I think it's time to schedule a vacation. I went through a month of change. I'm in a month of transition. And I'm discovering that no matter what milestones you reach or metamorpheses you undergo, the carousel of day-to-day life doesn't stop on it's own. There will always be something going on, some distraction, some obsession to inject a little unwanted stress into your day.
I've never been much of a vacation guy, because I'm usually pretty low-key on my own. But these days, I'm feeling the weight of stress that has built up over . . . I don't know, five years or so. It's time for a release. It's time to be somewhere that isn't here. It's time . . . for baseball.
I'm also not much of a planner, and a good vacation - I think - takes planning. I mean, they don't just happen. If you want to put life on hold for a moment, you've got to do it yourself. You've got to construct a personal bubble inpenetrable by all other matters of life. You have to go somewhere you won't be bothered. You've got to stay away from Internet connections. You absolutely must forget to bring your cell phone. The word vacation comes from the Greek vakatos, which means "leave me alone." And to be left alone can be hard work.
So I think sometime in the next couple of months, there will be a vacation. There will probably be baseball involved. So I ask you all this question (please vote and comment, especially if your vote is for other):
What city with a baseball team should the Kellogg family visit this spring?
Paddock vs. Petty: If You Had to Pick One
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I’ll declare at the outset that what I’m about to propose is a false
dichotomy. This world is not divided into Tom Pettys and Stephen Paddocks.
But I’m goi...
6 years ago
I'll comment for Jeff... last year he and the boys had a BLAST attending a Rockies game in Denver. And there is just so much beauty and things to see while you're in town. : )
ReplyDeleteSteph
Ok, had to ask hubbie on this one since I don't know anything about baseball - he also said Colorado Rockies.
ReplyDeleteExcept none of these teams are playing anywhere except Florida and Arizona right now. So I'm assuming that this vacation will happen AFTER opening day somewhere. In which case you should take the kid to a CLASSIC stadium in all its imperfect glory, like Wrigley, but not Wrigley. So you go to Boston. No question about it. You see Fenway while you still can. And if you're gonna go somewhere and baseball is the main cog in the clock of your vacation, you might as well see GOOD baseball, in a place where baseball was made to be played (namely, at a NORMAL elevation). Boston.
ReplyDeleteMichael
Yeah . . . the vacation will happen after opening day. Maybe not until May or later. No . . . the vacation won't revolve around baseball, but I'd like to go to a game. And yes . . . Boston is filled with history, but Fenway is a hole. Baseball is meant to be played there, just not watched. We've been there, it was an experience, but probably won't be back. I think we'll go somewhere that is pretty much guaranteed to be warm. Or Seattle.
ReplyDeleteThe Cardinals. St. Louis has the arch, the bowling hall of fame, and, um,...casinos? Ok, so there's not much worth visiting there. But a Cards-Cubs game would be really fun, right?
ReplyDeleteOkay. If you've been there, then that makes sense. If you're going for sheer vacation power, it's got to be SanD out of your listed options. Pretty much the most gorgeous place. Ever. Unless you love coffee, greenery, and live music, in which case Seattle would be prime. I think Seattle's team would be the tie breaker if you needed one, because they'll have a little more pop this year...but I'm still voting for SanD for you. Off I go...to vote...I'm leaving...now...
ReplyDeletePS: NO ATLANTA. I dated a girl there, and I have a good friend that lives down there.
ReplyDelete1. Tornadoes just tore it all up.
2. It's not very safe after dark.
3. The traffic is worse than Chicago, and the city itself is laid out brutally.
4. Watching the Braves is not anywhere near as good as I expected.
5. I think they just ran out of clean water didn't they? Might as well go to Mexico.
That reminds me of something a guy at work once said:
ReplyDelete"Denver is too depressing. I have family and friends there."
Adam, I suggest you go to Tokyo. They play baseball in Japan, don't they? And also, a lot see there. You have time now. Think about it!
ReplyDeleteElena
If you are thinking of going somewhere but don't want to buy plane tickets (cheapie Leah coming out here), Cincinnati is a really nice town. I know my siblings who live in Ohio always hit up Reds/Cubs games (since they are all, of course, Cubs fans living in Ohio). There are a lot of really eclectic little parts of the city that are fun to shop (maybe not your thing) and walk around in. And it's only a couple of hour drive, which means you can tote all the stuff you want along - which for us is a massive amount, so I would imagine with 2 kiddos, it's double the fun. Dayton isn't too far and they have a pretty cool Air Force museum with tons of fighter planes and stuff (Addison might like that?). Just a thought!
ReplyDelete-Leah
San Diego
ReplyDeleteYou said you wanted nice weather.
In most warm weather places, there's always the chance of an unusually bad week of weather. San Diego is more predictable weather-wise. It's like Hawaii without all of the wind. The Padres stadium is walking distance to so many things. The "Gaslight District" is a wonderful area of restaurants and if that area is not children-friendly enough, it is walking distance to all of the restaurants along the waters edge.
Most are family-friendly. There is a huge, retired aircraft carrier docked and is now open for tours. We went on a boat tour of the harbor that takes you by all kinds of military ships docked and we had jets fly over us a number of times (they came in low since they were landing nearby-it was exciting). Also, there is "Old Town San Diego" which is a few miles north. There are tours, parks, shops, ice cream parlors, anything you could think of for the entire family. You are also near the San Diego Zoo. I am not a zoo person but I loved this zoo and if you go to San Diego, you HAVE to go to the zoo. It's beautiful and they have trolleys that take you around the park and the trolley will slow down for you to see things and it also has stops throughout the park. You can get off and wait for the next trolley (which come by regularly) or you can view the animals from the trolley. It is hilly, so the trolly comes in handy, especially with young children and strollers. The zoo also has a "skyline lift" that will take you completely across the park for aerial views. Fun and beautiful. There is also the bridge that takes you over to Coronado Island. That is a neat place. Park near the Coronado Hotel. It's a very old Victorian Hotel with a very unusual design. You have to at least go into the lobby of the hotel. The hotel is 100 + years old and it has the old time "cage" elevator that is still working. The grounds are beautiful and the Hotel has a private beach. They don't care if you walk around and look. *just a teeny fact about
Coronado Island. It is the location of the most retired military generals in the country. I forget now the count but they are all concentrated on the Island. Addison would love the air craft carrier. I'm not even into that kind of thing but I wanted to go on it so much but when we were in San Diego, it was about a month before the ship was going to be ready for tours. It's massive!
I think we should all be hinting heavily to your coworkers to give you 4 tickets to San Diego as a going away present!
Now my husband just walked by and said, "If he's a REAL baseball fan, he'd take an east coast baseball trip and start at Fenway (by the way, it's in better shape now, they let it go for awhile when they were trying to get a new stadium - still old - but alot of baseball history), then down to Yankee stadium and when you're finished there, it's on to Baltimore's Camden Yard." I reminded him it's a FAMILY vacation. Seattle and Baltimore have stadiums that are pretty awesome to look at but Seattle as a city didn't impress us much. Oh yeah, in San Diego, instead of outfield bleachers , there's a big section that is like a mounded up park-all grassy, where people sit like they're on a picnic.
My husband has hit about every park so you can ask him about any of them.
If you can get to San Diego, that would be a blast for your entire family and they have a zoo that you do not feel like keeling over by the end of the day because you have multiple ways of getting around on a vehicle when the legs start to give out.
San Diego
*and I'm certain I'll hear from Michael on the length of my comment but at least he agrees that you can't beat going to SanDiego :)
Wow. Wow. Wow. I can only imagine what your comments will be like if you ever actually meet him.
ReplyDeleteSeriously...don't call the cops on her. Please.
Michael
This coming from a guy who can write a 1,000 word essay about gum, clowns or the dust clouds of cinnamon....
ReplyDeleteOops, hit the wrong button again.
ReplyDeleteNot anonymous