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