After dodging all of the Model As in the parking lot, we began our easiest day of our adventure to Omaha. No 5am wake up calls and no 8 hour drives. Today was going to be a leisurely trip to Comerica Park for the Tigers Game and then a trip to South Bend to get a picture of Touch Down Jesus at Notre Dam Stadium.
The day started innocently enough as I took a walk around the buildings seeing if any of the older gentlemen in attendance at the car show needed CPR or something. Seeing that everyone was happy and healthy, I gathered the kids together to make the trip to Detroit.
"Dad, is it safe where we are going?" G asks as we drive out of Toledo. Although he hasn't done his Summer reading, he apparently has reviewed guide books about how dangerous the mean streets of Detroit are - or perhaps he watched 8 Mile recently.
"No its fine." I explain. We're parking next to the stadium and this area is a lot like Fenway. I guess, I haven't been to Detroit since 1980.
"So we're not going to die?" C asks looking up from his phone. No we're not going to die...in Detroit, at least.
This goes on the entire hour trip up to Detroit. Do they rob people at the ball park? Not that I know of. Should we bring all of our stuff so it doesn't get stolen? Sure, why not. And the best one...why was that homeless guy sell you American Flag pins? I was donating money to the homeless veterans. So worldly. As we park our car, the boys are astonished at how many people are around. The lines to get in near the Tiger are extra long for this Sunday afternoon game against the First Place Indians. Justin Verlander is pitching though so the Tigers have a chance to get back one game against the Indians.
As we finally get in, we get the first taste of the heat we are facing. It has to be 90 degrees out. I'm actually not interested in drinking any of the Michigan beers that you can find at Comerica (yeah right), even though the craft beer stand is just 10 feet from the batting cages and pitching radar that the boys wanted to do.
After watching C throw 60 miles an hour and G throw 47 miles an hour (the gun must be wrong C rationalizes to no one in particular), we sit down at our seats. Good seats, but we are nowhere near shade as the Sun is beating down on us. Even the obnoxious Indians fan that I am sitting next to only yips and yaps occasionally even though the Indians come out hot against Verlander.After we make our way around the field, looking at the plaques and statues in Right Field and enjoying some Mediterrean fries, we sit back down to watch the rest of the game. This time, without mentioning anything to G, I have him sit next to the obnoxious Indians fan. I tell the guy that I'm now sitting next to that that guy was a huge pain in the ass. He smiles at me and then turns serious.
"Just wait," he starts to explain while bouncing a baby on his knee "a couple of more beers and the guys behind him are going to beat the sh*t out of him."
With that, I start to plan when we are going to move on to our next destination. Verlander is getting killed (6 homers) and the Tigers are not keeping pace. Meanwhile G is in some serious need of air conditioning as he continues to fan himself down with the Verlander poster he received as a free from the park.
"Can we go to Notre Dame now?"
Sounds like a plan (keep reading for part 2)
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