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| Welcome to the Peach State |
On
my way to Gwinnett which is a suburb north of Atlanta, I stopped off
at a Waffle House where I got to enjoy a royal breakfast to start my day
off right. It worked out well as I wound up pressing for time. They
serve food good fast as they like to say. I was a satisfied customer.
After I got done eating, I got back in the car & I finished the
drive to Lawrenceville which is the town in Gwinnett county. When
I got off the highway, I had to drive a few miles to get to Coolray Field which is where the Gwinnett Braves play. They're the Triple A
affiliate of their parent club, the Atlanta Braves. That day they were
playing the Norfolk Tides, the Baltimore Orioles' farm team.
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| Coolray Field, Home of the Gwinnett Braves |
Upon
entry, I went to the guest services booth where I was greeted by a
gentleman named Dan. He made me feel right at home. He thanked me for
coming out to the game. I told him it was my first visit. He told me I'm
happy you're here. After talking for a few minutes with him, I went on
my merry way. He directed me to the team store since they didn't have
the passport stamp at that booth anymore. He said they used to. He
searched high & low before he asked a co-worker for assistance. That
person told him they have it at the team store. I proceeded to go
there. After I got validated, I went & I sat down behind home plate
so I could relax & enjoy the game.
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| Here's my official stamp |
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| Here I am getting ready for the game to start |
As for
the game I saw, the hometown Braves wound up blanking the Tides, 2-0.
The Braves got a fine performance out of their starter, Mike Wright who
threw seven shutout innings. The bullpen preserved the last two innings
as the people who showed up got to go home happy.
After
the game, I drove an hour or so to the airport which is located south
of downtown. I had to maneuver around some traffic as I approached
downtown Atlanta. I saw a sign that said a few lanes were closed, so I
got off the highway as I noticed the traffic building up to a standstill
& I drove around on the streets in the downtown area before I was
able to get back on the highway to get to the airport. Since it took me
longer than I expected, I decided to go right to the airport instead of
stopping somewhere to have dinner along the way. I stopped off for gas
right near the exit for the airport then I returned the Chevy Sonic I rented
for the weekend to Hertz. I wound up driving 1,004 miles safely. I
proceeded to check in for my flight on Delta Airlines. After I got
through security, I saw a Bojangles' which is a fried chicken restaurant near
my gate. I decided it was "Bo time" if you will. That's what their
slogan said. I sat down, relaxed & I enjoyed some more Southern
Hospitality before it was time for me to depart for my flight back
home.
While
I waited for my flight to leave, I got to follow the game I was missing at Turner Field in
Atlanta on my phone using the MLB At Bat app. Since Gio was pitching I
was following it very closely as I always do when he pitches. He
struggled in the first inning. He then seemed to have settled down for the
next two innings. Since it was time to take off, I couldn't follow
anymore. When I landed at LaGuardia shortly after 11PM that night, I
found out that Gio got roughed up. With that being said, in retrospect, I
made the right decision after all. I would have loved to have seen him
pitch regardless but the way it turned out I may have had more trouble
sleeping.
Stay tuned for another special post I'm going to be that will recap that memorable Monday I had.
Thank you for reading & following along.
Yours truly,
Gary Herman
