, one afternoon while others were shopping. The dam itself is an incredible structure which created massive Lake Mead behind it and was one of the W.P.A. projects under F.D.R. following the Great Deprssion. As spectacular as is Hoover Dam, however, the Bypass, now under construction, totally grabbed my attention and interest (top photo, which I snapped on my phone cam from the car, shows a few of the columns that will support the elevated roadway).

The main highway between Las Vegas and Kingman, Arizona passes right over the dam. It is a slow, curvy and tedious drive through the area. But after the year 2010 you’ll be able to use the new bypass which is being constructed hundreds of feet over the Colorado River from canyon rim to canyon rim just to the south of the dam.



From the ground it looks like an impossible feat to accomplish so high above the river bed. Pictured above is how it will look when it is finished. You can see how the columns are built both on the rock base at the side and then continue over the arch which goes from wall to wall. This is an engineering feat that may exceed that of the dam itself.

They have strung a series of cables across the canyon high OVER the roadway elevation from which workers can drop down to build the spans for the structure. It’s so remarkable that I’m going to have to go back there to see it after it’s complete. Truly a marvel of mankind.

Another Gathering of Friends in Discovery Bay

Our time in the SF Bay area last weekend was far too short. But one of the things we wouldn’t have missed was a get-together with old college roommates (two of the Baggars) and their wives.

Call it fate, or whatever, two of six old college buddies have ended up in retirement, living on the water just a few doors from each other in the Sacramento River Delta community of Discovery Bay, near Brentwood. Great friends since childhood, Dwight and Lynnette Klassen and Ralph and Gayle Higgins still talk almost daily “over the fence,” so to speak.

Kay Lynne and I joined them on Saturday afternoon for a dinner at Cap’s in Brentwood and dessert, great conversation and the singing of Christmas Carols at Klassens’ place. I snapped the above photo as we gathered around the piano to sing together the joyous sounds of Christmas in celebration of our Savior’s birth.

Ralph and Dwight, both incredible musicians and my envy all our lives, capped the evening by improvising together on the piano keyboard, “dualing” some familiar old tunes. I offered to step in and try playing some melody, but still, after almost 50 years, I can’t find the right notes for Waterloo.

A Christmas Gathering in the Santa Cruz Redwoods

Last Thursday we flew down to San Jose for an evening get-together with three couples at Mt Hermon Christian Conference Center near Santa Cruz. The event was a buffet dinner and Christmas concert held annually there – actually the first of eight performances over two weekends.

This year’s featured artists were harmonica virtuoso Buddy Greene and Jeff Taylor, a talented multi-instrument accompanist and comedic cohort. Both hail from Nashville, and their performance was extremely entertaining.

Joining us in the pouring rain that night in the Santa Cruz mountains were our friends Ted and Sharon Petersen of Lake Wildwood, Mike and Gwen Silkwood of Morgan Hill and Ed and Darlene Wall of Almaden/San Jose. This was probably the fifth or sixth consecutive year we’ve gathered to enjoy the annual holiday concert among the Redwoods.

After the concert was over, we drove into nearby Santa Cruz, checked into our beachfront hotel and headed to a local all-night eatery for some fellowship and more food (after all, it had been at least three hours since we had fed the monster). Sometime well after midnight we crept back into our hotel rooms for some welcome zzz’s.

The pic above was taken the next morning after breakfast at the hotel’s oceanfront restaurant. Back row, l to r, are moi, Ted, Ed and Mike. Middle row, l to r, are Kay Lynne, Sharon and Gwen, with Darlene in the front center.

Among all our fun activities, we reminisced back some 39+ years when we’d meet at Uncle John’s Pancake House after Sunday night church services in San Jose. The kids would all be asleep in their hand-carried, folding porta-beds (long since obsolete) by the time we headed for home. Thanks for the memories…

The Historic Belmont Hotel in Port Townsend

Last Sunday, on our day trip to Port Townsend with our California friends, the Walls (see last post), we had a late lunch/early dinner at the vintage, red brick Belmont Hotel.

The historic inn is the city’s only remaining 1880s waterfront restaurant and saloon and is recognized as one of the “Northwest Best Places” by AAA.

Much of downtown Port Townsend’s main drag is lined with improved or restored Victorian edifices.

A walk up and down the quaint sidewalks takes you past building after building and store front after storefront that causes you to feel like you’re experiencing what it was like 120 years ago. Only the horses and buggies are absent.

In 1885, saloon keeper George Sterming erected the building that still bears his name. He put offices on the upper level, and the lower floor facilitated the soon-to-be famous restaurant and saloon. Sterming’s clientele was an eclectic mix of rowdy sea captains, arguing cargo brokers, adventurers, gun and rum runners, gamblers and hustlers.

In spite of the carnival atmosphere, the Belmont also was often a welcome conclusion to a terrifying sea passage for those seeking a fresh start in life.

The cuisine was sumptuous, and the ambiance was equally splendid. If you’re ever up in the Northwest’s Olympic Peninsula, the Belmont Hotel and Port Townsend are worthy stops.

Four Summer Days In Four American Cities: Nothing But Baseball, Hot Dogs, and Highway Driving With My Two Sons – Post #7: Touching Home Plate

After the Sunday afternoon Cubs-Pirates game, Gregg, Doug and I enjoyed some great conversation and a nice Tex-Mex Dinner at Don Pedro’s, out toward the Pittsburgh airport.

We then dropped Gregg off at his steel city airdrome hotel from where he would fly home very early Monday morning. The car seemed to naturally point its way northward toward the Cleveland area where Doug and I would spend the last night of our baseball odyssey before driving to Chicago to fly home.

On Monday morning we drove past “The Jake” (Jacobs Field) in downtown Cleveland (above) on the shores of Lake Erie. This is where the Indians play their home games. Due to the MLB All-star Game break, the field was eerily empty and silent.

Down the road apiece, along the same lake shore, is the Cleveland Browns football stadium – adjacent to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. One last baseball city and two neat stadiums provided a perfect tip of the hat to our trip.

O, yes, I did get my luggage back. It was delivered to the house about 36 hours after we arrived back in Seattle. Fierce thunder storms in the Midwest had delayed hundreds of flights at O’Hare on the evening of the 9th, resulting in Doug and I getting re-routed home through San Jose where we transferred to a different airline.

That, apparently, was too much for the airline luggage people to keep up with.

We flew some 4,000 total miles and drove an additional 2,000 miles going from city to city on our great American baseball adventure. We saw four and a half baseball games, including extra innings, and visited five of the newer Major League baseball parks (if you include the Cleveland drive by).

For me, it was the trip of a lifetime, enjoying the greatest game of all – baseball – in four of the very best new parks in America. And best of all, it was with my sons, taking pleasure in our common passion.

Four Summer Days In Four American Cities: Nothing But Baseball, Hot Dogs, and Highway Driving With My Two Sons – Post #6: The “Confluence”

Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is located in the triangle formed by the “Y-shaped” meeting of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers. The area is simply known as “the confluence”.

A statue of Honus Wagner welcomes you to PNC Park. Pittsburgh’s new baseball facility is to the north of downtown, across the Allegheny River, and is connected to the forest of skyscrapers by the signature yellow Roberto Clemente Memorial Bridge.

Before, during and after each Pirates home game, the bridge is shut down to vehicle traffic and becomes a convenient, pedestrian-only approach to the Park site. Gregg took the bridge pic below from outside of the right field fence.

Just to the west, on the north side of the very spot where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers converge to form the Ohio, lies the also newer Heinz Field (above), home of the football Steelers. Heinz Field replaced the now razed but appropriately named Three Rivers Stadium, in which both the Pirates and Steelers played.

What I remember most about July 8th in Pittsburgh is that it was quite hot – and humid. Of course it was an afternoon game, and the beating sun made it feel a little like a sauna.

The game itself was a good one. Pirates 6, Cubs 2 was the final score. We had two seats together and one separately (because we bought the third one later), but the single seat actually turned out to be a better location – directly behind home plate.

From the vantage point of that seat (which was also in the sun most of the game) you could see Carlos Zambrano’s wicked breaking stuff. How the Pirates could hit him at all was amazing, and they did so enough to beat him, aided by some spectacular defensive plays.

PNC Park is truly one of the finest baseball parks in the country. There is a hedge out in center field that is cleverly clipped to spell out “Pirates” (left). The views from inside the stadium toward downtown are spectacular. The service people in Pittsburgh were especially friendly and helpful.

In fact, the whole Pittsburgh area was (to me) surprisingly green, hilly and beautiful. Where were the steel mills and smoke?

For me, Pittsburgh comes in extremely close to number one St. Louis as far as ranking the four stadiums we visited. Detroit would be a close third followed by Cincinnati. However on a scale of 10 of all stadiums, the rankings would be 9.9, 9.8, 9.7 and 9.6. They are all wonderful Parks, including my hometown Safeco Field in Seattle, which I’d rank about a 9.8 or 9.9.

Of course for me the only 10 ranking is AT&T Park in San Francisco. Nothing can compare with the views of the San Francisco Bay or a “splash hit” into McCovey Cove.

Four Summer Days In Four American Cities: Nothing But Baseball, Hot Dogs, and Highway Driving With My Two Sons – Post #5: The Eyes of the Tiger(s)

During the long drive from one of last year’s World Series cities (St. Louis) to the other (Detroit), we talked on and off about the Motor City's inability to relate to the American marketplace despite it’s historic inventive prowess regarding the coach on wheels.

The best mileage cars are either Japanese or Korean. Toyota is head and shoulders above everyone else in hybrid technology. And, unfortunately for Detroit, the Asian car makers have little competition – still.

The pretty obvious conclusion is that across the Pacific they don’t have to deal with union strangleholds and gagging union pensions. Very sad, and the exodus from the motor city due to dwindling jobs in auto manufacturing is not only obvious, it’s also taking its economic toll on the area.

Another Detroit “distinction”: in San Francisco, Cincinnati, St. Louis and Pittsburgh, you find the featured ballpark statuary to be a key player or players in the franchise.

In Detroit? Statues of TIGERS! (top and left) You mean Ty Cobb doesn’t deserve a bronze likeness?? To each his own, I guess.

Comerica Park itself is quite nice. It’s on par with many of the newer parks. One sparkling feature is that they often play the hit song “Eye of the Tiger” between innings, and when they do, the eyes on the scoreboard tigers shine brilliantly green. A nice touch.

However, only a downtown skyline, with lots of obviously empty office space, is its backdrop (photo below); there’s no adjacent water as in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and, of course, San Francisco, where you can hit a home run into the Bay (a “splash hit”).

The game we saw, however, was quite another story. It was a spectacular, well-played, 13-inning marathon between the hometown Tigers and the visiting Boston Red Sox. Each team had opportunities to win, but neither could convert to lock it up, either in regulation or in any of three extra innings.

Finally, in the bottom of the 13th inning, Pudge Rodriguez lined a shot into right center just beyond the diving Coco Crisp to score the winning run. These were two first class, first-place teams playing like it was the last game of the ALCS (which it very well might be in early October). Neither would give an inch through the entire contest.

To Detroit’s credit, there ARE some great things at Comerica Park. Gregg, in his blog, mentioned the large, functional food court (like in many shopping centers) with a carousel in the center for kids of all ages to enjoy.

Midwest ballparks are VERY “family-oriented,” and that’s great. They even stress over the P.A. system that anyone using foul language will be removed from the park. Wow. I don't recall that ever happening in San Francisco.

After the game we headed for an overnight in Toledo to get a jump on our drive to Pittsburgh the next morning so we could arrive in time for a Sunday afternoon game.

Four Summer Days In Four American Cities: Nothing But Baseball, Hot Dogs, and Highway Driving With My Two Sons – Post #4: Seeing “Touchdown Jesus”

After an overnight in Springfield, Illinois following the Giants-St. Louis game, on Saturday morning we headed north and east toward Detroit, almost 500 miles away.

There is a lot of road construction along this route that caused us some frustrating delays, and on top of that, the rental car overheated.

Somewhere around Gary, Indiana the temp gauge on the 300 suddenly shot upward. Doug quickly exited the tollway, and we popped the hood at the first gas station. The problem was obvious: there was no radiator cap in place.

Fortunately, even though the cap had somehow popped off, it had landed on top of the coolant overflow reservoir, where it remained in plain sight. After giving the cooling system a fresh drink of coolant and water, we were on the way again, none the worse for wear.

We soon were passing South Bend, and Doug said, “We’ve gotta see ‘Touchdown Jesus.’” It wasn’t long until the massive Notre Dame football stadium loomed ahead. We stopped to take some pictures.

“Touchdown Jesus” is a full-wall mosaic opposite the stadium entrance depicting Christ with his arms raised toward heaven (and also approximating the signal for a touchdown). It is pictured at the top of this post.

Looking at the main entrance to the football field (above) brings to mind the many historic memories contained within those walls. Knute Rockne, George Gipp, the Four Horsemen, Paul Hornung, Joe Montana, and on and on. The school’s storied football past almost invokes awe.

As we left the hallowed grounds of Our Lady, we talked about all of the tradition and history of the school. It could just be the most significant college sports institution in the country.

After the radiator experience, we decided to turn in the car at the Detroit airport and get another one for the remainder of the trip. We got to the Detroit area just in time to accomplish the trade and get to Tiger Stadium for the evening game with the Red Sox. That’ll be the next post.