Kernels Mark Finale of Four-Day, Four-Team Trip

As I have previously posted (and will post the links to the others afterward) I was on a four-day, four-team trip through Iowa for Minor league baseball.  The first of four was the Clinton Lumberkings, followed by the Iowa Cubs, then the Quad Cities River Bandits and the finale was the Cedar Rapids Kernels (and yes, I realize the Burlington Bees were not on here. They were on the road during this trip.) The final trip sent me to a ball park in a pretty residential neighborhood near a high school football field.  The ball park itself feels like a bowl setting which is pretty neat.
  So the main thing to note with Cedar Rapids' ball park is it is located mainly in a residential area, similar to that of Beloit.  Not a bad thing by any means, as that used to be the case with many ball parks and it is kind of a neat thing.  It's not too far from anything in Cedar Rapids. So people should have an easy go of it to the ball park on a good day. For this game, it was pretty warm, and an afternoon start time made it a pretty interesting day at the ball park.  

Perfect Game Field

  One thing I would definitely recommend for people to go to a Kernels game is to check out their fan shop, as it also doubles as a Cedar Rapids Baseball Hall of Fame.  This feature shows past and present stars of baseball and those whom have their Cedar Rapids jerseys retired as well.  I think it is a pretty neat thing for fans to see as you walk around the ball park.  The park has a wide variety of food, drinks and areas to sit and converse.  There isn't anything that is standing out with the ball park, but it is something that is nice to have.  There aren't the frills or huge promotions and that is sometimes a nice thing.  I think the Kernels staff are professional and do everything well for the fans.
  The game itself was a quick 2 hour, 20 minute pitchers duel that ended with a 2-1 Kernels win over the Peoria Chiefs.  The amount of people there was 1,801. The people that were there knew their baseball so they have a loyal fan base.  It was pretty cool to see the party deck area in left field.  All in all, I think the game was quick, which fans like as well as young fans.  There was plenty to do pre-game and post-game for families and individuals. I believe the Kernels have a lot to be proud of going forward into the future.
 With that, I made the return journey home from Cedar Rapids.  I very much enjoyed my time in Clinton, Des Moines, Davenport and Cedar Rapids.  I also enjoyed my time in Coralville where I spent time at the mall and on the hiking trails when I wasn't out and about.  I wouldn't trade this trip for anything and I was so happy to have gone.  I would definitely recommend a trip to any of these ball parks just for a day off of worrying about anything!

As promised, the links for the other three stories below:
  http://davidswideworldofblogging.blogspot.com/2017/09/modern-woodmen-park-is-best.html
http://davidswideworldofblogging.blogspot.com/2017/09/des-moines-cubs-make-amazing-memories.html
http://davidswideworldofblogging.blogspot.com/2017/09/lumberkings-bring-throwback-to-baseball.html

Modern Woodmen Park is the Best

Day three of my four day Iowa trip took me to the ball park I had most wanted to visit for the past year.  Modern Woodmen Park is nestled right along the Mississippi River in Davenport, Iowa.  Davenport itself is a pretty neat city off the interstates and highways that lead up to it.  But the ball park was the one I was most looking forward to in all of the ball parks I went to over the four day trip.
   As I was driving into Davenport I saw the world's largest truck stop, Iowa 80.  After the game I had a chance to visit there and this place is massive.  It has so many fast food places, a sit down restaurant, bathrooms, stores, essentially a lot of everything rolled up into this big plot of land.  I was actually awestruck by how clean everything is as the staff there do a very good job of maintaining this very large truck stop.  If I were to recommend anywhere to just stop at and get stuff to eat or drink, definitely go here and you will not be disappointed in the slightest.

Modern Woodmen Park from the Ferris wheel

  Now, to the ball park and the game.  With it being July 8, the Quad Cities River Bandits were taking on the Clinton Lumberkings (as you recall, the first team I visited on this four-day, four-team trip.) The parking for the River Bandits is very, very cheap at two dollars.  I was very impressed by this as they are one of the more popular Midwest League teams so I thought that would carry over to parking but it did not do so.  The walk up to the park was minimal, but it had so much energy and to see the Rock Island Centennial Bridge with the stadium nearby was so incredible.  I could only imagine what the stadium inside would be like.

  Inside the stadium of Modern Woodmen Park is absolutely fantastic.  The amount of choices are immense for food and drinks.  The fan shop is very well done, with a lot of merchandise everywhere to be had.  They have a video game room.  They also have a party deck and kids area in right field.  In left field however, there is a mini-amusement park with a gigantic Ferris wheel.  I got the chance to ride this and you can see everything at the top of it.  They even announced during the game that they are looking to get a mini-golf course built up for the 2018 season.  So in terms of being kid-friendly and family-friendly, no park comes close that I have visited than Modern Woodmen Park.  

  The game itself was dominated by the Lumberkings, as they won 7-5.  They got out of the gate in a hurry and stayed there.  Upon that game, Quad Cities ended up winning the Midwest League championship.  But my entire time at the ball park was one that I will never, ever forget.  Seeing the lights off the Centennial Bridge and all the pictures I have that have the Mississippi River in the background make this ball park so unique and special.  The fact the River Bandits keep progressing with the ball park is top notch.  I would definitely recommend anyone in the nearby area to see this ball park and just sight see around it.  You will never be disappointed in this ball park.

Des Moines, Cubs Make Amazing Memories

On day two of my four day trip I headed out to the biggest city in the state of Iowa, Des Moines.  The reasons I spent the whole day there were numerous.  First I went to a game store to check out their vast amount of video games.  Second I went to the Blank Park Zoo to check that out.  Then I went to Gray's Lake Park and absolutely enjoyed my time there.  Then the last part of the day I went to the Iowa Cubs game at Principal Park.
To start the day, I went to a local video game store that had an amazing selection of video games.  They would range from NES to PS4, so you could find some of the best video games for that console.  After that I went to the zoo, which for the Blank Park Zoo, is both big and small.  To me it is big because it has a wide variety of animals, but small in which you have a small area that is easy to negotiate around.  It has a lot of exhibits and it is really neat to learn about the different types of creatures that are at the zoo.

Blank Park Zoo

After the time at the zoo and time for lunch, I decided to drive around Des Moines for a little while and found myself at a park called Gray's Lake Park.  To describe it in words, it is absolutely such a wonderful park.  It has all you can think of.  It has trees to lean on and relax, it has sand at one end, it has boats you can rent and walking/biking trails.  The park is absolutely glorious and such a gem in Des Moines.  Along with the game, this park would be one of the main reasons I come back to the city of Des Moines.
Now to the game, as the Iowa Cubs took on the Omaha Storm Chasers (yes everyone, that name is real and yes it is really awesome.)  The Cubs are immensely popular in the State of Iowa, as the Chicago Cubs dominate the news but the Iowa Cubs are a huge part of Des Moines.  Upon entering Principal Park, I got my parking spot and got the ticket from the on-call ticket window.  I was very impressed by the professionalism of every worker there.  While I viewed the park, I saw a lot of options of food and drinks.  For someone who had never gone to a Triple-A game prior to this one, I was very impressed with the I-Cubs way of handling business.  One of the cooler features they had was an ice cream helmet that had blue and white ice cream.  I thought that was brilliant.  The fan store has a lot to offer as well for merchandise.

Principal Park

To the game itself, it was quite fun.  The Cubs put up 6 runs in the 2nd and then held on for a 7-5 victory.  The energy in the crowd was very noticeable, as fans cheered when they needed to and got nervous when Omaha put up a 4-run 7th inning to make it 7-5.  However that was all they could muster after that.  Plenty of the crowd stayed for the fireworks show after.  The entertainment was fun for the kids and families, which makes Principal Park a very fun ball park to be at for families as well.  The only thing I didn't get was a T-Shirt, which went off my hand and into the person's sitting next to me (seems like many a segue into life right?)  But in all I had a lot of fun at the I-Cubs game.  I thought they were really amazing, the park is absolutely fantastic.  The city of Des Moines and the Iowa Cubs should be very proud of themselves for how terrific they are.

Lumberkings Bring Throwback to Baseball

Baseball is America's favorite past time and while some of the times have changed, baseball in many ways is still the same game as it was when it first started.  That also is the start of my next story, which envelopes a trip to Iowa for minor league baseball.  That first stop on the four team, four day trip was to the city of Clinton, Iowa and the Clinton Lumberkings.  The trip to Clinton took me from Wisconsin to checking in my hotel, then going to Clinton on a very warm July day.
The reason I say they bring the throwback in regards to Clinton is two fold.  It is a deeply blue collar town with the aura, as well as smell, of a Purina pet food plant in most parts of the city.  The second part is for the ball park, which is called Ashford University Field. It dates back to 1937.  For all you history buffs out there, that's two years prior to the second World War.  It has been fixed up over the years, but it still has that old school feel to it similar to that of Pohlman Field in Beloit.  On this steamy night in July, I made my way up to the ticket booth, got my seat and got to seeing the game and roaming around this field.  

Ashford University Field

The Lumberkings are part of the Seattle Mariners farm system.  The ball park as I said is dated, but the field is in very well kept shape.  The seats are about what one would expect from a single-A ball park, which is nothing outstanding but they do the job.  On this night, there were 879 fans at the ball park.  A good amount were in the left field deck area, a staple at Ashford University Field.  I thought that was one great feature, but also the fan shop the Lumberkings have is very neat and orderly.  For amenities, the food is good for the cheap cost of it.  Most fans will take notice that they have RC/Dr. Pepper products, not the usual Coke or Pepsi products.  I don't mind this at all because it means there is difference for once and not the usual.  So if you like cheap food and drinks, with later inning promotions that sell food cheaper then you should head to a Lumberkings game.  Oh, and parking is free so you wouldn't have to pay 10-20 dollars like the major league teams do!
The on-field product is quite what you would expect of a single-A team.  Very young, raw, will make mistakes and have some guys that make you look in awe that one day they'll be in the major leagues.  On the night I went, the Lumberkings dueled with the Burlington Bees.  This game featured a lot of those young guys making mistakes (7 errors between the two teams) but also very timely hitting and two starting pitchers who really stole the show before departing to the bullpens.  In all, the pitching combined for the two teams amounted to 19 strikeouts in the game, which went 12 innings.  The Lumberkings ended up winning this one 6-5, but in all the game was fun to be at.
All in all, I enjoyed the time in Clinton.  It is a very down to earth city and a down to earth old school ball park and team.  If you ever find yourself looking to go to a game, I don't think you'll be disappointed.  Just sit back and watch the will-be stars of the future.  Especially at a ball park that has seen a lot of events over the course of history.

Greensboro a Fantastic Hornets Pre-Season Host

  As a lot of you have been reading, I have been reminiscing about my trip last fall to Nashville/Tennessee/North Carolina.  Part of that trip included a trip to a Charlotte Hornets pre-season game against the Boston Celtics in Greensboro.  For anyone around the area, you know what the Greensboro Coliseum is.  For those that don't know where Greensboro is or what the Greensboro Coliseum is, it's more or less about east central in terms of location in NC and Greensboro Coliseum is where they typically played the ACC Tournament until the location changed to more of the mid-atlantic states and cities.  So with that, this may be a bit of a shorter blog post, but I will talk about the Coliseum, it's amenities and what I thought of the product on the floor.
  So as I said about the Coliseum, it is actually is quite massive.  It is slated to host about 20,000 or so, and mainly that was the attendance for the ACC tournament with so many NC schools in and around the area and different concerts.  They curtained off a lot of the upper deck seats this time in round as a pre-season game would not get the 20,000 seats filled.  However that didn't stop Greensboro or Charlotte fans from turning out to watch the Hornets on this night.  If I were a guessing guy, there was a good 8 to 9 thousand fans there to watch them play Boston.  You could feel some of the history of the arena from the NCAA tourney games of past and the ACC tournament games of past lore in this arena as you went through the corridors.  The way up the arena is there are stairs to go upstairs to go to your seats and concessions.  It's a bit of an odd twist from other arenas, but it isn't a knock at all and allows fans to evenly get into the arena and through the corridors with ease.  For the Coliseum, the seats are nice and easy to get to, as the sections are clearly labeled as well as the seats are.  Overall it has everything that puts people at ease and is handicap accessible.  So what about the amenities?

Greensboro Coliseum

  Really it is the basics at Greensboro Coliseum when I went.  There were not a lot of specialty items, but you got your basic arena foods, which I had chicken and fries.  I thought they were good and can never go wrong with Dippin Dots.  It had a kiosk or pop-up fan store for the Hornets, which I gladly got a Hornets hat as I typically get a team or event hat.  I thought the food and the merchandise was affordable in price, so was the ticket for pre-season.  Overall I thought the presentation was good.  I thought the food was good and the merchandise selection was also good, albeit limited.  The only down side I think was a few more concessions probably could have been open but this was likely a surprise that there were quite as many people at the game.  I was surprised that there were as many as I saw, because I thought with pre-season it would be a sparse crowd before the season started.  Anyway, the next thing would be what about the product on the court?
  Well the product was fine for pre-season.  You saw some starters get time, like Kemba Walker, Jae Crowder, Frank Kaminsky, and so on.  Obviously the key things for teams are to be healthy with their starting and key role players and fill out their roster after that.  In the end, Boston won the game, but it was all about health and production of the role guys in this game.  I left shortly after halftime, having seen enough of the game with the starters to go with.  But all in all I thought the product was really fine on the court.
  With that, I said goodbye to Greensboro.  While I had a short visit I thought it was a good time.  I thought the Greensboro Coliseum was a nice arena and they should be proud of themselves.  I also enjoyed the product the Celtics and Hornets put on the floor on this night, especially being early on the pre-season.  All in all, a trip well worth it.

My Trip to North Carolina

  As most of you know, or now you know if you didn't know me until recently, that I went to Nashville as well as North Carolina.  Now let's take a lot of the travel out of the way, because from Nashville to where I stayed in Hickory, it's about a six hour drive.  The good thing is you get to see the mountains of Appalachia which are very nice.  The bad is a six hour drive.  However, it is really amazing for scenery.  In retrospect, in the wake of the terrifying and devastating wildfires in Tennessee, it is a place I should have spent a day or two more in but the landscape is so beautiful and to see it coming back is something I feel for the people of east Tennessee.  However there was a visit to a friend prior to getting to Hickory, a longtime friend that I finally got to meet.
  Some of you know I have a friendship with my friend Erika.  She and I have been friends I would think like six years or so.  Since she lives in North Carolina and I live in Wisconsin, it's tough to get time to visit friends elsewhere.  But with this time I got off of work, I was able to plan with Erika to come see her and hang out with her.  So on my way to Hickory, I went to see Erika and get lunch with her as well as donuts.  So with that, we had lunch at a very amazing restaurant called Bruce's Fabulous Foods and the donuts from Mr. Bob's Donuts.  The food and the donuts were absolutely spectacular and if anyone is in the Marion area, definitely I would recommend going there for this.  But it was a lovely time with Erika and hopefully I get to see her again sometime soon.  And that I get to see Marion again because it is a very lovely town settled at the edge of the mountains.  Anyway, Erika is a lovely friend who has been there for me for forever it seems and I am glad we can continue being close and I always want the best for her.  And we take a really good picture together if I do say so myself.

Erika and I

  The next thing I did after the time with Erika was get checked in in my hotel in Hickory.  After that, I headed to Greensboro for a pre-season NBA game between Boston and Charlotte.  I'll follow up with that in a future blog.  Also, I went to JGR fan-fest and met my friend Kabell, which I will also follow that up in a future blog.  Also, I was supposed to go to a Carolina Hurricanes game, but there was the Hurricane that dumped a ton of rain in the Raleigh area and didn't want to risk it so I didn't go.  Hickory has some great restaurants, like Cracker Barrel and Zaxby's which I tried for the very first time.  The hotel I stayed in was absolutely incredible as well.  So I got to see some incredible smaller towns but also something I would recommend for people is they have Hickory Motor Speedway so if you are a racing fan and love short tracks to head there.  Otherwise there are a ton of baseball teams in the minor league level as well as if you are a basketball lover, well there are a ton of college basketball teams, including Asheville and Greensboro as well as the rest of the NC schools.  But I would definitely go out to explore more when I have another opportunity to do so.

Preds Put on a Show

So as you all know, I visited Nashville in the fall of 2016.  If you didn't well read my last blog and we will accommodate you well.  Anyway, one of those trips in Nashville was to see the Nashville Predators NHL team.  For fans of the NHL, you know the Predators well.  For fans of the AHL, or if you are from Wisconsin (such as I am) you will know Nashville from their AHL affiliate the Milwaukee Admirals.  If you aren't a fan of hockey, well just reading the last two sentences have made you more aware of the Nashville Predators and the Milwaukee Admirals.  Anyway, this will be my recap of what I thought of downtown Nashville the night of the game, what I thought of the arena, and what I thought of the game itself.
  Downtown Nashville is something really wonderful.  When you park downtown, you have a host of options to go eat, park, and so much more.  One spot, you have the Country Music Hall of Fame, another is the Musicians Hall of Fame, another is the Nashville Sounds ballpark, and so much more to see and do.  It is no coincidence then that the Nashville Predators not only play downtown but in a great venue like Bridgestone Arena.  The downtown area is just absolutely amazing for parking and they were currently in the process of building another parking structure which would make it even better for the city as the parking options when I was there were limited.  However it is affordable at times, anywhere from 10 to 20 dollars will suffice.  Now that you have the back drop of the city in hand, let's talk about the game itself.

The rink at Bridgestone Arena at game time

  The Predators play at the aforementioned Bridgestone Arena.  Upon entering the building I thought with a pre-season game that there would not be more than 7 to 8 thousand people in the seats and it would be a sparse crowd.  However, I was very wrong on this thought.  There were close to 12 to 13 thousand people I believe at this event.  Much of it could have been due to star defenseman P.K. Subban being traded to Nashville and the resonating effect was more people coming to the arena.  Whatever the case with this, Subban scored for the Preds and the arena went absolutely berserk for him.  Nashville added another couple of goals and won the game 3-1.  This again was a pre-season game so not much really came of it other than really cheap seats and a night out in Nashville that was really awesome.  With that, it's time to review Bridgestone Arena.
  Bridgestone Arena to this writer is a nice arena.  I know they are looking at renovating the building, but when I went there it was quite nice.  The concourses are wide so you don't get jammed up by people standing in the middle of the way.  The team store is quite large, and they have certain sections so you aren't really going four or five different places to find one or two things.  They have a large selection of items so you likely would be able to find your own stuff you want.  The concessions are vast, though with pre-season the selection was not as high as they would be during the regular season and the pre-season is a way to work out the technical and technological glitches.  Overall, I thought the staff did a fine job working with the glitches and the new technology.  Overall, I would recommend this arena to anyone.  If they do mass renovations like what is being reported in the media at points in the last year, I can't imagine it wouldn't be one of the hottest arenas to attend afterward.
  All in all, I think Bridgestone Arena and the Nashville Predators can be proud of themselves for the product they have on the ice and in the arena.  While it'll be a while until I can come back to Nashville, I hope I can come back during the times of hockey again and have a lot of fun.  Until then, kudos to all of the Predators staff, the concession and store staff and the fans of the Predators.  Without all them, a pre-season game would not be nearly as fun as it was that night.

My Trip to Nashville

 So for all my friends, you all know I went to Nashville and North Carolina last fall.  The North Carolina part I'll cover in another blog, but I will cover my trip in and around Nashville first here.  So the reason this all came about was because I liked traveling through Nashville twice, plus my friend Jen is from the area so it all makes it worthwhile (plus when you can get away from work, why not?)  Anyway, the flight from Chicago to Nashville was fine enough and Nashville's airport is actually quite nice.  My taxi driver left a lot to be desired however, and I thought that the trip could hit a rough patch, however that would not be the case.
 So another main reason for my trip was getting to see the Nashville Predators and going to Bridgestone Arena.  Add into that that the state of Wisconsin was like 40 degrees cooler at this point, and it is a win-win to go.  Anyway, while it was a pre-season game, it was really fun to see a lot of people at this game.  Bridgestone is a very nice arena to be at, as it is very wide for concourses.  The team shop is very nice.  If you know me, I get a lot of hats, and yes I bought a nice Predators hat.  Overall, the game was suited for that of pre-season.  There was some star players playing, some second and third teamers and so on and so forth.  So if you needed a program for everyone, I would understand.  Nashville won this game, and all was well for them and I had a good time.  The next day would be interesting too.
 So like I said, part of my trip was meeting my friend Jen (she is next to that odd looking bloke in the picture) and I finally, after like a bazillion years (or like 4 to 5 if you were completely taking count) got to meet the lady!  So let me tell you a bit about her.  She's from the area in and around Nashville and got to give a lot of good tips about Murfreesboro, where I actually stayed.  I will talk to you about that as well later.  So really her ideas of touring things is what got me around the area.  So I was so happy to finally get to meet Jen and have a happy trip!

Jen and I at Sam's 

 Part of those things I got to see pretty much came after the escapade back from North Carolina, but anyway, prior to that I will recommend Go Fun play park for anyone with young kids or just trying to get away for a day.  I played some mini golf and it was fun.  But after my short trip to NC, I had a lot more adventures.  I'll detail the next paragraph the Saturday I got back, but the rest of the trip besides the Saturday involved relaxing that Sunday but doing a lot Monday and Tuesday prior to me leaving that Wednesday.  On Monday of my trip, I got to see the Battle of Stones River battlefield cemetery, which is a battle during the Civil War.  To see and hear about the amount of soldiers from both sides, as well as soldiers from Wisconsin in that fight, who perished was very sobering.  I remember vividly looking at the amount of soldiers graves who are unknown and those with names and couldn't help but think about what that fight overall for the war was for.  But it was something that people should go see to learn about the weaponry at that age of time, as well as a reminder of what was going on in the 1860's in America.  On the last full day in Nashville, I just was a sightseer of the city.  I saw the visitor center, Country Music Hall of Fame, the Nashville Sounds Stadium and a lot of different buildings.  I also traveled a bit through Murfreesboro, seeing Middle Tennessee State University and the downtown area.  All in all, it was a lot of nice adventures, but I also got to see one more sporting event prior to the other travels.
 Those that don't know me don't actually realize something, I've started to become a huge soccer fan.  Only once I had been to a international soccer game, a USA-Germany matchup in Chicago in college.  That game was fun, but the traffic pattern was a complete and utter disaster.  But to this game, which was Mexico-New Zealand in Nashville, it was really fun.  Mexico won 2-1, but the Mexican crowd very well brought itself out and showed a lot of enthusiasm and cheered raucously throughout.  I thought it was a fun game to be at as it wasn't a typical USA game, where you have the raucous USA fans.  This crowd was largely Hispanic, and it was really an inviting atmosphere.  I talked to a few Mexican fans and they were very gracious.  They all got a laugh of the Tennessee State Band in the Mexican apparel but all clapped because that Tennessee State band was really, really good.  It is a memory that I hope to have with me for a long time, hopefully forever.  In addition to the days after, it was probably the cherry on top of the great trip.
  In final, there may be people who want me to recommend places to them.  My best answer is just travel around Nashville, sight see, go places you don't know and see what adventure leads your way.  For food, again just roam around.  You see something, go there and have some food.  There are some places in Murfreesboro I would recommend, and they are Sam's, Toot's and Reeves Sain Soda Shoppe.  Nashville is food galore and you'll not go wrong wherever you go.  I hope I can head back to Nashville and Murfreesboro, as it holds always a special place in my heart.  Thanks to everyone, and especially Jen, for making my trip there super special.

My Welcome to a New Blog

Hello everyone,

So I want to tell you I have moved on from Wordpress and have gone in a new direction for my own blogging experiences.  For this I have chose Blogger, and I will highlight some things on my mind, which go towards a lot of my own experiences to and from sports, life and traveling.  With Blogger, I'll talk about my trip in Nashville last October, my trip to NC, Greensboro to see the Hornets, Smack Down Live (WWE) and much more.  And sometimes, I'll just throw together a blog just because (Like my Olympics blogs that were most popular on Wordpress) and whatever else comes to mind.  I just want to say thank you to each and every one of you who will read this and let's go on a new journey together.