The Wandering Travelers

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to go to Philadelphia to see a Phillies game with my cousin and the guys from the Baseball Road Trip 2007. As a wedding present for my cousin, I bought a Sunday ticket package to the Phillies. I had two extra tickets for the Phils vs. Braves this past Sunday and invited Karl and Mike to join us in right field.

It was fun to hang out and compare stories from the road. It was also great to hear that Philly packed the park like no other city on their trip, but I’ve been told, I must make it out to Milwaukee to see a game.

BTW: The Phils won 5-3 with a monster home run by Ryan Howard.

And the grand total is…

• 1 parking ticket
• 1 rental car
• 2 plane tickets
• 2 hotel rooms
• 2 cowboy hats
• 2 Wandering Travelers
• 3 “run in with the laws”
• 3 wine bottles
• 4 lighthouses
• 5 National Parks
• 5 sunsets
• 6 glasses of wine
• 8 brew pubs
• 11 vacation days
• 12 bands
• 14 coffeehouses
• 17 souvenir glasses
• 17 states
• 18 days
• 28 cities
• 33 bars
• 35 photo galleries
• 82 blog posts
• 240 business cards
• $786.42 gas
• 1124 + photos
• $3834.64 trip total (not including drinks and food)
• 5378 miles

I got back from the trip safe and in 1 piece. I’ve sat back and just let everything resinate for a while (a few weeks).

There’s definitely a new found appreciation for several things;
wine, beer, country line dancing, redwood trees, beauty, regional beauty, ladies from different regions, New Orleans’s grit and elegance, lighthouses, seals, beach bonfires, sunsets over Oregon (aka the most beautiful state I’ve ever seen) …, groupie chicks, the homeless, and friendly people rock.

California ‘is’ cool, Savannah was the found jewel, Seattle was a GREAT TIME; day and night. OBX is the best place to chill on the beach, unless you’re in California. The Yankees still suck in Seattle.

Music stretches to the soul. It’s ok to listen to some old tunes that make you remember. It’s also pretty cool to just listen to some new music, whether it’s old or newer.

It’s also ok to agree and accept defeat. When you think you are right; say so, but only if you ‘really are’…

Change always finds a way to rejuvenate ambition.

In all honesty, though. The main thing of it, no matter what, is to enjoy yourself. Any situation; good and bad, has its good and bad points. I prefer to seek the good ones.

They usually look the best, the shiniest, taste better, smell better, but aren’t the most popular…And that right there… that’s about growing up.

My friends Mike Isbell and Karl Brummer are currently on a road trip visiting 6 different baseball stadiums in 6 days. The 2007 Baseball Road Trip starts with a stop to see the Pittsburgh Pirates at the beautiful PNC Park and then they made their way towards Cleveland to catch the Indians in action. Mike and Karl traveled to Chicago for two games; one for the Sox and one for the Cubs. From Wrigley Field, the guys made their way to Milwaukee and will finish up with a game in Toronto before heading home.

What would a BIG Trip be without a blog full of posts and photos? You can follow all of their fun at:

http://2007baseballroadtrip.blogspot.com/

When you are on the road for 17 days, you are bound to see some interesting and bizarre things on the side of the road. Many of times, Rick and I would slam on the brakes or make a quick U turn to take a photo of one of weird and unusual monuments. Here is a collection of some of these items that we saw along our trip.

Along our trip, Rick and I would randomly read “An Excerpt from the Good Book” by author DJ Gallo. The View From The Upper Deck is a fun book with a collection of sports satire from the website SportsPickle.com. The book really broke up the long drives and made us laugh as we would read about our favorite and not so favorite athletes.

Thanks again, to DJ for sponsoring the site and giving us a copy of the book for our adventures. We highly recommend it. Buy the Greatest Sports Book Ever, NOW!

After 17 days on the road, we are finally home!

I’m finishing this post on the train back to Harrisburg and I can’t help thinking about all of the things we have seen, the people we met and everything we experienced. It was a life changing experience and a great adventure. I’m sure that I’m going to look back on this trip in the future and realize how much I learned along the way and how much I have grown because of this BIG TRIP.

I’m going to miss traveling and sight seeing, but it is great to be back home with my friends and my family and to sleep in my own bed instead of the back of a car! I really learned a lot during these past 2 1/2 weeks. I learned a lot about different cultures and different places. I learned how great and beautiful this country is that I call home and why it is so important that we protect our land and our heritage. I learned that we could do pretty much anything if we try and that there is so much more in the world to see.

I’m sure that there will be additional revelations made as we look back on this trip. Thanks again for coming along with us and supporting us while we were on the road. It meant a lot to read your comments and to hear your voices while away. And, even though we may be back from the BIG TRIP, there is still going to be more posts coming soon from the Wandering Travelers! Check back often for more photos, more stories and video from the BIG TRIP and our future adventures.

For the last stop on The Big Trip, we wanted a place to relax a little and unwind before heading back to Philadelphia. The Outer Banks in North Carolina was the perfect stop. Once we got to Kill Devil Hills, we pulled alongside the Ocean and found the beach.

Pigman’s BBQ 

After an hour on the sand, we went to find Pigman’s BBQ after a recommendation friend my friends. It was truly the best tasting BBQ we had along the trip and possibly ever! If you find yourself in the OBX, it is a must stop!

Outerbanks Brewing Company

Since we filled ourselves with bbq, it was then time to grab a few drinks. Where else is better to grab a beer from the local brewery. We stopped by the OBX Brewing Company and had a couple beers and talked to some of the people there. This is where we met Jessica and her friend Kristy who were down south for a pig roast. We hung with them most of the night talking and dancing to the OBX All Stars.

Once the band finished, Rick and I headed to the beach and found a place to jam ourselves. We gathered a small crowd and we played some music until the early morning. After a whirlwind trip, the OBX was a great place to stop before heading back home.

Savannah Georgia was not part of the original trip plan, but after a recommendation from a new friend in Tallahassee, we decided that we had to see this southern city.

Savannah was absolutely beautiful. From the moment we stepped outside our car, we were amazed by the city and everything it had to offer. After a quick walk around the downtown, we grabbed a bite to eat at Loco’s. Our waitress, Melissa, gave us some great advice on some of the local hangouts and what to do around town.

Taking Melissa’s advice, we continued down to River Street and found an Armed Forces Festival near the river with music and art tents. We also found a bunch of cool stores and some nice bars including the Moon River brewery where we learned how to play “bar golf”. Rick and I then wandered down the main street and bounced into a few bars including the Bar Bar, where we met Rachelle and Courtney, two young ladies now living in Savannah. They told us about their city and how it was a military town and how all of the men and women were just sent on another tour of Iraq. We got into a great conversation about their opinion and feelings about the War. It was a great discussion and we felt like we learned a lot from the girls.

Savannah was a hidden gem for us and it really made our trip even more memorable. It was a great southern city, with friendly people and “pizza by the slice”, even though Rick got hit by a taxi!

After two days in New Orleans, the Wandering Travelers made themselves eastward towards Florida.

In Tallahassee, we ate at a nice little restaurant called Andrews, where the waitress gave us some advice on some local hot spots. Unfortunately, Florida State University was off for summer break and the town was pretty quite. Fortunately, we met a very helpful couple that we talked to for awhile about Florida and our trip. They made a suggestion to skip Jacksonville and to travel north and visit Savannah Georgia. We eventually took their suggestion and were glad we did.

We took another one of their suggestions and stopped at Leon’s Bar. It was small little bar on the back street of Tallahassee, but the people were great and the beer selection was huge. A great little find.