Day 16 - Rock 'n Ball

Today Cleveland Rocked. [having issues with uploading pictures tonight so only text tonight]

I had purchased very expensive tickets ($6 each) for the Indians game vs. the White Sox at noon, so that was the first stop of the day. We were running a little late, so we took the hotel's complimentary minivan to the game. I think the driver watched the In-Laws too many times, because what should have been a left turn from the hotel and then straight down the road a few blocks turned into a serpentine route. I think the hotel must pay this guy by the turn.

We got to the game just as it was starting, and it was in fact the first game for Manny Ramirez as a member of the White Sox. It was another really hot day, so we were concerned that we would be baking in the sun all day. But as luck had it, our seats were in the mezzanine level under an overhang. So, while it was still toasty, we were at least shaded. Manny came to bat in the 2nd inning, and seemed to get a decent response from the fans. A little booing, a little cheering.

The boys were a little bummed that the seats we had did not have a good view of the scoreboard, so after the 3rd inning they moved up to the second row of the section, where they were much happier. Brian kept score the entire game, while Ethan tried to get the people on the field to throw him something (t-shirt, ball, etc.) between innings. His Yankee hat and Yankee shirt might not have helped his cause.

Progressive Field, where the Indians play, is a nice looking ballpark. It's too bad they stink now, because the place was very empty. I think the paid crowd was about 12,000, but I don't think there were that many people in the stands. The Indians seem to have the same hiring practice as Hooters, where they only hire people with certain characteristics. But unlike Hooters where they only hire young women who look good in a tight shirt and shorts, the Indians seem to only hire old men with no teeth. Seriously, I don't think we saw a single person that worked for the Indians that had all, or even most, of his teeth.

After the game (won by the White Sox), we headed to the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. We got conflicted reports about how far a walk it was from the field to the hall so we weren't sure if we should walk or go get the car. We ended up going with the 3 out 5 theory that it was a 10-minute walk, which it kind of was.

The Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame is housed in an IM Pei glass triangle (does this guy know any other way to make a building?) on Lake Erie. I think Debbie and I enjoyed it, even though we are not huge music people. But we did know many of the people in the Hall, and the music was excellent. Amanda kind of liked it, helped by the 5 minute power nap she took while watching clips of all of the inductees from 2001-2010. Brian knew a lot of the older inductees from his study of Rock 'n Roll in school this past year. And Ethan would rather have been getting his braces tightened than be there. Since there was no "recent" music from "recent" acts, he got bored after about 2 minutes. But we made him walk the entire Hall, and maybe some of it soaked in.

After getting a ride back to the hotel, we went to the restaurant that is right next to the hotel (I think the food fun may have ended). The service took way longer than it should have for a restaurant that had 12 people in it, and then we headed up to the room to do the nightly work.

Tomorrow is shaping up as a long day. We will head to the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, then drive to Williamsport.