Mik’s Food Scrapbook: Skyline Chili

Today on the way from Louisville to Pittsburgh we yet again drove through Cincinnati (by the way we also looked for the third time to try and find a Reds sticker for the car and yet again ended up empty handed, so it just is not going to happen). Dad saw an exit sign list Skyline Chili, so we ended up stopping for an early lunch.

Mik had a cheese Coney like he had at Great American Ballpark. This time he got it without the onions and the mustard and it was way better in his opinion. He also tried the three way (chili, cheese, and spaghetti). He enjoyed it, but only ate about half since he ate the cheese Coney first. He was even too full to try the cheese fries I got despite how good they looked to him and how good they did taste since they had shredded cheese on them and not crappy liquid cheese.

Kj’s Baseball Collection: Wrigley Field

There were to two different Wrigley Field balls to choose from. One had the Marquee sign on it saying Welcome to the Friendly Confines and a view of the field, but I know I already have one with the marquee sign on it even though I know it is not the exact same since it has the brick ivy look and not the field view. I ended choosing one with a brick design as the entire background. It has a big Cubs logo on one side. One another side it says Wrigley Field. All over it has little logos including the Cubs logo, be aware of foul ball signs, and the marquee sign.

Mik’s Mini Bat Collection: Wrigley Field

Wrigley Field was one of the few places Mik was hoping to not get just a logo bat because he already has the best Cubs logo blue one in his collection. It seemed like there was not anything better until we spotted one in the case upside down that was blue on top and natural on the bottom. It looked like it might be a player one, but we also thought it could be a Wrigley Field one. It turned out to be a Wrigley Field one and Mik got it. It has a picture of Wrigley Field in an oval on the blue part. It also has a Cubs logo in the corner of the photo. Above the image it says Wrigley Field.

Mik’s Food Scrapbook: Wrigley Field

At Wrigley Field Mik had a pulled pork sandwich and some fries. We found out right as we ordered that concessions are 25% the first hour the park is opened and we barely got the discount by 1 minute. Mik liked the sandwich, although it was a little messy. It had onions on it and he would have liked it better without the onions. He did like the fries, but he was full by the time he was done with his sandwich, so he did not eat many of them.

At the game I got a Northside Twist Giant Soft Pretzel. It was a $15 pretzel, but it was totally worth the price. Now this is actual a jumbo pretzel that lives up to and actually exceeds its giant name. It comes in a pizza box and could easily be enough for at least two people. We only ate about a third of it at the game and took the rest back to the apartment to snack on later (it reheats great by the way). Mik thought it was a little too salty, but he thought that was better than the not salty ones we have encountered. It comes with three sauces. I think you can get one of each of their options, but we just got the frosting type one because the other options included something spicy and nacho type cheese, which I do not like with pretzels. This pretzel definitely rates as the best pretzel in the MLB. Even though we still have 13 parks to go to, I highly doubt anything can beat this pretzel.

Car Sticker Update: Cleveland Indians

Finding a sticker at the Cleveland Indians was easy for once. The sticker we choose is a circle one with the Indian logo in the middle. Yeah, I am behind and the window now also has a Detroit Tigers sticker, but I will hopefully get that update in a little bit after an update on the National League side.

Day 33: Father's Day and Birthday Shopping

After the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory we went and had Father's Day dinner at Red Lobster. It is the first time we have gone to a sit down restaurant on the trip other than the little cafe in the Avenue of the Giants. Mik really enjoyed it, as he loves the cheesy biscuits and the various shrimp dishes.

After dinner we went to Toys R Us. I have been trying to find time to get Mik his birthday present since the game came out earlier this month, but we have not had a convenient chance to stop until today. I got him Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings for the PSP. He also found a $10 DS baseball game that I ended up getting him, since it goes in theme with the trip. I also bought a two disc DVD set of the Angels in the Outfield and Angels in the Infield movies. Once at the campground Mik and I watched the Angels in the Outfield movie since it is one of the few times we have electricity at the campsite.

Baseball Museum 7: Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory

There are only a few things Mik has been excited about on the trip, such as Wrigley Field and his birthday in Pittsburgh where they have pierogis at the ballpark. Visiting the Lousiville Slugger Museum & Factory was among the few things that he actually wanted to do and was excited about. Yes, it was all because he knew he would get a free mini bat for his collection at the end of the factory tour.

We got to the museum right before the 2pm tour, so we went on the tour before exploring the little museum. Dad and I went on the tour back in 2002 when I was in the National Chess Tournament in Louisville, so it was familiar, but still interesting to do again. Being a Sunday the factory was not in production mode, but they have great videos that show the production. The best part of the tour is getting to feel different models of bats from over the years and preferences and different players. They even have an area with some current players bat models to pick up and feel. They are in the process of redoing this area, so while there is a slot for a player from each MLB team not every slot has a finished bat. We picked up the Nats Adam Dunn's bat and Mariners Ken Griffy Jr.'s bat.

At the end of the tour Mik and I got our free mini bats with a black logo of the museum and factory, which I will post about later in a Mik's Mini Bat Collection post. Dad got a special Most Valuable Dad 2009 mini bat, since it is Father's Day. Oh, and he actually got in free today because of it being Father's Day, so it ended up being a great day to do the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory.




After the tour ended we went through the museum part. The museum includes several old bats, such as one the Babe Ruth put knotches in for each home run he hit with it and the third bat used by DiMaggio during his 56 game hitting streak. They also have some old wood items that the company made before becoming a bat making company in 1884, such as the swinging butter churner.




The final stop was at the gift shop. Mik got a personalized mini bat, which I will post about later. We were going to get him a personalized bat no matter what even if it was a big one, but since they did personalized mini bats that is what he got. I let Dad get a big one personalized as his Father's Day present. It is a two colored red one with gold lettering. He got it personalized to say All the Ballparks 2009 Road Trip. He is going to hang it up on the ledge in the Great Room.




Before heading to the car we took a bunch of photos outside the museum in front of the giant bat with us holding the personalized bats we got.