For as long as I can remember I have been a fan of Wisconsin sports. Even though I have been away from the state for more than half of my life, I still follow the Packers, Brewers, and occasionally the Milwaukee Bucks. I remember as a kid falling asleep listening to Bob Uecker on my clock radio next to my bed as I drifted off to sleep. Thanks to the MLB App on my phone, I can still do that to this day. It was the way I closed many a summer evening growing up as a child. As a family we would usually make the 90 minute drive south once a year to catch a game.
One of the memories that my good friend Erik often reminds me of is when we went to a Milwaukee Brewer game in the summer of 1987. The game we attended was shortly after one of the Brewers’ starters, Juan Nieves, threw a no hitter. Prior to the game we attended, we purchased programs and were able to get down near the field before the game. I got Nieves to sign my game program. We were such huge baseball fans that we were on top of the world. If you Wikipedia Juan Nieves, you will find you that his career was short lived as he suffered a career ending arm injury in 1988. After the game, we made the 90 minute drive back home to Appleton. For those of you who know me well, you know that I don’t do well with motion sickness. Well, on this evening drive back to Appleton I proceeded to lose my peanuts and cracker jacks all over the newly signed program. I guess you could say that was a souvenir that I wouldn’t be keeping, but I digress.
Fast forward to 2018 where the Brewers had one of the best seasons that I can recall (aside from 1982 when they went to the World Series). They ended the season in dramatic fashion, playing extremely well in the end of October to end in a tie with the Chicago Cubs for the division. The division was decided in a tie breaker game in Chicago that the Brewers won, forcing a wild-card playoff game between the Cubs and the Rockies to determine who would play the Brewers in the first round of the playoffs. That game was won by the Rockies so it was set; the Brewers would host the Rockies for the first round of the NL Playoffs, and the LA Dodgers would face off against the Atlanta Braves.
Throughout the season I had been texting with Erik and said that if the Brewers made the playoffs that I might come up for a game. If you follow the Brewers, or baseball for that matter, you know that the playoff opportunities are few and far between for teams like Milwaukee. I decided to call my parents on the off chance that they would be interested in attending a game and, to my surprise, they were interested. A few web searches and phone calls later, Hunter and I had overpriced tickets to fly to Wisconsin for a long weekend to catch game two of the five game series. The last MLB game that Hunter and I went to was the Brewers vs. Tampa Bay Rays with Emily’s dad in 2017, so we were looking forward to seeing a home game together.
Because of the special nature of the weekend activities, Emily and I agreed to take the boys out of school on Friday. She took Sawyer to the Magic Kingdom for a Sawyer/Mom day while Hunter and I boarded our plane after work on Thursday to fly up to Appleton. Due to the fact that the game times weren’t established until Thursday, we had to book our flights for Thursday night to ensure we were in Wisconsin in case it was an early afternoon game. It turned out to be a 4 pm start so we were glad that we arrived when we did. Grandma and Papa were kind enough to make the drive up to Green Bay to pick us up late in the evening on Thursday and we made the thirty minute drive down to Appleton.
We woke up Friday morning and enjoyed the brisk fall air that Wisconsin had to offer. Hunter got to hang out with his grandparents in the morning as I tended to a bit of work. Around noon, we headed out, stopping at our favorite fast food joint, Tom’s Drive In, for some burgers and cheese curds to fuel up for our drive down to Milwaukee. The drive was relatively smooth until we got about 5 miles out from the stadium as the entire city appeared to be pouring in to Miller Park to experience the game. We had purchased preferred parking which made the experience much less stressful.
When we got to the parking lot we met up with with Erik and Jamie and their boys who brought friends to see the game as well. We walked into the stadium with them, capturing pictures along the way to remember the event. I purchased tickets on StubHub for the first time in my life and was quite relieved when the ticket scan worked and we were in the stadium. They were handing out yellow towels to all the fans to wave so we each grabbed one. Our seats were down the third base side, just up from the Brewer’s dugout. It was a great place to watch the game as we gave high fives to the fans sitting around us during the exciting moments. The Brewers ended up winning game two 4 to 0 as they scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning to seal the deal. Miller Park was absolutely electric that evening. I told Hunter that I am glad he got to experience a game in that kind of atmosphere. It was fun being there with Hunter and his grandparents, having three generations enjoy an amazing game.
We had our fill of stadium food and excitement as we headed out of the stadium, celebrating with random strangers on the walk to the car. We picked up a few souvenirs at the gift shop on our way out and made the 2.5 hour drive home through the crazy Milwaukee traffic.
Hunter and I had originally planned to leave on Saturday morning but my sister and her family decided to drive up from Madison, so we changed our departure to Sunday so that we could spend the day with them. Hunter and I got some bonding time in the morning on Saturday as we took my parents’ golf cart for a spin. Hunter was super excited that I allowed him to drive as he practiced his driving skills. We spent a lot of time outside, enjoying the fall weather that was absent in Florida.
Sara and her family arrived around lunch time and the kids got to hang out and spend time together (which mostly consisted of staring at their screens). We took the kids down to the park so they could spend some time outside. We were celebrating my nephew Ryan’s birthday so Grandma Jean got him a cake and we all got to sing to him, which was a nice addition to the weekend.
We decided on Frank’s Pizza Palace for dinner, which is one of our favorite spots to eat. The kids demolished some pizzas and it was back to the house to chill and get packed up as our flight was super early out of Appleton on Sunday morning.
There was one more adventure that was left before our departure. Since Emily wasn’t able to attend the weekend festivities, she requested that I bring back some Tom’s Drive-In cheese curds. At first I wasn’t quite sure how I would execute this plan but after some thought, I called up the local Tom’s and asked them if they would sell me a large frozen cheese curds? After an extended, silent, pause, they agreed to my strange request and I told them I would be right down. Upon arrival at the Tom’s checkout, I received another strange look at my request for frozen curds, followed by a call from the kitchen that he was awaiting my arrival. Sure enough, they sold me a large bag of cheese curds, still frozen. I, of course, had to get myself a small bag of curds for my drive back to the house.
The next mystery was how to keep the curds cold during the flight. My parents had a small cooler that they offered but they didn’t have any freezer packs. This called for a trip to Mill’s Fleet Farm with my sister to pick them up. I secured to necessary supplies and popped them in the freezer when we got home so they would be ready to go in the morning. Most expensive and labor intensive cheese curds that I have ever purchased, but I was looking forward to frying them up to share with Emily when I got home.
Hunter and I said our goodbyes the night before because we were up early to head to the Appleton airport for our 7 am flight to Detroit. We said our goodbyes at the airport to Grandma and Papa and we were off on our Sunday trip home. The Detroit airport was far better than I remember it being from years ago. Hunter and I had a fun time exploring the Delta terminal and grabbing a bite to eat. Both of our flights were perfect on the way home and Emily and Sawyer were there to greet us upon our arrival.
Although it was a quick weekend, I have reflected several times since we returned home that I am glad that we went. I am not normally a spontaneous guy so it was good to get out of my box on this one. As I am getting older I am realizing that events are far more meaningful than things. Hunter and I had an amazing time traveling, hanging out with family, and getting to see a playoff baseball game with his grandparents. I wouldn’t trade the trip for anything. Weeks later when Grandma Jean and Papa Don came to visit us in Florida, Emily had made picture books for our weekend trip which was such an amazing surprise!
The Brewers would go on to sweep the series against the Rockies in three games. They then went on to face the LA Dodgers for a seven game series that went all seven games, with the Brewers losing the seventh game and falling just short of their second World Series opportunity. The Dodgers would go on to get crushed by the Boston Red Sox, a probable outcome for either team coming out of the National League in 2018.
Thanks for always following along and for your thoughtful comments Kee! I am still glad that we took the opportunity to go to the game. I know it is a memory I will cherish for a long time. I hope Hunter will too! I am glad you got a chuckle out of my program story. It wasn’t funny at the time but I can laugh at it now.
You had me at Bob Uecker. And preferred parking.
Seriously, another great blog with wonderful pictures, and I am so glad you embraced the spontaneity and went! (Speaking as another of the not so spontaneous sort.) I laughed in total sympathy over your signed program “incident”. I feel your pain. Or your nausea, as the case may be. Loved it all and I think it can be summed up perfectly in what you said:
“Events are far more meaningful than things.”
K