Take Me Out to the Ballgame Twice

Good evening from Oakland International Airport, where I am awaiting my redeye flight back home.  It is just after 10 PM PT on Thursday, August 9.  I am due in to Washington-Dulles at about 7:40 AM ET tomorrow morning.  However, my plane is coming from Denver and is late.  Therefore, my flight will be leaving late. 

Before continuing further, I should state that I was not as diligent in recording the vehicle numbers of the trains I was on here in San Francisco as I would have liked, so there are missing numbers, and others I am not totally sure of.  And with that out of the way, I can now tell you about my time in San Francisco, the last city on my trip.

On Wednesday morning, I took a cab from Janet’s house to Vancouver International Airport.  The cab ride only took about 20 minutes, and no more than 25, and was quite nice.  I got a glimpse of a Translink facility from the cab.  There was no line to check-in, and I proceeded straight to US Customs.  The United States has a customs preclearance facility at Vancouver International, so anyone on a US-bound flights does customs prior to boarding their flight.  However, the computers were down, so it took longer than it should have to go through the customs line.  However, I believe I was through that line at about 9:50 AM PT, not too long after I had arrived at the airport and with plenty of time to spare before my flight was to board.  I bought a USAToday and some breakfast, read the newspaper while eating, and then wrote the travelogue post about my close brush with baseball history.  The airplane was then ready for boarding.  While I purchased my ticket through United, the flight was an Air Canada flight on an Embraer E90 jet.  And while I had been assigned to seat 22A, a window seat, when I had confirmed my flight before leaving home several weeks ago, I discovered upon check-in that morning I was now in 12D, an aisle in the bulkhead row, which I much preferred.  The flight itself was uneventful, although we had a 20 minute taxi to leave Vancouver, and the pilot on our plane only told us after landing at San Francisco International that it is normal to have other planes landing on a parallel runway coming in on the same approach visible just outside our plane’s windows.  Excellent timing on his part.  After deplaning, I proceeded to baggage claim, and then took the AirTrain to the BART station to head into downtown San Francisco.

BART is very much like the Washington, DC Metro, in that it is a subway-commuter rail hybrid, but it leans closer to commuter railroad than the DC Metro does.  Unfortunately, there are no railfan windows on BART.  I took BART from the poorly designed San Francisco Airport stop on a train that was only 4 cars long for some reason I cannot comprehend to Civic Center (car number 2569, I believe), where I transferred to the MUNI Metro Subway.  However, due to a train at Montgomery that had “no forward motion”, there was a delay in service, and I had to wait over 10 minutes for an N-Judah streetcar (1527) which I took to my hotel.  The hotel was recommended to me by my second cousins, who used to live in the area, and it worked out well.  I checked in, unpacked, downloaded my email, and wrote about my last day in Vancouver for the travelogue. 

Then, it was off to AT&T Park, for that night’s game between the San Francisco Giants and the Washington Nationals.  The reason for coming to San Francisco was that I figured if I am doing all this traveling, why not add one more city so that I could make it to another ballpark, since ultimately, I wish to make it to every single one?  I looked at all the matchups for that night, figured out where I could fly to easily from Vancouver, and had it narrowed down to Toronto or San Francisco, before choosing the latter due to what I had heard about the ballpark there, and the fact that the Nationals, my second favorite team, were playing.  Since Barry Bonds already had his 756th career home run, this was now a fairly meaningless game between two last place teams.  However, Barry Bonds did hit a home run (his 757th), and the Giants went on to win the game 5-0.  Despite it being early August, it was a very cool evening.  Additionally, the afternoon fog was starting to roll in and the weather had already been cloudy, so the amazing views of the San Francisco Bay were not to be had.  A number of fans seated near me said it was better during the day time.

After the game, I took the N Line back to the hotel, and determined my options for the next day.  I went to sleep at around 1 AM PT, and got up in the 8 AM hour.  I went to breakfast off the hotel lobby, then returned to my room.  Earlier in the week, I bought a ticket to the Thursday afternoon Giants-Nationals game, hoping to increase my chances of seeing Bonds break the home run record.  Unless you’ve only started reading my travelogue with this paragraph or never pay attention to any baseball news item ever, you know that Barry Bonds already hit the record breaking home run.  However, I figured since I had the ticket, I might as well use it, and returned to the ballpark again.  This time, I arrived early enough to walk around, which I had not done the previous night.  I saw some kayakers in McCovey’s Cove, walked by the Coca-Cola Fan Zone, and saw an amusing sign that pointed out the distances to various Giants points of interest, such as the Polo Grounds, Candlestick Park, and Cooperstown, NY. 

For the night game, I was sitting in the club level (200 level), right behind home plate and in front of the radio press box.  For the day game, I was in the 300 level, along the first base line.  However, from all points in the stadium, the view out into the bay was spectacular, and certainly was more like what I expected based on the rave reviews I’ve previously read about AT&T Park.  The Nationals won this game 3-1.  The Giants left many runners on third base, and 10 runners over the course of the game. 

Overall, I like AT&T Park.  It is set beautifully; I can’t think of any stadium that is built up against a body of water the way that AT&T Park is.  However, this view can really only be had during a day game.  Night games can be cold, windy, and foggy and have no view of the bay after a few innings.  There are very good views from throughout the stadium, and the scoreboard shows all sorts of useful information while the game is played, including what each batter did during the current inning.  Also of note, the Giants have a female public address announcer, the only one I know of in the major leagues.  However, the Giants certainly have their share of silly promotions.  Wednesday was Jewish Heritage Night, and the music between half-innings included songs such as Heivenu Shalom Aleichem, Mayim Mayim, and even Hava Nagila during the 7th inning stretch after Take Me Out to the Ballgame (If you recognize all those songs, you will also know why this is quite strange).  Thursday was Native American Heritage Day.  A look at the Giants website will show that there are plenty of cultural heritage nights over the course of the season, many of which seemed quite silly to me.

After the game, I took MUNI back to Embarcadero, where I boarded the F Line Historic Streetcar, and rode that to Fisherman’s Wharf.  I then walked over to the cable car terminal at Taylor and Bay streets, and then followed the line so I could photograph cable cars coming up and down the steep hills.  I then rode a car back to the terminal, hoping to ride on the outside which I have yet to do, but was unable to do so since all those spaces were taken.  Then, it was back on to the F Line to go back to Embarcadero, where I walked down Market Street to the Montgomery Station, photographing buses and F Line streetcars as I walked.  I then took the N Line out to the UCSF campus, where I was hoping to photograph the streetcars on an “S-curve”, but the photo spot proved to be more challenging than I expected, and I’m not sure I am totally pleased with the results yet.  I bought dinner on the way back to the hotel, which I checked out of this morning, but left my stuff there for the day.  I reclaimed my luggage, and then returned to the MUNI stop, where I just missed a trolley, but another pulled in right away (1525).  I noticed the sign read J-CHURCH/BALBOA PARK, but I figured this was an error of some sort, and the car would go into the Metro Tunnel.  But it turned onto the J Line at the portal, much to my surprise, and I had to walk back a block to await a “real” N streetcar to downtown.  I think an unintelligible about the train not going downtown was made, but I certainly couldn’t understand it if that was the case.  The next train did go into the tunnel, so I took it to Civic Center and changed for BART, which I took to Coliseum/Oakland Airport (car 392).  Once there, I got on the AirBART bus that connects the BART station to the airport.  The bus runs every 10 minutes, and the one I got on sat there for about 9 (I got on at about 9:11, we left at 9:20).  The ride to the airport took just over 10 minutes, but BART warns that it can take up to 30 when there is heavy traffic.  Needless to say, this train-to-the-plane connection will be come much easier when and if the people mover train (similar to AirTrain at JFK or Newark airports) is constructed.  I checked in for my flight, went through security, and now am writing this post.

I’m signing off at this point for now, but I’ll write a concluding post, detailing the rest of my trip home and other last thoughts for this travelogue, once back on the East Coast over the weekend.

Flirting with History, but No Date

Last night shortly before 9 PM PT, I was sitting with Janet and my cousin Jonah’s parents (a close relation in my family) at a dessert store called True Confections at the corner of Alma Street and Broadway in Vancouver.  While we were getting ready to pay the check, Barry Bonds hit his 756th home run, breaking Hank Aaron’s record.  I hold tickets to two Giants games this week: tonight and tomorrow.  Barry Bonds will be looking for his 757th home run.  I’m only now sitting in Vancouver International Airport waiting for my San Francisco-bound Air Canada flight, where the current time is 10:44 AM PT on Wednesday, August 8.

This is not the first time I’ve just missed seeing a baseball milestone, although most of what I’ve missed has pertained to Cal Ripken.  I was at Cal Ripken’s 2128th consecutive game.  The 2131st game broke Lou Gherig’s consecutive game streak.  I had tickets to what was originally going to be Cal Ripken’s last game before retiring, but a week’s worth of games were rescheduled for the next week after the attacks of September 11, 2001.  I was at Cal Ripken’s Hall of Fame Sendoff at Camden Yards in Baltimore on July 24; had I been in Central New York as I frequently am the weekend of his induction, I probably would have made an effort to be in Cooperstown.  Then, there were some lesser “milestones” of a sort, which aren’t exactly the types of events one wants to be at.  I have the scorecard from the Orioles last game before trading away a number of favorite players, including BJ Surhoff, as part of a rebuilding.  I was at Rafael Palmerio’s first game back after serving his suspension for testing positive for steroids. 

That said, I am looking forward to seeing tonight’s Nationals-Giants game at AT&T Park, said to be one of the nicest baseball stadiums constructed.  And I am looking forward to having more time in San Francisco, a city that I enjoyed visiting about 19 months ago and am excited to exploring more. 

I will now sign off, try downloading pictures from yesterday before my plane boards, and will write about my last day in Vancouver and tonight’s baseball game later this evening.

Seattle Center & Beautiful British Columbia

Greetings from beautiful British Columbia, where I am writing from the kitchen table in my friend Janet’s house on Sunday, August 5 at about 6:30 PM PT.  It has been a busy past three days, and I’ll get into all of it in a few moments.

My cousin Aviva and I decided to make Friday morning a lazy morning, so I slept in, had a leisurely breakfast, and downloaded my email for the first time in days (no Amtrak train has Internet capabilities, and I doubt the Empire Builder will anytime soon).  Shortly before noon, we walked out to a nearby bus stop, and took a King County Metro bus to near the Westlake Center in downtown Seattle.  The last time I was in Seattle was in the summer of 2004, at which time the Seattle Center Monorail was not in service due to some sort of mishap.  Therefore, I was unable to ride it then.  (Luckily, the bus tunnel was open then.  It is now closed for work pertaining to the new light rail that is under construction).  We rode the monorail to the Seattle Center, and then walked over to the International Fountain.  There are some very creative benches in the circular walkway around the fountain, and I got some more photos of the fountain with the Space Needle as a backdrop.  I also got some photos of the benches in the area.  After some time, we walked around the Seattle Center some, and then went to the new sculpture garden located along the waterfront.  I found the sculptures to be quite interesting, and we then found a bench whose back was designed to look like an eyeball (there were other similar benches nearby, appropriately positioned to create pairs), and made some phone calls to family back on the East Coast.  The bench was also within earshot of a grade crossing for a BNSF freight line, so I was able to get a few photos of passing trains.

After this, we walked along the waterfront in the direction of the aquarium, in search of some food.  Since we were going to the Seattle Mariners baseball game that night, we didn’t want to eat too large a lunch and not have an appetite for ballpark food.  At about this time, Aviva’s husband Jonah called to say he was off work, and we agreed to meet him for falafel at a place near 4th and Main.  We took our falafel to a courtyard with waterfalls that was the birthplace of UPS.  After finishing this, it was nearing time to head over towards the ballpark. and I made another phone call back to the East Coast while doing so.

I think that Seattle is a very interesting city, and I like it a lot.  I find places such as the Seattle Center to be wonderful urban paradises in the middle of bustling cities, similar to Central Park in New York City or Millennium Park in Chicago.  Additionally, I enjoy the waterfront (and will be interested to see what is done with the elevated highway running along the Alaskan Way) and find that Seattle is a very easy city to get around, despite its steep hills.  So far, I have been able to enjoy excellent weather when I’ve been in Seattle, and seeing what are supposedly more “normal” conditions might change my opinion of the city, but I think it is an exciting and fun place, and hope to be able to go back again soon.

Before the baseball game, which seems to be my Friday night Seattle tradition, Aviva, Jonah, and I went to Pyramid Brewery, people watched, and chatted.  Then at about 6:20 or so, we went to buy food from a vendor outside the stadium, and then went in to Safeco Field from the main entrance.  For that night’s game, in which the Seattle Mariners hosted the Boston Red Sox, we had sections in the upper level looking straight out along the third base line towards left field.  The Red Sox lost for the first time at a game that I have personally attended (that I can recall), mainly because they were unable to produce runs in the first two innings when they got 6 of their 11 hits.

Overall, I like Safeco Field.  Last time I was there, my seats were in right field, and I didn’t enter the park through its majestic foyer, which I liked a lot (the new stadium for the Mets, CitiField, is supposed to have a similar foyer, which was a feature of the old Ebbets Field that was home to the Brooklyn Dodgers).  Safeco Field is very similar to Citizens Bank Park, where the Philadelphia Phillies play.  The concessions on the lower level are set up so that one can see from the concourse to the playing fields, there are views of the city skyline from the stadium, and the scoreboards are large and easy to see from many vantage points.  I especially like that they show how to score most plays on the scoreboard, since I keep score at the games I attend and occasionally miss something (such as the 9-4-2-5 play that resulted from Manny Ramirez’s poor baserunning.  However, I found the frequent promotions and sound effects, especially between each pitch made by Seattle closer J.J. Putz, to be overkill.

After the game, we drove back to Aviva’s and Jonah’s, and went to sleep.  The next morning (Saturday), after a quicker breakfast than the day before, I was driven to the King Street Station to take Amtrak Thruway Bus 8948 to Vancouver, BC.  Yes, that last statement was a bit of an oxymoron, since this was a bus where my ticket was purchased through Amtrak and was timed to meet the Empire Builder from Chicago, but the bus was operated by some Canadian company whose name I forget, and was most definitely not a train.  (Janet, the power behind the scenes as she calls herself, thinks the best description would be a “bus that is pretending to be a train”, among other ideas, but I’ve gone with the wordy description above).  Since Amtrak can only operate one Cascades round trip a day between Seattle and Vancouver, it operates additional bus service for the times the train does not run.  The bus ran non stop to the border, where we arrived at about 1:10 PM PT.  For buses crossing the border, every bus must unload its passengers, after which they claim their luggage and proceed to a customs inspection.  Meanwhile, the bus is inspected (we were warned not to leave anything on board or else it would be confiscated).  After every passenger went through customs, the luggage was reloaded onto the bus, and we set off again at about 2:10.  This wasn’t too bad of a border experience, since only one bus can be processed at a time, and we only had to wait 10 minutes for the bus in front of us to finish once we arrived, and no other buses were in front of us.  After a stop in the Vancouver suburbs in Richmond to let a few people off, we arrived at Vancouver Central Station, which is served both by buses and trains, at 3:07 PM PT. 

I only had a few minutes to wait for Janet to come and pick me up, after which we went back to her house, before setting out to see the University of British Columbia campus.  The campus looks like that of a school in the United States in many ways, with lots of utilitarian buildings that seem to have been constructed in the 1950s, 60s, or 70s, based on the exterior designs.  However, there are a number of vistas that overlook the Pacific Ocean which are quite pretty.  We returned to the house to eat, then set out on a long walk through the UBC campus down to the beach, then walked about 7 kilometers (5 miles) along the beach to Vanier Park.  Each summer, there are four fireworks displays as part of a competition.  The three countries each have one night where they make their own display, set to music, that goes off over English Bay.  Then, the fourth display is a finale, in which all participants each do about one third of the entire display.  That fourth display took place Saturday night, and we watched it from this park.  Being from the Washington, DC area, I get to see fireworks each July 4th on the National Mall.  However, I found that the Vancouver display was interesting since the people who made it had more leeway in the music they used since they were not limited to patriotic songs.  They also used a number of effects I had never seen before.  After the display ended, it was back to the house to sleep.

This morning, we drove out to Whistler, an alpine village about 110 kilometers from Vancouver where a number of 2010 Olympic events are scheduled to take place.  The drive from Vancouver to Whistler is quite scenic, and it goes along the ocean for much of the first half.  This road is being widened to accommodate Olympic traffic, and it is quite interesting to see how they are widening the road that runs between a cliff leading down to the water and a steep rock face.  While on our way out there, we stopped at Shannon Falls.  Once in Whistler, which is a village that seems to be trying to be European and isn’t exactly succeeding, we had lunch, and then went for a walk out to what is called Lost Lake, but Janet and I decided that the lake is no longer lost since we found it.  The scenery on this walk and at the lake itself was simply breathtaking, as we walked along a blue-gray stream that probably originated at a glacier, and then reached Lost Lake with its blue-green waters set among a variety of trees, including evergreens, and tall mountains still capped with snow.  We walked around the lake after sitting on its shore for awhile.  We didn’t have bathing suits so we were unable to go in, although it would have been quite refreshing to do so.  Then, in the interest of time, we took the less scenic but most direct route back to Whistler Village and headed home, where I write this post from.  Today was quite tiring, so I think it might be an early night to bed after some reading, before yet another packed day tomorrow.

A Whirlwind Through the Windy City

Greetings from southeastern Wisconsin, where the local time is currently 4:32 PM CT on Tuesday, July 31.  I am writing this from my Roomette on the Empire Builder, Amtrak’s Chicago to Seattle/Portland service.  This post will cover the time period from the end of the previous entry up until my arrival at Chicago Union Station to board today’s train.  And as an added bonus, there are visuals!

My day on Monday the 30th began with my taking the METRA Union Pacific-North Line from Highland Park to the Ogilvie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago.  This line is unusual in that it is operated “left handed”, with a setup like a British road (if you are traveling inbound, a train traveling outbound passes you on the right if you are facing forward, whereas you would expect it to be on the left).  From there, my goal for the rest of the day was to finish my tour of the Chicago Transit Authority’s elevated and subway lines, so that I could add the CTA to my list of completely ridden subways (the ones I’ve done thus far are Washington, DC, New York City, Miami, Toronto, San Francisco, Glasgow, and Haifa, Israel).  In bulletpoint format, the itinerary and trains taken were as follows:

• Pink Line (Car #3021) from Washington/Wells to Kedzie
• Pink Line (Car #2222) from Kedzie to 54/Cermak
• Pink Line (Car #2222) from 54/Cermak to Polk
• Pink Line (Car #3005) from Polk to Ashland
• Green Line (Car #2513 from Ashland to Harlem/Lake
  • Once at Harlem/Lake, I walked over the adjacent METRA station where I photographed an outbound Union Pacific-West Line METRA train, and a CSX freight heading towards Chicago
• Green Line (Car #2515) from Harlem/Lake to Clinton
  • After getting off this train, I walked to a food court under Ogilvie TC where I purchased and ate lunch
• Blue Line (Car #3026) from Washington to Forest Park
  • Upon my arrival at Forest Park, I completed my system tour.  I have been to every CTA station, although due to the fact that Blue Line service from the Dearborn Subway to 54/Cermak is limited to every 30 minutes during rush hour only since the Pink Line’s inception, I have not been on the track connection that those rush hour Blue Line trains use.

From here, I began to work my way towards Wrigley Field, where I was meeting my friend, Joe, to watch that night’s game between the Cubs and the Philadelphia Phillies.  This was accomplished using the following:

• Blue Line (Car #3026) from Forest Park to Clark/Lake
• Brown Line (Car #3361) from Clark/Lake to Merchandise Mart
• Purple Line (Car #2577) from Merchandise Mart to Chicago/Franklin
• Brown Line (Car number not recorded) from Chicago/Franklin to Fullerton
• Red Line (Car #2707) from Fullerton to Addison
  • It appears that the Purple Line Express has had the largest service cuts as a result of the Three-Track project at Fullerton and Belmont stations.  That said, they should have Red Line trains stop at Wellington (and Diversey when it reopens) when the Brown Line is in operation so as to straight rail all the service through that zone.

I now will take a moment to write about the CTA’s poor state of repair.  While the CTA is working to eliminate the slow zones that are scattered around its system, the agency faces a budget crisis and cannot maintain current levels of service and maintain its aging infrastructure.  Chicago’s rapid transit system is among the oldest in the nation, and as with most things, needs more attention as it gets older.  Riding the CTA this visit was not as fun (from a railfanning perspective) as in the past, because of the numerous slow zones.  It is good to see that projects such as the Brown Line rehab are going on, but it seems that more funding and work will be needed to bring the CTA back up to the standard it should be at.  Additionally, other systems and the governments that fund them can learn from the CTA’s experiences over the past years.  For public transit to function and be maintained properly, agencies need the money to carry out not only day-to-day operations but maintenance work that will ensure a good system for years to come.

The ballgame was quite enjoyable, but like at the White Sox-Blue Jays game on Sunday, since I was not a fan of either team, I got to just sit back, watch the game, and take in everything.  Wrigley Field is one of my favorite ballparks.  The crowd is great, the setting is unique, and the park has charm.  It also presents a great challenge to any scorekeeper like myself, since there are no posted lineups and the announcements on the public address system are usually not able to be heard clearly.  Interestingly, I had already seen both teams play this year already.  I saw the Cubs play against the Washington Nationals in Washington on July 2, and I saw the Phillies play against the St. Louis Cardinals in Philadelphia on July 14.  Coincidentally, the starting pitchers for Chicago and Philadelphia on those dates also started last night’s game.  Finally, the only other time I was at a game at Wrigley Field in July of 2003, the Cubs were playing the Phillies.  The Phillies won the game 4-1, but the Cubs fans stayed and cheered their team on until the end. 

After the game, we walked back to the “L”, although in an attempt to get around crowds, we walked much further than intended and probably saved no time as a result of our endeavor.  For the trip back to where Joe had parked, we took these trains:

• Red Line (Car #2617) from Wilson to Howard
• Purple Line (Car #2577) from Howard to Linden
  • This train came to a very sudden stop just after passing through the yards at Howard, and it was soon announced that the train’s brakes would not release, and we had to wait for a supervisor to come and fix the problem while continuing.

Once we got back to the car, we drove back to Deerfield, and after deciding we would not be able to see Becky, a mutual friend of ours that night, I went back to my relatives, repacked my bags for my trip on the Empire Builder, and went to sleep.

The next morning, I left my relatives and took the METRA train from Highland Park into Chicago.  After leaving my luggage in the Metropolitan Lounge at Union Station, I walked over to the new Millennium Park.  This park has public fountains in which people can get their feet wet, or they can stand under one of the tall cascades of water and be totally immersed.  There are also gardens and an outdoor stage with a lawn seating area and speakers that bring the sound of a performance out to the lawn area.  Millennium Park is an urban oasis right in the middle of Chicago’s bustling downtown area, was well planned, and the public seems to be enjoying its use.

After that, it was back to Union Station to grab a bite and await the boarding of the Empire Builder for the trip out to Portland.  More on that to come…

Stepping Back in Time

Before composing tonight’s regularly scheduled post, here are some photos that correspond to previous entries I have made:

(Recent discovery: You can click on a photo to see a larger version of it!)

From the Capitol Limited:

 

Downtown Silver Spring, MD

Sightseer/Lounge Car

Dining Car

Our engine at Cumberland, MD

From Comiskey Park (AKA US Cellular Field):

The exploding scoreboard (see also below)

Amtrak Has Yet to Live Up to its Reputation

I begin where I left off last night, going downstairs to take a shower while on board a moving train. This might go without saying, but it isn’t the typical showering experience, unless being compared to what one might go through at a sleepaway camp. Luckily, we made the Connellsville, PA station stop while I was in the shower, which made things easier. The shower stall is about 6 feet high, so the top of my head is against the ceiling. The showerhead is one of those detachable ones that can be held in your hand, and the result is one gets something slightly better than a sponge bath. There is also a shower curtain with snaps between the shower itself and a small changing area, which allows one to make a possibly futile effort to keep the water in the shower and the changing area dry.

I turned off the lights in my room and went to sleep at 10:06 PM ET. I slept soundly from about 11 until our station stop in Toledo, Ohio, at about 5:10 AM ET, went back to sleep, and woke up for good at 6:47 AM ET during the Elkhart, Indiana station stop. We actually arrived here early and had to wait for the departure time to leave! Shortly thereafter, I went to the dining car for breakfast, where I was seated with a man traveling to Seattle, Vancouver, and possibly some points in British Columbia. He wasn’t exactly sure of his itinerary, but his train from Fort Lauderdale to Washington was delayed, so he was bussed with some other passengers to meet the train in Pittsburgh. After breakfast, I went to the lounge car with the Sunday New York Times, and remained there until we were about to arrive in Chicago, at which point I tidied up my belongings. We arrived at Chicago’s Union Station at 8:40 AM CT, almost a full hour early!

I proceeded to the Metropolitan Lounge to leave my things for the day, having put the items I needed for the day’s activities in a separate bag while on the train. I had a ticket to the 1:05 PM CT White Sox-Blue Jays game, so I decided to do some railfanning before that. I walked to the nearest L station at Quincy and Adams, and rode the following trains:

• Brown Line (Car #3361) from Quincy to State/Lake
• Brown Line (Car #3382) from State/Lake to Fullerton
  • The work they are doing at Belmont and Fullerton stations is phenomenal, I can’t wait to see the finish products.
• Red Line (Car #2647) from Fullerton to Lake
• Green Line (Car #2480) from State/Lake to 63rd/Cottage Grove
• Green Line (Car #2437) from 63rd/Cottage Grove to Garfield
• Green Line (Car #2474) from Garfield to 63rd/Ashland
• Green Line (Car #2494) from 63rd/Ashland to Roosevelt
  • The connecting passageway from the Green/Orange station to the Red Station is very well done in my opinion
• Red Line (Car #2709) from Roosevelt to Sox/35th

Then, it was on to the ballgame. I think the new Comiskey is nice. It isn’t a retro ballpark, but it is not a cookie cutter stadium either. There did not appear to be any obstructed views, but the scoreboards were hard to see from many vantages in the park, and there was music playing at almost every possible moment. There were also endless promotions and advertisements being made over the PA. One nice thing about the music is that it was much softer and more subdued than at other parks, but the quantity did not improve my opinion of it despite the quality. The game itself was quite good. It only took 2.5 hours to play the game. The Blue Jays won, 4-1, and their two pitchers only faced 28 batters over the course of the entire game (one over the minimum), allowing two hits (including a home run to Jermaine Dye) and no walks.

After the ballgame was over, I hopped on the Red Line (Car #2409) from 35th up to Monroe, planning to walk over to Union Station. However, a 130 bus came up (D40LF 1195) and I took that over to Union Station, to help ensure that I would catch the 4:35 METRA Fox Lake train to Deerfield. It is from the home of my relatives in Deerfield (where the local time is 7:22 PM CT on Sunday, June 29) that I am currently writing this, and it will be posted as soon as I can get the wireless to work right, or once I transfer it to a different computer to post it.

Tomorrow, I intend to finish my tour of the CTA’s train lines (more on my opinion of how they have deteriorated since my last visit in a future post) and will revisit Wrigley Field. And if you are wondering how Amtrak didn’t live up to its expectations since I never directly dealt with that issue in this post, let’s just hope that the Empire Builder performs as well as the Capitol Limited did.