Friday: Paint It Red

Woke up early today to get started towards Cincinnati. The driving was mostly painless except for some construction and traffic before getting into Cincy. We ate at a nice, homey barbecue joint in Reynoldsburg (just east of Columbus) called The Hickory House, which had some very nice ribs. We got to the hotel and kicked back for a short while before getting in the van and heading to Great American Ballpark for the Twins-Reds game. In the elevator, we met a friendly man who said he was Matt Capps' old high school teacher. He had nothing but high praise for Mr. Capps and the other Twins, even if he was a Reds fan.

After that, we got to the ballpark and I picked up my new Reds hat ($40?!?!) and we got seated on the fifth level slightly on the first base line. I had a pizza that's supposed to be really good (it wasn't bad, really). The stadium is really pretty cool, it's got a nice view of the Ohio river, and is in a pretty nice part of town as well (unlike, say, Target Field...). There was one point in the game where this young lady came around the corner of the stairs with a beer in her hand. I don't know why I took such special notice of her, my only guess is that she was maybe a little tipsy, but not drunk. As she walked and stepped on the step next to me, she started to tip in my direction. I looked out the corner of my eye, hoping that I wouldn't have to be subjected to a beer bath, but she thankfully stumbled backwards and was caught by the glass wall, which I can only guess was put there for that very reason.

Later on, while Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco was batting, he broke his bat on the hit and the thick part of the bat swung around and hit the umpire in the side of the head, stopping play for a few minutes as we waited for the umpire to get up, which he did, and walk off the field by his own power. It was rather scary waiting for him to get up, but he seemed like he'd be alright.

The Twins ended up beating the Reds 5-4, with Glen Perkins striking out the last two batters with a one-run lead and men on the corners. Ryan Doumit had a home run, and Ben Revere had four hits in the game. After that, we walked back to the van and rode away from the stadium to the tune of the fireworks going off in the background.

Tomorrow we're going to the Creation Museum here in Kentucky, then driving to wherever we can on the way home.

TRIVIA SCORE

John - 72
Wendy - 59
Cal - 42

RESTAURANT REVIEWS

The Hickory House

Reynoldsburg, OH

Food - 13

Atmosphere - 15

Price - 20

Service - 15

TOTAL - 63 (Good)

Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati

The Umpire after being struck by the bat.