Weekend Fun II

OK, I'm back for the second time in one day to continue with what I was saying this morning. On Saturday we all got up early and the guests left for their hunting trip and Justin and I went to Fargo to meet my parents. Then we headed to Minneapolis for a MN Twins game! I was excited because I wanted to see the new Target Field. My parents, brother and sister have all seen it this summer but I had not. It was steamy hot and bad weather threatened. When we drove by Alexandria the clouds were so dark it seemed like it was night time even thought it was 2 pm. As we entered the Minneapolis area it started raining! Ugh! We were staying at a hotel downtown so we could walk to the stadium and we ended up taking the hotel shuttle because of the rain. Fortunately, by the time we arrived the rain had stopped! Perfect! We got a beverage and explored the stadium, which is much better than the Metrodome, at least for baseball purposes.


This is a shot of the grounds crew removing the tarp from the field after the rain let up.

We sat in left field on the home run porch. No balls came close though! It was a really nice night. It was still hot and balmy, but the sky was overcast which made the heat tolerable. We enjoyed several cold beers and some kettle corn as the game progressed. After a few innings I got up to use the bathroom and when I returned I couldn't find where the rest of the family was sitting so I scanned the crowd, looking confused. I finally saw all three of them waving at me and I waved back and started climbing up. I soon realized, however, that they were actually waving at the beer vendor that was on the stairs near me. Haha.
After the game, we decided to walk around and find a bar where we could hang out and eat. We made our way to Dan Kelly's, a nice little place a few blocks from the hotel, and on the walk a violent wind came up and it started downpouring! Ahh! Everyone on the street ran for cover and by the time we got to the bar we were really wet, complete with stringy hair and smeared eyeliner for me. It was a relief to get inside with a bunch of other dripping wet fans in Twin's gear who looked as disheveled as we did. My brother was at the game as well with a group of guys that were in town for a bachelor party. Since the "party" was the night before they were feeling low key and he and two of his friends met us at the bar.

It was kind of uncomfortable being in damp clothes for the rest of the evening. I called it the "JV player, Varsity bench warmer" feeling, because it reminded me of when I played JV basketball, and then, instead of going to the locker room at the end of the JV game, my teammates and myself would sit on the bench as the last resort, emergency, unlikely to play unless the game is a total blow-out, subs. At first, we would be flushed and hot from our game. As the night wore on, however, we would cool down and be stuck in a damp, sweat soaked uniform and socks for the next 1.5 to 2 hours. Soon, the chill would set in. Icky. This weekend was quite different because, although we had damp clothes on, we were allowed to drink beer, eat nachos and burgers, and not have to live with the embarassment of sitting on the bench all night!
The next day we subjected Justin and my dad to some shopping, and, big surprise, they found stuff they wanted to buy! Justin even picked out a pair of shoes for himself at DSW! As did I. . .
Fun weekend. . .
On a sad note, a friend of mine, a law school classmate, died over the weekend. He had been battling cancer for two years. He found out about it the day he and most of my other classmates got sworn in in October of 2008 when he had to miss the ceremony because he had severe stomach pain. He thought it was appendicitis but it turned out to be cancer of the colon, which spread to his liver. He was 40 and has two children. I'm not really sure what I want to say about it yet, but I felt the need to acknowledge it somehow. I might write more about it later.