Royalty sees the Washington Wizards play their Home Opener against the Boston Celtics at the Verizon Center!

Prince at Verizon Center

I got up early Saturday morning so I could call Avis up to see if they had any cars available to rent. They said they did on a first come first served basis. I wound up getting a Crown Victoria for the weekend. I took a few buses and a train to get there. I arrived there just after 9AM. On my way there, I saw so many trees that got knocked down as a result of Hurricane Sandy. When I finally arrived at Avis which is located at a gas station, they still had no power and no gas. Despite that, cars were lined up all the way down the block waiting for them to get a supply of fuel. It was unbelievable. Once again, I counted my blessings.

I wound up getting the car with a quarter of a tank of gas. Thankfully I went to pick up the King and away we went. We drove into New Jersey as the remaining gas was dwindling away. We wisely decided to get on the NJ Turnpike for a little while. By doing so, we were able to luckily get gas. It wasn't easy but once again we were blessed. We had a car with a Pennsylvania license plate that ended in an odd number. At Noon in Northern New Jersey that day, they started allowing people to get gas with odd license plates only. We patiently waited on a line on the shoulder of the exit to the rest area for an hour and sixteen minutes starting at 12:07PM before we got our chance to get some gas. While we were waiting a state trooper looked at everybody's plates to make sure they were odd. The car behind me apparently wasn't so they were kicked off the line. We were so fortunate. Five minutes later at 1:28PM we finally got enough to get us to Laurel, Maryland which is located between Baltimore and Washington DC. I knew the gas was a lot cheaper there so we filled up before we continued on to DC.

We originally planned to go to see the University of Delaware play football on the way to DC but Hurricane Sandy spoiled that idea. We ironically past by the stadium area after we stopped off at McDonald's for an early dinner. We saw people heading back to their cars so the King yelled out and asked them who won. A few ladies responded it wasn't us. In other words, the Delaware Blue Hens lost to the visiting Towson Tigers. The King looked it up on his phone and we found out that they lost 34-27 in overtime. It was a long game. It seemed like a blessing in disguise that we couldn't make it.

We continued on as we finally got to DC just before 6PM. We went to see the Wizards play their home opener against the Boston Celtics at the Verizon Center.

Our friend Peter Agnew has season tickets for the Wizards was able to get us a pair of tickets at his season ticket price which worked out well for us. Unfortunately he was away so he couldn't join us. We were grateful for his kindness as always.

As for the game we saw, the Celtics raced out to a 17-2 lead. It appeared that the Wizards were going to get blown away. Surprisingly, the Wizards managed to hang around most of the game. They trailed 26-12 after the first quarter. They got within seven points at halftime, 49-42. After three quarters, they pulled within four at 71-67. In the fourth quarter with three and a half minutes to go, they tied the game at 84 as Jannero Pargo hit a basket. Moments later teammate Kevin Seraphin gave the Wizards their first lead of the game, 86-84. They didn't score again as Paul Pierce buried a three pointer to give the Celtics an 87-86 lead. They added a few throws late as they emerged victorious, 89-86 to spoil the Wizards' home opener.

After the game we drove to Somerset, PA where we spent the night before we continued onward to Cleveland, Ohio on Sunday.

Stay tuned for the special post that will recap the rest of this adventurous getaway.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty goes to Baltimore to see the Oakland Athletics play the Orioles!

Vincent Ascanio, Me, The King, Peter  Agnew & Frank Anichiarico

Saturday morning I went to Avis to rent a car for the weekend. I called them on my way so I could see if I could get a bigger car than I reserved.

I wound up having them hold a Crown Victoria for me. It worked out well since I had four other people come for the ride.

I got the car and I drove back home to get the King. We arranged to have our friends Al Linderman and Frank Anichiarico meet us there. We told our pal Vincent Ascanio to meet us by the 21st Street subway station in Queensbridge. He called that he was early so I went out and picked him up while we waited for Frank to come by.

It worked out well as Frank showed up at Noon and away we went.

On the way down South we ran into a big thunderstorm just North of Philadelphia on I-95. I thought I was back in Florida it was that bad.

After weathering the storm, we arrived in the Baltimore area around 4:30PM. We arranged to meet up with our friends Peter & Carmen Agnew for dinner at Looney's Pub in Canton/Fell's Point where they live. Since Carmen was going to Church at 5PM she didn't have time to eat with us. She wanted to say hello to us at least. It was great to see her again. She's such a wonderful person. Peter wound up ordering food for her to take out after we were all done eating.

As usual, the food was delicious. We ordered chicken wings which were made to order and they were damn good I must say. I had a piece of broiled orange roughy for dinner. The other guys went with burgers. They were very satisfied customers I might add. I asked them how their food was and I got plenty of positive responses.

Peter introduced us to John who's the manager at that location. I told him we love coming here. Why go somewhere else when you know what you're getting here. After trying plenty of other places, I know Looney's suits our eating and drinking needs best.

After we ate, we drove over to Oriole Park at Camden Yards to see the Orioles play the Oakland Athletics. Peter arranged to get us tickets for the game right behind home plate up near the top in the shade in section 336. He knows that's where we love to sit. Since he has season tickets for the Orioles he was able to exchange some unused tickets so he could accommodate us. That was very kind of him. For that, we were very grateful.

Peter decided to go home and wait for Carmen so she could have her dinner.

As for the game we saw, the Athletics beat up on the Orioles, 6-1.

The star of the game was rookie Yoenis Cespedes, the star from Cuba that the Athletics signed in the off season. I've seen him play briefly on TV a few times. This was the first time I saw him play live. What a thrill he was to watch. He can do it all for the young up and coming Athletics. On this night, he lead the way with his bat hitting a home run. He also hit a stand up triple as he raced around the bases like it was nothing. In addition, he made a great backhanded catch in center field after playing most of the game in left field.

I hope to see him play again but that may not be until next year. The main reason we went to Baltimore this time was because they were playing the Athletics. They come to Yankee Stadium for their only visit in September and the Mets are home at the same time. Since the King has a streak going to every home game at Citi Field except for one that he missed in 2009, he won't be able to see the Athletics play in New York. For that matter, he can't be in two places at the same time. As for me, I plan to be at Citi Field too. If not, I may go to a football game that weekend. We try to see every team play at least one game home or away if possible every year.

In retrospect, it turned out to be a wise decision to go to Baltimore. We got to see Yoenis Cespedes put on a show and we saw the original of the retro ballparks. Camden Yards is still the best of the new ones. It's a modern day Wrigley Field in comparison to the others. Quite amazingly, Oriole Park opened up way back in 1992. Time has literally flown by. I remember going there for the first time. They played the Mets in an exhibition game. This was my 85th game there over the years. I've seen at least one every year. As for the King, he's seen 150+ there including the first official game that opened the ballpark on April 6,1992 when the Orioles hosted the Cleveland Indians.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman