MorningGlory
Space for rent
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2007
- Messages
- 761
Cast
Me. Paul. 34. Chief planner and taxi driver. Scared and excited at the thought of the big coasters.
DS9. Paul (now called junior for the sake of this report). Absolutely bursting at the thought of Disney. As scared as his dad of the coasters but isn't showing it (yet).
Dad. 60 something. Doesn't know how he is going to handle 9 hours without a cigarette!
Brother. John. 45. Possibly the most excited of us all. Definitely looking forward to meeting Mickey.
Day 10 - Saturday 23rd June 2007
Today was a big day for us, something that I was both excited and apprehesive about. Excited, because we were going to St Pete's beach for the day and, more importantly, going to watch a game of baseball. Not any old game of baseball in fact, but the local Tampa Bay Devilrays against the LA Dodgers, a game which I had been reliably informed by some fans on the Devilrays forum would be a big one on the calendar, with lots of pre-game activity, etc. Basically, the warning was to get there as early as possible, with the game kicking off at 7:05pm.
So, despite wanting to lie in for a bit, we were up and about by 8am getting showered and everything ready for the day ahead. Some TV, then we headed down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. I can't remember what I had, all I noted was that it was crap! But something I do remember is the waitress making us wait absolutelu ages for our coffee and OJ, and I was none too pleased by the time we actually managed to set off at 10am. We hit the road for what I was hoping and expecting to be around an hour and a half's pleasant journey, and the weather reports were for SUN SUN SUN!
As i've mentioned, I like to plan the journey ahead and this was especially the case here with us heading on a fairly long distance to somewhere I didn't have any idea what to expect. The plan was to take the I-4 until we hit the I-75, then take that South. Another tip I had got was to make sure I seen the Sunshine Skyline bridge south of St Petersburg, and this was the reason for our detour on to the I-75. After what seemed a longer than expected (but entirely pleasant) journey with the top down on the car and the Eagles blaring in the stereo (just as I had imagined in my dreams!
and mentioned in only my 2nd post on the Dis lol ) we hit the landmark that told us we were just across the bay from St Petersburg;
I was told the bridge is 5 miles long in total - it seemed longer! Junior enjoyed getting some shots of it;
The land you can see in the foreground of the pic above was built around the bridge, rather than the other way around! There is still another 2 or so miles of bridge after that lol.
Arriving in St Petersburg, the plan was to hit the stadium first to secure our tickets for tonights game, then do some exploring on our way down to the beach. After getting slightly lost by coming off the Interstate an exit too early, we found our way to the stadium without too much trouble;
Not much to look at from the outside admittedly, we still felt a real buzz being around it, and there were already some signs of excitement and build-up ahead of the game. We bought our tickets ($55 each, no child prices - apparently more expensive because it was a big game but is comparable with prices for football over here so no complaints) and then had a wander around the stadium before deciding we better hit the beach and catch some rays. After another episode of being slightly lost - I couldn't find ANYWHERE to park to get to the beach) we eventually got some sand in our toes about 2 hours after we had left the stadium!!
The beach at St Pete's is stunning!
Paul decided he wanted to hit the water straight away, whereas I stayed on dry land enjoying the warmth and trying to pluck up the courage to take the plunge into the icy water. I walked down to see how Junior was enjoying himself and asked him how the water was. After he assured me it was definitely warm, I dipped a tentative toe in and got the shock of my life - the water really was WARM!! This is the first time I have ever experienced something like this, and I have been in some warm countries. So, we ended up spending the next 2 hours or so having fun in the water, before eventually agreeing that we really should get our skates on if we want to get to the stadium and get something to eat.
Back at the stadium....
.....we joined the throngs of people waiting to enter which we done at around 6pm. Straight away we headed for the food stalls, badly in need of some sustenance before heading off to find our seats, which we had been assured by the ticket clerk were great seats between the team bench and the bullpen, right near the front. The seats were exactly as described, only 2 rows from the front! A really nice touch was that Junior was given a laminated poster of the Devilrays, and a double bobblehead of Hank Zimmerman 'then and now' ('Then and now' was the theme of the evening as it marked Hank Zimmerman, the head coach of the Devilrays, 50 years in baseball). Another pleasant surprise was that when we reached our seats, we were seated near 2 older gentlemen on the track, obviously baseball legends, who were giving out autographs to a queue of people that almost stretched out of the stadium! Despite Paul's pleading eyes, there was NO WAY I was joining that queue lol! Some photos of the pre-match;
After the tributes, the game got underway and the Devilrays ran out 5-4 winners, an unexpected outcome according to the regular supporters seated around us.
It was a really enjoyable atmosphere and everyone seated around us were very pleased to talk to us and answer all junior's questions when they realised we were from so far away, which really helped to make Junior's night! Not only that, but something totally unbelievable happened - Junior got a baseball!! The ball was hit along the track in front of us by one of the batters on the plate, and a guy in the bullpen picked it up. He walked over to our section holding it up asking who wanted it, and everyone around us shouted 'GIVE IT TO THE KID!' pointing to Junior! The guy walked right over and actually handed it to him. Junior couldn't believe it, he was beaming for the rest of the game!! It really made the whole day, and holiday, for us and Junior now has the ball and ticket in pride of place on display in his bedroom
Happy and slightly tired after a long day out, we left the stadium around 10:15 and headed back up the road, having a pleasant drive once we had cleared the traffic around the Tampa area and getting back to the hotel by around 12 for a quick beer then bed, at the end of a truly memorable day for us.
Tomorrow, we catch the last day of the Star Wars Weekends at MGM Studios!
Me. Paul. 34. Chief planner and taxi driver. Scared and excited at the thought of the big coasters.
DS9. Paul (now called junior for the sake of this report). Absolutely bursting at the thought of Disney. As scared as his dad of the coasters but isn't showing it (yet).
Dad. 60 something. Doesn't know how he is going to handle 9 hours without a cigarette!
Brother. John. 45. Possibly the most excited of us all. Definitely looking forward to meeting Mickey.
Day 10 - Saturday 23rd June 2007
Today was a big day for us, something that I was both excited and apprehesive about. Excited, because we were going to St Pete's beach for the day and, more importantly, going to watch a game of baseball. Not any old game of baseball in fact, but the local Tampa Bay Devilrays against the LA Dodgers, a game which I had been reliably informed by some fans on the Devilrays forum would be a big one on the calendar, with lots of pre-game activity, etc. Basically, the warning was to get there as early as possible, with the game kicking off at 7:05pm.
So, despite wanting to lie in for a bit, we were up and about by 8am getting showered and everything ready for the day ahead. Some TV, then we headed down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. I can't remember what I had, all I noted was that it was crap! But something I do remember is the waitress making us wait absolutelu ages for our coffee and OJ, and I was none too pleased by the time we actually managed to set off at 10am. We hit the road for what I was hoping and expecting to be around an hour and a half's pleasant journey, and the weather reports were for SUN SUN SUN!
As i've mentioned, I like to plan the journey ahead and this was especially the case here with us heading on a fairly long distance to somewhere I didn't have any idea what to expect. The plan was to take the I-4 until we hit the I-75, then take that South. Another tip I had got was to make sure I seen the Sunshine Skyline bridge south of St Petersburg, and this was the reason for our detour on to the I-75. After what seemed a longer than expected (but entirely pleasant) journey with the top down on the car and the Eagles blaring in the stereo (just as I had imagined in my dreams!
and mentioned in only my 2nd post on the Dis lol ) we hit the landmark that told us we were just across the bay from St Petersburg;
I was told the bridge is 5 miles long in total - it seemed longer! Junior enjoyed getting some shots of it;
The land you can see in the foreground of the pic above was built around the bridge, rather than the other way around! There is still another 2 or so miles of bridge after that lol.
Arriving in St Petersburg, the plan was to hit the stadium first to secure our tickets for tonights game, then do some exploring on our way down to the beach. After getting slightly lost by coming off the Interstate an exit too early, we found our way to the stadium without too much trouble;
Not much to look at from the outside admittedly, we still felt a real buzz being around it, and there were already some signs of excitement and build-up ahead of the game. We bought our tickets ($55 each, no child prices - apparently more expensive because it was a big game but is comparable with prices for football over here so no complaints) and then had a wander around the stadium before deciding we better hit the beach and catch some rays. After another episode of being slightly lost - I couldn't find ANYWHERE to park to get to the beach) we eventually got some sand in our toes about 2 hours after we had left the stadium!!
The beach at St Pete's is stunning!
Paul decided he wanted to hit the water straight away, whereas I stayed on dry land enjoying the warmth and trying to pluck up the courage to take the plunge into the icy water. I walked down to see how Junior was enjoying himself and asked him how the water was. After he assured me it was definitely warm, I dipped a tentative toe in and got the shock of my life - the water really was WARM!! This is the first time I have ever experienced something like this, and I have been in some warm countries. So, we ended up spending the next 2 hours or so having fun in the water, before eventually agreeing that we really should get our skates on if we want to get to the stadium and get something to eat.
Back at the stadium....
.....we joined the throngs of people waiting to enter which we done at around 6pm. Straight away we headed for the food stalls, badly in need of some sustenance before heading off to find our seats, which we had been assured by the ticket clerk were great seats between the team bench and the bullpen, right near the front. The seats were exactly as described, only 2 rows from the front! A really nice touch was that Junior was given a laminated poster of the Devilrays, and a double bobblehead of Hank Zimmerman 'then and now' ('Then and now' was the theme of the evening as it marked Hank Zimmerman, the head coach of the Devilrays, 50 years in baseball). Another pleasant surprise was that when we reached our seats, we were seated near 2 older gentlemen on the track, obviously baseball legends, who were giving out autographs to a queue of people that almost stretched out of the stadium! Despite Paul's pleading eyes, there was NO WAY I was joining that queue lol! Some photos of the pre-match;
After the tributes, the game got underway and the Devilrays ran out 5-4 winners, an unexpected outcome according to the regular supporters seated around us.
It was a really enjoyable atmosphere and everyone seated around us were very pleased to talk to us and answer all junior's questions when they realised we were from so far away, which really helped to make Junior's night! Not only that, but something totally unbelievable happened - Junior got a baseball!! The ball was hit along the track in front of us by one of the batters on the plate, and a guy in the bullpen picked it up. He walked over to our section holding it up asking who wanted it, and everyone around us shouted 'GIVE IT TO THE KID!' pointing to Junior! The guy walked right over and actually handed it to him. Junior couldn't believe it, he was beaming for the rest of the game!! It really made the whole day, and holiday, for us and Junior now has the ball and ticket in pride of place on display in his bedroom
Happy and slightly tired after a long day out, we left the stadium around 10:15 and headed back up the road, having a pleasant drive once we had cleared the traffic around the Tampa area and getting back to the hotel by around 12 for a quick beer then bed, at the end of a truly memorable day for us.
Tomorrow, we catch the last day of the Star Wars Weekends at MGM Studios!
