Spring Baseball - March 13-20, 2018

My oldest, Allen IV, and good buddy, Harry, joined me in Florida for my second year of Spring Training Baseball.
Allen IV's flight from Denver arrived late on Tuesday night, but coming from Mountain Time, he had not had dinner.  We stopped for a late supper and arrived at Karen's home after midnight.

Allen IV enjoying his tour of TGO
Yes, that's a 3 foot alligator on the small island in Addison Canal

The next day, Allen IV slept in as he transitioned to Eastern Time, then took his obligatory tour of Karen's community, "The Great Outdoors" (TGO). 

TGO's Jukebox Café,

photo courtesy of TGO

After a fun lunch at TGO's cool café, the 50s & 60s Rock & Roll decorated "Jukebox Café," Allen IV and I departed in the RV heading south to meet Harry.

Allen IV and I set up camp at Palm Beach County's John Prince Park Campground so we'd be ready to meet Harry's plane in the morning.  For dinner we found a pub showing hockey on TV (Johnny Q's) and enjoyed the Pittsburgh Penguins playing the NY Rangers after a nice Italian dinner.
The next morning we drove to Fort Lauderdale to meet Harry's plane only to discover it had been rescheduled a few hours later.  Allen IV and I took the extra time to make a brief visit to the nearby Harbour Towne Marina where I began my two year stint as a yacht broker.   Leopard Catamarans' sales headquarters is in this marina, so Allen IV and I took a short walk to see one of the Leopard's currently tied up in the marina.  We had a nice chat with the owner who invited us aboard for tour of his Leopard 46.

Leopard 46, "Brown Eyed Girl," photo by Warren Stewart, 2014 in Annapolis

That filled the time nicely as we departed for the 10 minute ride to the airport to pick up Harry.  His flight came in at the new expected ETA, he grabbed his bag and was aboard the RV for our immediate departure to the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, Spring Training Home of Harry's favorite team, the Washington Nationals.  With the rescheduled flight we got to our seats just as the Nats were coming to bat for the first inning.

The Houston Astros were the Nats' challengers for this game.  It was fun watching the 2017 World Series Champs play against the Nationals, and even more fun to watch them go down, losing to Harry's Nats.  This was our first game of a full week of spring training baseball.
And Not just baseball! 

Panthers vs Bruins at BB&T

Arena, photo by Harry Jones

We met with Joe from Miami at the BB&T Arena that evening for a Florida Panthers - Boston Bruins hockey game!  Our seats were just four rows from the glass, so we had a terrific view of all the action at our end of the rink.  Since the Panthers won, 3-0, most of the offensive action was at our end and we enjoyed some great hockey.  Our only disappointment was missing the Pens and Caps.

Atlantic Ocean view from breakfast, Good Choice, Allen IV!

The next morning Allen IV found a great beachfront restaurant for breakfast.  A gorgeous day with a comfortable breeze wafting from the ocean, it was perfect. 

Harry and Allen IV

We returned to Ballpark of the Palm Beaches for the Nats vs Cardinals.  The Nats thrilled Harry again as they took down the St. Louis team, 4-2.  Although the Nats' ballpark was nice enough, even looking new and modern, it was just too bland and uninspiring.  Their food choices were minimal, included nothing vegetarian unless you count French fries, their beer and liquor choices were too limited and prices were much higher than the quality provided.  We decided it was nice to see the park but we won't be back. 
Piling into the RV, we began cross-state trek to Bradenton, FL where we'd catch our Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday.  It was a long run with Allen IV doing the driving as he had plenty of experience operating big trucks in his work as a pool machinery tech in Denver.  The old guys may have napped a bit enroute.

Harry, Allen IV and Murph (Allen III) at The Bridge Tender Inn

After checking into our campsite for the next few days, then headed to a favorite dinner stop for Harry and me, the Bridge Tender Inn at Bradenton Beach.
With experience from last year's spring training baseball, we knew just the spot in Bradenton for parking the RV and enjoying a great breakfast (Theresa's Restaurant) for both Allen's as well as vegetarian Harry.  The church parking lot is perfect for the RV as they have lots of room only a couple blocks from the ballpark and they charge a flat rate no matter our size or how long we park.  There was still time between breakfast and the game start so  .  .  .  being St. Patrick's Day we began our celebration with the locals in downtown Bradenton! 

St. Patrick's Day in Bradenton

We strolled through the cordoned off main street with the other pedestrian revelers, beginning with a shot of Jameson's followed by our favorite brews, mine being Smithwick's (pronounced "Smit-iks").  There were pipers, dancers, bands and many booths showing their wares so the time passed quickly and enjoyably.
McKechnie Field at Lecom Park is the Pirates' Spring Training Home.  The ballpark in Bradenton has a history dating to 1923.  The Pirates are such and institution that the policeman stationed at the ballpark wear Pirates' ball caps!  Unlike Palm Beach's park, the food and drink choices are much better so the high prices are much easier to accept, especially as they seem to be a bit less than their east coast counterparts.

Allen IV sports his new Pirates' ballcap

Weather: Pittsburgh vs Bradenton

The Pirates put on a grand show decimating the Twins 13-5.  We missed seeing friend and fellow sailor, Carl, who is spending his retirement behind a professional camera at all Penguin, Steeler and Pirate Home Games.  I'm convinced Carl has nailed the retirement gig perfectly!  Although he does spend some time at Pirates' Spring Training, our schedules didn't match this year.

Harry beats the

Irish boys at darts

Our postgame libations were found at a fun brewpub (Motorworks Brewing) that included a dart board.  Even though Harry played darts much less often than I have, he beat me soundly.  :-(  For dinner we hiked to Bradenton's waterfront on the Manatee River and enjoyed a great meal at Pier 22.
Harry's second team, the Baltimore Orioles, was our host for Sunday's ballgame taking place at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota.  Our breakfast choice in Sarasota is a short walk from the stadium at the 12th Street Café.  They provide classic American breakfast fare served by local folks who work hard to present a good meal with a smile. 

The two Murphs at the Grapefruit League map in Ed Smith Stadium

The O's have a great ballpark with banners from their championships over the years and a fun map of Florida's Grapefruit League.  As a Pirate fan, I really enjoy seeing the Orioles' banner from 1979 proclaiming their American League Championship.  Why does a Pirate fan enjoy this banner? some might ask.  Other Pirate fans know the answer: 1979 was the year the Pirates beat the O's to win the World Series!  Sadly, the Orioles never caught the Mets who barely won, 5-4.

Sunset at Anna Maria Island

Being Florida and briefly enjoying a view of beach and ocean at Palm Springs whetted our interest in spending more time and actually dragging our bare feet through the sand.  Having heard good things about a restaurant called the Sandbar at the end of Anna Maria Island, we pointed the RV west to the Gulf coast.  We found a place to park the RV and walked to the beach near the restaurant, enjoying the views, sun, sand and wavelets dancing on the beach.  The meal and beer were very good and concluded in time to catch a terrific sunset as the waning orange orb settled below the watery horizon.

The next morning we followed the Os to an away game at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland.  It didn't hurt that the stadium was on our way to the Orland Airport, where both Allen IV and Harry had very early flights the following morning.  We found the ballpark and spent the time before the game walking the stadium circumference to enjoy the full experience. 

Florida's minor league teams

This stadium had two cool maps painted on its walls, one showing the MLB Grapefruit League Teams (just like at Ed Smith Stadium) and the other map located the members of Florida's minor league baseball teams.  Not surprisingly, many teams share stadiums.  For example, both the Bradenton Marauders and the Pittsburgh Pirates play at McKechnie Field in Bradenton.  The Orioles made up for Sunday's loss by beating the Tigers handily, 4-2.
Dinner was merely a waypoint, then we set camp for the evening at Moss Park, an Orange County Park and campground near Orlando's airport.  We were up early to make Harry and Allen IV's 6:15am departures.  Five ball games AND a hockey game squeezed into 5 fun-filled days.  Yep!  We gotta do this again!