Royalty goes to Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore for annual visit!

Toyota Corolla

On Thursday morning, August 3rd, I took public transportation to go out to New Hyde Park which is just into Nassau County on Long Island. That's where the local Avis location is that I like to rent from when I get a great deal. I wound up getting a Toyota Corolla for five days. After I got the car, I proceeded to go back home to pick up my bags so I could finally hit the road again. After doing so, I met up with my pal who we affectionately call the King. He was visiting his mother before he went away for the day. After I picked him up, I drove to Staten Island so I could pick up fellow Stampeder & friend of mine, Paul Sanders. Quite amazingly, he finally got to meet the King for the very first time. I arrived at his house at 1:15PM. He got in & we proceeded to drive down to Baltimore, Maryland. We arrived in the neighborhood of Canton-Fells Point at 4:45PM. We wound up having dinner at Looney's Pub which has been a royal tradition thanks to our friend, Peter Agnew who lives a few blocks away from there. We all enjoyed our pre game meal before we headed over to Oriole Park at Camden Yards which as far as I'm concerned is the best of the modern retro ballparks. As for me, I had their grilled stuffed salmon which came with broccoli & I was able to substitute red skin bliss potatoes for the salad which is what it normally comes with it as you can see. It was delicious. After we finished eating, I drove us all there. I want to personally thank Peter for getting us the tickets & a parking pass which came in handy. As I like to say, teamwork makes the dream work.

Looney's Pub

Peter Agnew, The King, Me & Paul Sanders

Grilled Stuffed Salmon with broccoli & red skin bliss potatoes

Since Oriole Park at Camden Yards opened up in 1992, I've been fortunate to say I've seen at least one Oriole game there every year. It's been a difficult task the last few years for me to maintain that distinction. This season was no different. After exhausting all my options, I decided that August 3rd would be my best chance to extend the streak & keep my annual tradition in tact. The only thing that could prevent me from doing so was mother nature. She tried her very best to put a damper on my plan. Thankfully despite a few rain delays combining for an hour & 42 minutes worth of wasted time, the Orioles were able to get their game against the Detroit Tigers in. The Orioles fell behind 7-0 early. They fought back but their comeback came up short as the game ended just past midnight. Not what I had I mind with a long drive awaiting me. After the game, the King took a Greyhound bus back home & I wound up driving our friend Peter home. Thankfully he only lives a few miles from the ballpark. By the time I got back by the ballpark it was 12:50AM. Paul & I continued on our way towards Dayton, Ohio where we planned to be Friday night. 

View from Section 340 row 22 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards

We wound up driving to Belpre, Ohio which is 320 miles from Baltimore & a short distance from Parkersburg, West Virginia. Paul's brother, Greg lives there. He was kind enough to let Paul & I stay at his house. I was originally planning to arrive there around 4AM. Due to mother nature, we finally pulled onto his driveway at 6:30AM. He was outside waiting for us. I was totally exhausted. We wound up getting some sleep before continuing our the journey to Dayton.

Stay tuned for another special post that will go into further detail on how that day unfolded.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty gets a double dosage of Eichenkranz Restaurant in Baltimore!

Me & Rose

After spending the night at Super 8 in York, PA, the King and I got up early and we drove to Baltimore to see the Ravens play the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Wild Card game that afternoon at 1PM. I'll be doing a few special posts regarding that. Stay tuned for them.

In the meantime, I want to relive the great meals we had that day. Ironically we had breakfast and dinner at the same place. We arranged to meet up with our good friends, Peter & Carmen Agnew who live in Baltimore. They always want us to visit them. I always try my best to squeeze them into my busy schedule. With that being said, we wound up seeing them twice in the same day.

Normally we go to Eichenkranz Restaurant for breakfast which is a great way to start a day. As for breakfast, my girlfriend Rose who works as a waitress there was so happy to see me. I had my usual royal breakfast of bacon and eggs which comes with home fries along with toast plus I had an order of pancakes. I like to have the best of all worlds whenever possible. After we all enjoyed our breakfast, we discussed possible dinner plans after the game. I was hoping we could go to Looney's Pub but with the Redskins playing at 4:30PM, Peter said and I agreed it would be way to crowded to go there. With that being said, we needed a plan B. Since the King is such a picky eater finding a place can be difficult. Peter mentioned about going to a Chinese buffet. I told him that's no good. Another place we've been to with them, Matthew's Pizza, Peter also said will be too crowded.

I was thinking to myself, why not just come back here and eat. It probably won't be crowded. That way we can sit, relax and enjoy each other's company some more. I proceeded to ask for their dinner menu so I could glance it over to see if it would suffice for all of us. I noticed they had a number of different choices including their specialty, German entrees such as brats and other sausages. With that being said, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to try it out for dinner. It's very rare for me to ever go to the same restaurant twice in the same day. Honestly this could have been a first in my life. Sometimes doing something twice really is nice.

Rose the waitress wet my appetite for dinner when I asked her opinion on the different options on the menu. She told me the broiled stuffed fillet of flounder is really good. When we returned that's what I ordered. She was right, it was delicious. She was there again because she told us in the morning she had a baby shower to go to upstairs. So I really got an added treat. I got to see her again. She made my day and my night.
In addition, we also brought another special guest with us. Our pal Andrew Van Cleve who we met at the Raven game joined us because I arranged to give him a ride home to Philadelphia. He took Amtrak to Baltimore and we took him back.

As a result, Andrew got to meet Peter & Carmen and he had a nice dinner too.

After we finished eating we said our goodbyes and we headed home. We wound up dropping Andrew off around 8:30PM then the King & I continued back to Astoria, NY where we live. We got back at 11PM. All in all, it turned out to be worth our while.

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

A Royal Birthday Celebration for the Prince!

Prince at the Pavilion

After I got out of work Friday night it was time to start the royal celebration.

I met my parents in Astoria where I now live and we went out for dinner at Romano's Famous Pizza and Gyro. They serve Greek cuisine. It was a great way to reunite with my parents and I got to have a nice meal too.

Afterwards I went home to rest up for the busy weekend I had lined up.

I got up Saturday morning which was my birthday and I took public transportation out to where I used to live so I could go to Avis to pick up a car for the weekend. I did get treated to some royal treatment as the MTA didn't let me wait too long for the buses and trains I needed to take in order to get there.

I wound up renting a Crown Victoria which had plenty of room. I got in touch with my pal Eddie Pelle who was on his way to the Philadelphia area via public transportation from Long Island. He was also going to Villanova, Pennsylvania to see the Wildcats play the Cincinnati Bearcats in a college basketball game. The King and I were doing the same.

I called Eddie when I got into the car. He said he was in Queens so I arranged to meet him after I went back home to pick up the King. It worked out well as we got him by the entrance to the Queensboro Bridge and away we went.

We arrived in Villanova around 1:40PM which gave us enough time to get ready for the 2PM tip off.
We also met up with Andrew Van Cleve aka the Ultimate Sports Fan and his son Dylan aka the Ultimate Sports Baby.

I love seeing the "USB" if you will. He's adorable and he's getting so big.

Ironically we were all visiting the Pavilion, which is the home of the Villanova Wildcats' basketball team on campus for the first time. They play a handful of games there. They play the rest at the Wells Fargo Center where the Flyers and 76ers play.

It was a thrill to finally see a game there. It was very intimate since it only holds 6,500 people. The seating area is comprised of mainly benches that are very close to the action.

As for the game we saw, it was a competitive one right throughout. The Wildcats who are having a bad season wound up coming up short as the Bearcats of Cincinnati beat them, 72-68.

After the game, we said goodbye to Andrew and Dylan. They went home. Eddie, the King and I continued on to Washington DC where we went to see the Wizards play the Cavaliers at 7PM.

We stopped off in Baltimore first so we could pick up our friends Peter and Carmen Agnew. We got them just after 6PM. Thankfully Peter had a parking pass for the garage that's connected to the Verizon Center since we had no margin for error as we arrived right at game time. In addition, Peter arranged to get us all free tickets for the game. He always asks us to come down so I looked at the schedule once the lockout ended and this was the perfect time to go there.

As for the game we saw, the Wizards they've had a horrible season so far but on this night they found a way to win, 101-98. It worked out well for our friend Eddie who said this was the first time he had ever seen the Wizards win live. I was glad to help arrange for him to join us.

After the game, we drove Peter and Carmen back home. They live right near Looney's Pub, where we went to get a late dinner since we were all very hungry. The burger and chicken wings we had we tremendous as usual.

After we ate we dropped Eddie off at the Amtrak station because he wanted to get back home to see some college basketball in NYC on Sunday.

The King and I drove 30 miles to Aberdeen to Super 8 where we spent the night. We arrived there around 2:30AM.

We got some sleep then we got up in the morning and we drove back to Baltimore to have breakfast with Peter and Carmen at another of our favorite eateries in the area, Eichenkranz Restaurant which is located in a local neighborhood.

We were served by Rose, who loved my accent. Needless to say, the food, the service and the company were priceless and well worth driving the extra miles for.

After we parted ways with Peter and Carmen, we headed towards Philadelphia where we were seeing the 76ers play the Bulls at 7PM.

Since we had plenty of time to kill, we decided to stop off at the Hollywood Casino which was conveniently on the way in Perryville, Maryland off exit 93 on I-95.

We spent a few hours there pressing our luck on the slot machines. I had some luck but the King didn't. Regardless it was entertaining experience.

We got back in the car and we drove to the City of Brotherly Love. We arrived there around 4:30PM. It worked out well because we got to meet up with our friend Rich Wolber aka Staten Island Rich who took a Chinese bus from NYC to join us for the 76er game. We went to the bus terminal and we picked him up.

On the way to the Wells Fargo Center, we stopped off at the Oregon Diner to have dinner before the game.
I thoroughly enjoyed my meal there. You can't beat the value you get there. I had broiled flounder with crab meat stuffing which came with two sides and a small cup of soup along with rolls and cornbread for a mere $9.99. They have a nice variety of food items for that price that they offer everyday.

After I stuffed my belly, we drove over to the arena which is right nearby.

We met up with our friend Frankie Centola who got us tickets for the 76er game. We also were joined by Andrew Van Cleve who got a ticket outside on the lower level from a buddy of Joakim Noah, who plays center for the Bulls.

At halftime, I got a royal upgrade as I went down to sit with Andrew who had a few empty seats by him.
As for the game we saw, the 76ers led into the fourth quarter but the Bulls led by their superstar guard Derrick Rose who had 35 points and 8 assists held off a late 76er push to win 96-91. Joakim Noah had 11 points and 18 rebounds to help the cause.

After the game, I drove Rich back home to Staten Island. I got him back just before midnight. I proceeded to drive the King to work at the Post Office at Grand Central Station. I got him there at 12:40AM so he had plenty of time to relax and unwind since he starts at 2AM.

I finally arrived home just before 1AM. I went to sleep and I returned the car in the morning.

I want to thank everybody who remembered my special day. I had a blast all weekend long.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

The Journey Continues

The Journey Continues
 
The Journey continued as we headed from Somerset, PA to Baltimore for a another first visit for me, as we headed out for our first doubleheader on this journey. We would be visiting Camden Yards in Baltimore for the first part then visiting the Orioles AA affiliate, the Bowie Baysox in the evening.
 
We got a little bit of a late start heading to Baltimore so I was afraid I wouldn't get to enjoy the royal breakfast at the Eichenkranz Restaurant, but boy was I wrong. Royalty Tours has its perks. Breakfast at Eichenkranz usually ends at 11:30, we made them aware we were on the way and they extended their great breakfast another thirty minutes for us. If you are in Baltimore a meal at Eichenkranz is a must, it is great food at a very affordable price. When we stopped at Eichenkranz I got to meet up with some of Royaltys' fans, Peter and Carmen Agnew. Both Peter and Carmen are great people and made this breakfast even more worthwhile for me.
 
As for the game at Camden Yards it was unfortunately another blowout loss for the home team. The Orioles kept the game pretty close till the 8th inning when the Angels put 5 runs on the board. Three of those runs were attributed to MLB's number one prospect Mike Trout's first career major league homer. The final count was the Angels 9 and the Orioles 3. It was another interesting game in which Royalty met some new friends. During the first inning a gentleman two rows behind us asked if we kept our ticket stubs. At that time we got into conversation and introduced ourselves to the gentleman and went over some of the King and Prince's credentials. The man's name was Steve Porcelius and he was on a Winnebago baseball road trip with his two boys and his brother in law Mark and his son.
 
After that game we headed 30 miles south to Bowie for the second game of the doubleheader. After game one we stopped right by Bowie and had a light pre-game meal at McDonalds. Then we headed over to Prince George's Stadium to watch the Bowie Baysox play the Trenton Thunder. When we arrived Trenton's radio play by play announcer Hank Fuerst made sure to note to listeners that a special guest the Strikeout Man (Mike Casiano) was in the house. As for the game. it was close one that Trenton pulled off in the top of the 9th thanks to a wild pitch. The final in that one was Trenton 5 and Bowie 4. We then headed back into Baltimore and had some great burgers at Looney's Pub then headed into Aberdeen to get some sleep and refuel our bodies before heading out on another doubleheader Monday, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Wilmington Blue Rocks.

Looney's Pub

Looney's Pub

This is an another favorite place that Royalty likes to visit when we're on the road.

Thanks to our good friends Peter and Carmen Agnew we were introduced to Looney's Pub in Baltimore.

This is their original location which opened back in the Spring of 1993. They have opened three other locations since then.

We have only gone to the Baltimore one which is located in the neighborhood of Canton. The address is 2900 O'Donnell St.

This location is mainly comprised of a few bars on two different floors. They've scaled back on their eating area but they always treat us like Royalty there when we come to have a meal.

It's like Peter and Carmen second home to eat since they live only a few blocks away. Billy the chef is a great guy. He not only does the cooking he also brings us our food which always tastes tremendous.

As for the food, they have great burgers, chicken wings, steak, and seafood. In addition, they serve cream of crab soup which tastes really good.

If you happen to be in the Baltimore area and you want to hang out eat, drink and be merry then I strongly suggest you give Looney's a try.

Ask for Billy and tell him you know Peter and Carmen and the guys from NYC. That way you will be treated royally.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman