Cup Collection: Lake Michigan

Another trip down means another update to the Souvenir Cup Power Rankings! I have previously ranked and posted photos of the cups after both the West Coast trip and the East Coast trip. In this newest edition of the power rankings, cups from my recent Lake Michigan trip have been added to the cups acquired on the West Coast and East Coast trips. Additional details and photos are included for the newly added cups.

Rankings after the Lake Michigan trip:

1. Toronto Blue Jays
2. Philadelphia Phillies
3. New York Mets
4. Washington Nationals
5. San Diego Padres
6. Oakland A's
7. Boston Red Sox
8. Los Angeles Dodgers
9. Baltimore Orioles
10. Minnesota Twins
11. Milwaukee Brewers
12. Los Angeles Angels
13. Chicago White Sox
14. San Francisco Giants
15. New York Yankees
16. Chicago Cubs

Notes on rankings:

• The Twins, Brewers, and White Sox all use the same cup style. The Angels also used cups style. While I have criticized this cup style as being a little flimsy, I have a little better opinion of the cup now. This cup style has small ridges along the bottom and a large printed area. I think having four cups of the same style unintentionally forces me to view theses four cups as a group.
• The Twins cup also has the schedule on the backside. This is what elevated the Twins cup over the Brewers.
• The Brewers cup says Cerveceros because I attended on Cerveceros Night. Cerveceros Night was the game where the Brewers thanked the hispanic community of Milwaukee for their support of the team.
• The Cubs cup is very, very flimsy. The graphics on the cup would put it in the bottom half of the rankings but the lack of structural integrity of the cup are what places it in last place.

Lake Michigan: Day 4 - 7

Days 4 -7 of my Lake Michigan trip were filled primarily with driving. On Tuesday (Day 4), I woke up early and drove from my friends apartment in Chicago to Minneapolis to attend a baseball game at Target Field. I got caught in traffic leaving Chicago and on the south side of Milwaukee, but it wasn't too bad because I was anticipating delays around these two cities. I stopped at a McDonald's/gas station between Milwaukee and Madison to get out of the truck and book a hotel in the Twin Cities area. I then hopped back in my truck and drove to my hotel on the eastern edge of the Twin Cities. I then rested for a little while before heading out to a park and ride lot for the Minneapolis light rail for the Phillies vs. Twins game that night. I was able to park for free at the park and ride lot and avoid some of the inner city traffic and downtown parking congestion. I have written about Target Field in a precious blog post. It is hard to believe that Target Field was my 18 ballpark this season! You can check my progress by clicking the ballpark map on the side panel. Unfortunately the game was a night game and I didn't really have time to explore the Twin Cities. However, after the game I stayed downtown to watch the 4th quarter of Game 3 of the NBA Finals. The bars Downtown Minneapolis had $2 beers with a Twins ticket stubs so I took advantage of that. After the game I got back on the light rail and drove back to my hotel.

On Day 5 of the trip the plan was to drive from Minneapolis to my families cabin in Michigan's UP. This was free lodging for me and gave me the opportunity to spend some time at the cabin this summer. Growing up I went to the cabin about once a year for a week. En route to the UP, I stopped at the Leinenkugel's brewery in Chippewa Falls, WI. The tour was free and it was interesting to see workings of an active brewery. More worth of mention is that I got a few free samples of their brews. After a sandwich at a deli in Chippewa Falls I continued to the UP. I bought food and a cooler at a Wal-mart in Rhinelander, WI and made it to the turn off for the cabin at around 6:30 PM. One thing I noticed traveling some of the back highways of Wisconsin is nearly every little town has a couple hole-in-the-wall bars.

When most people talk about going "Up North", they go to a summer home on a lake where they jet ski, boat, and just hang out. Going "Up North" to my family's cabin doesn't have these luxuries but I kind of like it that way. The cabin is essentially a hunting camp - a building with no plumbing and no electricity (we can actually turn lights on using a car battery and a dc/ac converter but there are no power lines near the cabin). We have a two-hole outhouse, old barn with some boats, and a fire pit. The cabin steps from a lake so I spend most of my time up there fishing. I spent Day 6 of my trip doing just that. I caught quite a few fish including two big bluegill (8-11 inches) and a big crappie (11 inches). I also saw a moose at the edge of the lake! By the time I rowed over towards the moose in a boat, she stepped back into the woods.

On Friday, Day 7 of the trip, I cleaned up the cabin and headed back to my parents' house. It took me a solid 8 hours driving to get home but I made it home for dinner. Although things are a little more laid back at home, I still have a lot of planning and logistics to take care of for my trip to England, my next ballpark trip, and finding a new place to live for August.

Lake Michigan: Days 1 - 3

On Saturday, I made the trip across Michigan and through Indiana to the north side of Chicago. Although the Cubs were playing an afternoon game, I quickly picked up my friend Chris and we drove to Milwaukee to watch the Brewers play the Phillies in a night game. I blogged about this game in a previous post. We then drove back and were able to find a free parking spot where I could park for multiple days only about 5 blocks from his apartment and Wrigley Field. On of Chris' former college roommates was in town so the three of us walked down the street to one of the many Wriggleyville bars.

The next morning, I didn't have to travel too far to get to the Cubs game; Chris lives literally across the street from Wrigley Field. In fact, his building is one of few in the neighborhood that has seats on the roof and charges people to watch the game from there. I stood outside his apartment in hopes that a player would hit a ball out of the stadium onto the street. A few balls were hit onto the street but not near me and they were quickly snatched up. I then met up with two friends from high school I had not seen in a while, Alex and Gabe. We then walked around the stadium and watch the game. My Cubs game experience is coming soon in a blog post. After the game we went to a bar with good thin crust pizza that Gabe had heard about but hadn't tried yet. The pizza was of Neapolitan style and very good. After a quick break back a Chris' apartment, I accompanied him to a local rib festival. I only had a couple of bones since the pizza was filling but the ribs were excellent.

On Monday, I was on my own during the day because all my friend had to work. I took the 'L' down and walked a lot of the Magnificent Mile and Navy Pier. I have done the Magnificent Mile a few times before but it is cool to walk from skyscraper to skyscraper. I ate lunch at the original Billy Goat Tavern under the bridge next to the Tribune Tower. Of course I got the 'double cheez'. I was originally planning on going to the Museum of Science and Industry in the afternoon. However, en route to the 'L' station I decide to walk along the Chicago River, around the marina, and towards Millennium Park. I was nice to walk around this area because when I was in Chicago for the Big Ten Tournament in March everything was absurdly crowded thanks to St. Patrick's Day. I then took the 'L' to the University of Chicago and walked through their campus on my way to the Museum of Science and Industry. Once I got to the museum, I didn't have feel I had enough time to make the admission fee worth the cost. Additionally, I didn't know how long it would take me to get to US Cellular Field, home of the White Sox. I ended up getting a free tour of the Burlington Zephyr, the first streamlined diesel locomotives. That was interesting and I felt I got a miniature taste of the museum without having to buy a ticket. After the tour, I headed back up to US Cellular where I met up with my friend Miso. Miso now works in Champaign, IL but was able to work from Chicago and come with me to the game.  I will write about this game in its own blog post. After the game, Miso was gracious enough to drive me back to Chris' apartment to complete my long day.

The Road: Lake Michigan

Tomorrow I will take off on my most densely packed trip of the summer: 4 games in 4 days. I am headed to the opposite side of Lake Michigan to see the Brewers, Cubs, White Sox, and Twins all play in game at their home ballparks. This trip will be shorter both in time and mileage than my previous two trips but should still be exciting.

Tomorrow I will drive from my parents' house in DeWitt to Wrigleyville in Chicago to pick up my friend Chris from U-M. Although the Cubs play an afternoon game tomorrow, we will drive north to MIlwaukee to watch the Brewers play the Phillies. Interesting enough, this is the same matchup I saw in Philadelphia less than a week ago. We will then drive back to Chicago after the game and I will be able to crash at Chris's apartment right next to Wrigley Field.

The next day, I will make the short walk across the street to watch the Cubs play. I am going to the cubs game with a couple of friends from high school who I haven't seen for a while but now live on the north-side of Chicago. On Monday, I am planning on walking around Chicago during the day while my friends have to work. I have been spoiled in that I have been to Chicago about a half dozen times in my life but there is always different to do right off of Michigan Ave. In the evening I will make the trip on the 'L' to the south-side of Chicago to meet up with another friend from U-M and watch the White Sox play. I might have to break my rule to root for the home team as the White Sox are one of the Tigers' main rivals.

On Tuesday, I leave Chicago for Minneapolis. I am planning on parking near the Mall of America and taking the light rail to the Twins new downtown, open-air stadium, Target Field. That will complete my 4 games in 4 day journey but am extending my trip to do something non-baseball related. I will be spending an extra day at my Grandparents' cabin in the Upper Peninsula. This is a special place for our family and we tried to visit the cabin every year while growing up to fish, hike, have campfires, and just get away for a couple of days. I return to civilization on Friday and only have a couple of days before I take off again: this time of England for my academic conference