Only a drive-by in Chicago...

You know, I never thought there was a class of hotel lower than an Econo Lodge.  I mean, I’ve stayed in some shitty places, and I’ve stayed in some swanky places.  For the most part, everything has been at least decent.

Then I walked into my room in the Rodeway Inn just outside of Detroit… wow.  I’m about 70% certain this room was used in an axe murderer movie recently, and that ’s not just because of what appear to be blood stains on the “couch” in the room.  At least, I hope they’re blood stains… Not to mention the third of four hotel rooms that doesn’t have an alarm clock.   This is like worlds away from the Hard Rock Hotel in Vegas where I was staying 10 nights ago…

So, first things first – apologies for the lack of an update the past two days.  Monday was a bit of a wasted day for me; completely unable to get tickets to the College World Series, I ended up spending an eventful day sitting in a hotel room in Omaha, Nebraska.  Not the busiest of days – I actually crawled into bed at about 7pm and laid there until I finally dozed at about 9.

Tuesday, I got to make the trip through Iowa and into Milwaukee.  After stopping to see a friend at Iowa State (beautiful campus… gigantic… and approximately 145 degrees on Tuesday), I made my way over to Dyersville and the Field of Dreams movie site.  Yes, it’s as cool as you might think.  They’ve kept almost everything the way it looked for filming and only added a small souvenier shop and a couple of boards with photos and notes about the filming.  I was impressed with the collection of license plates on the cars in the lot – aside from my Massachusetts plates (never changed them when I moved to Nevada) there was California, Connecticut, Florida and a couple from Canada.  Guess the site still draws a crowd.  Unfortunately, the corn isn’t fully grown yet; only about two or three feet tall in the fields, so I couldn’t get a good shot from the outfield looking in.  I’ll post other pictures I took after I get my computers setup back home and can get to Photoshop.

After getting to Milwaukee, I made a beeline for my dinner… Kopps.  sae, I know you know where I’m going on this one.  Kopps is an unbelievable burger, perhaps the best I’ve ever had (and I’ve had my fair share), and their frozen custard is even better.  This is a required stop if you’re in Milwaukee and like a great burger.  A little on the pricey side, but absolutely worth it.  I’ve been to the Greenfield location three times now, and as I sit on my hotel “bed” in Detroit I seriously regret not staying in Milwaukee until the doors opened to grab one more for the road.  Probably Absolutely a poor decision on my part.

Finally, the Brewers/Twins game.  I’ve been to two games at Miller Park, both times with pretty good seats, both times with a ball landing within five feet of me, and both times Brewer losses.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they were playing decent teams.  Maybe it’s because Jeff Suppan was the Brewers starting pitcher both times.  Or maybe it has to do with the sausage race.  I have no idea.  I do know that last night was one of the rowdiest games I’ve ever been to – by the fifth inning, two entire sections were chanting “Cut Him Off” at the guy sitting next to me when he and his girlfriend tried to buy beers.  In MILWAUKEE! That takes a special kind of drunk right there.  By the eighth inning, the temperature and humidity were unbearable and the place emptied out with a 7-3 Twins lead.  They didn’t give it up in the ninth.

Finally, the drive to Detroit today.  I thought nothing eventful would happen… except…

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Yahtzee!

I’m fairly certain that isn’t interesting to anybody but me, but whatever.  And because it’s an American Made car, I doubt it will survive much longer than the remaining 1200 miles on this trip.

Off to Comerica…  And the Nation’s Capitol in the morning.

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