Tampa day three.....
2006-05-02

It's cold and raining and both my shoulders ache. Happy Tuesday. Back top the trip...
On Sunday M.E slept very late and I let her. We weren't planning to head to the ballpark until 11:00 or so. I got up, showered, made coffee and read the paper that was thoughtfully left at the door. She finally got up around 9:30 got things together and we left right on time. A plus...
The traffic was light and we parked in a lot that looked easy to get out of. The parking attendant said they didn't block and that was important as we planned to stay until almost the end and then head to the airport. for the trip home.
We didn't have tickets, but really didn't figure it would be a problem. It wasn't. As we were aproaching the line a very English chap asked if we wanted two. He said he had bought too many... He was standing right next to a security guard who verified they were real. The seats were right were we wanted to sit, and a bunch of money cheaper that face value. SCORE!!!!
We went down and checked the seats out, about a dozen rows behind third base. Sweet... Then we went to look for a place to have lunch. We settled on this pub behind first base. We both I had a huge taco salad and she had a garden with grilled chicken. With drinks the tab came to $28. Not bad...
We walked around some more and finally got to our seats a bit before the first pitch. The section was filled with Sox fans. Shi11ing was pitching against Kasm1r. Two flamethrowers and the game was a good one. There were no fights and all the folks around us were friendly. We decided to wait until the Sox batted in the 8th and then leave, and so we did.
We walked back to the car and got a major surprise. Some idiot came in after security left and parked behind us. We were blocked in. I tried and tried to squeeze out. There was no way. There just wasn't enough room. Security came over and tried to find the owner. No luck, we'd have to wait. We listened to the last innign on the radio. The Sox were down one runners on second and third. A pop fly, caught. Game over.
It was getting very late. I wanted to kick this guys door in but I restrained. Finally the guy in front of us (leagally parked) showed up and we explained the situation and he let us out. Of course now the traffic was awful... We sat and sat while the minutes clicked away. I was begining to stress big time, but trying not to show it and to be reassuring... We'll make it don't worry. When the traffic cleared some I drove like a mad man.
We got to the airport about 40 minutes before the flight was scheduled to leave, dumped the rental and ran to security all stressed out. The we say the monitor... We were to be delayed AGAIN....
On the plus side that took the pressure off but on the other hand we were going to sit in the airport again for a few more hours. We hit the TG1F near the gate for a bite to eat and drinks. By this time I needed a drink and sat at the gate fuming. Another two hours later and we boarded.
The flight home wa uneventful other than getting in very late again. Puppy was so glad to see us. He kept running from one to another, back and forth.
We watched a recap of the news and crashed. Yesterday I sent out emails, we're going back in August and bringing friends... Watch out Tampa, we'll be back...

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