St. Louis Cardinals vs. Milwaukee Brewers; 7:05pm
Laurie drove us to the airport for our 11am flight to Milwaukee. We were flying Midwest Airlines and I wasn't convinced the airline even existed until we checked in with them at BWI. Turns out the airline is known for two things: (a) leather seats; and (b) warm chocolate chip cookies with their beverage service. Truth be told, I wasn't particularly impressed with either, however, since the plane took off on time and didn't fall out of the sky, I consider the flight a success.
We rented a red RAV4 and headed out to our hotel near the ballpark. After checking in to the lovely Best Western on West National Avenue, we headed to the “4th Base”, which is the sports bar featured towards the end of the movie “Major League” (when the people in the bar are cheering the Indians’ victory). It was a pretty cool place with lots of memorabilia. That said, $14 for a salmon caesar salad should be reserved for areas like NY and DC, not the ‘burbs of Milwaukee!
After lunch Todd and I trotted over to Miller Valley - home to the Miller Brewing Company. We took the free tour, which culminates in the serving of 24 oz of free beer. I’m not a fan of beer, but far be it from me to turn down a free drink. Unfortunately for the people sitting at my table, “turning it down” is exactly what happened when, after receiving my first 8 oz mug, I proceeded to deposit the entire thing all over the table! After this incident, the bartender cut me off.
After a quick nap, which turned out to be the only hour of relaxation time for the entire trip, we headed out to the ballpark. In the parking lot we got to mingle with the Sausage mascots and just missed schtick with Bernie Brewer. During the game they kept the roof of the dome closed because it was getting a bit chilly out. Overall, I’m a big fan of Miller Park, except for the old bat manning the Designated Driver booth. She had no sympathy for a guy on his first trip to the stadium who left his parking stub in the car (“We’ve haaad the same rules here firrr the last ten yeeears!”) Thanks lady – you’re the only blight on Miller Park! We had decent seats and the food was pretty good. Now, for the 2 weeks leading up to the trip I had been watching my diet (and those of you who are aware of my dieting habits know that I’m pretty militant about it - when I'm on it!), but decided that I was going to enjoy myself on the trip – just a bit – and try the local cuisine. This turned out to be a BAD idea, as you’ll find out later on at Wrigley. Anyway…I helped myself to a bratwurst, which was phenomenal, and some kettle corn, which I’ll never eat again as long as I live. The game itself was mildly exciting, though I couldn’t have cared less who won. I cheered for the Brewers because someone had to.
Another activity I wanted to do in Milwaukee is visit the Potowatami Casino, which was about 3 miles from the park. So, as we were leaving the park, all the cars were turning right. I saw a sign for the casino that pointed left and, just as in Baltimore, we avoided ALL the traffic leaving the stadium. This turned out to be the highlight for the rest of the evening.
We got to the casino, which was just about the biggest turd that I’ve ever gambled at. I've been to plenty of dive casinos in A.C. and Vegas, but I think the reason I hated this place so much was because NOBODY was having fun. Not the dealers, not the players. Must be because they make you pay for the drinks at your table! What the hell is that about?! Anyway, I hit a straight on Let It Ride, which paid me about $75, but I eventually gave back most of it back. Even though I left with $18 more in my wallet, I have never had such a crappy time gambling in my life. The dealers, the players, everything was just so damn depressing. We spent a total of about 30 minutes there before leaving and arriving back in our room around midnight. I had to take a long shower to scrub the dirty casino experience off of me.
