Tom suggested we go to the Cornbelters second ever game last night. Surprisingly, every Wednesday is Dog Day at the ball park... but we decided to leave Sparky at home for this trip.
Some areas of the parking lot were still under construction so we parked at Heartland Community College and walked over. As we walked in the ballpark through the outfield entrance, the first thing we saw was corn in the outfield. So cool.
I didn't have a chance to check out the team's website before going, so I assumed they had a big ole ear of corn as a mascot. I was wrong... they have one of the fun goofy mascots like the Phillie Fanatic, only his name is Corny.
Tom mentioned that an article he read in the paper noted that the ballpark, Corn Crib, has the best women's restroom in almost all of baseball. I can't say that I would argue with that one bit. Although, if you're going to go all out in the stall like that, you might as well increase your toilet paper budget and buy some plush toilet paper.
It's not often that I'm in a fancy bathroom, so I was kind of amazed to see this type of faucet. Being able to see the water flow out of the faucet. Pretty neat. I'd be curious to see if they still use the super thick paper towels come the end of the season or next year. Quite nice.
Aside from the grotesque 50's couch in the basement bathroom at my office. I can't recall seeing furniture in a bathroom not in a mall. Not sure I'd want to relax in a bathroom, even though the atmosphere was so beautiful.
So, where did we sit you ask? Tom and I went all out and splurged on some seats that allowed us to "Come Rock with the Cornbelters". We sat behind homeplate on the concourse in a couple rocking chairs, with an end table to set our food on. How cool is that! Extremely comfy and spacious!
It was also Family Fun Fest at the game, but I didn't get outside to the front of the stadium until a couple innings in and most of the booths were closed up. Gosh darn it, I could have had my very own baseball card!
There was a small traveling baseball museum still set up, so I took a quick walk through it. It had little pieces of some of the best baseball movies ever made including my favorite, A League of Their Own. They also had a bat from The Natural.
Here's a shot so you can see a good portion of the Corn Crib. No upper deck, but the had suites at the top of the first and third base sides and the "offices" for the media were near the home plate area on the concourse. No reason the Chiefs couldn't have gotten away with a setup like this for a low-A ballclub. About half the cost and holds about 6,000.
There also isn't much need for a big ground crew. Everything but the warning track and bases on the field was that new turf material. Apparently they still need someone on staff to roll the field into a pattern and level out the "rubber pieces" within the turf.
What did the view from our rocking chairs look like? Take a look-see for yourself. Here's my video of a Cornbelter hitting a single.
Other than the Dixie Chicks/Eagles concert I got to see with Stephanie and her family, I got to hang with my family for a couple days. Got to visit a bit Wed. evening when I got there and then Thursday morning as the day was starting out. I kind of went missing most of Thursday because I had a major case of ants in the pants. The anticipation of the concert was too much for me to just chill, so I went out and about.
I started out at Old St. Charles and walked up down the street of little shops, waiting for The Olde Town Spice Shoppe to open. I wanted to get the parents some thank you rib rubs for watching the Sparkster. After that, I bopped back to the house to see what Aunt Joyce and John were up to. I honestly don't remember at this point. I just remember heading out to a mall and coming back mid-afternoon to Uncle Brian and John getting back from the pool. Shortly after, I headed downtown to beat all the rush hour traffic. I enjoyed my gelato and the concert. Surprisingly, my cousin Tom was still up when I got back in the evening, so I got to share some of the concert experience with him.
Friday was all about the chillin' with Joyce, John, and Ben (my older cousin Charlie's 1-year-old). We got a quick Costco trip in before spending most of the day baking/cooking for a event at their church in the evening. After dropping off the food at church, Brian was home from work, so we all went to El Agave for dinner. Gotta love the local Mexican restaurant. Then it was back to the house to fill Brian in on my concert and talk some baseball with John.
I headed out Saturday morning... apparently to save Lizzie from Sparky sooner than later. Who would have thought he'd cramp her style? Anyway, it was a super fun visit and great mini vacation.
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