Trip report: Sports with some gambling mixed in.
My dad and I are die hard Red Sox fans (he's been a fan since the 60's) so I thought hey why don't we go to Cleveland for games 1 and 2 of the playoffs and then I could meet my friends in Green Bay. My dad was in so I bought very expensive tickets on stub hub for about $300 USD per ticket per game. The plan was my dad would fly into Cleveland and I would drive there and meet him.
Day: 1
I drove from Winnipeg. MB to Gary. IN where I stayed at Majestic Star Casino. This is a long boring drive that I have done many times. I stopped at Chipotle for dinner as I do whenever I am in the states cause it is just sooooo good. After dinner I went to Mystic Lake Casino to take a break from driving and managed to very quickly find myself down $140 playing evil sides. I managed to hit a good run on BJ and won $30. Sadly someone had wiped all 30 UX machines so their was no vulturing to be had. I didn't manage my time well and between staying way too long at the casino, traffic in Chicago and construction I didn't get to Gary, IN until almost 3 am beyond tired. Oops!
P.S Tolls suck!
Day: 2
I woke up and gambled away $120 at Majestic Star before hitting the road. I paid some more tolls before getting to the Cleveland airport to pick up my dad. We checked into the Days Inn and tried to nap with no luck. Before the game we went to Melt Bar and Grill which we loved last time that we were in Cleveland. I would definitely suggest checking it out. They take a massive grilled cheese and put almost full meals inside of it. They have chicken parmesan, meatballs with mozzarella sticks, chorizo and potato etc. I think you get the idea. On this visit I had the chicken parm grilled cheese which had the largest chicken parm I have ever seen inside of the grilled cheese. It was so good but way too much food. After dinner we parked for the game and walked over to Jack Casino so that I could grab a new chip since I haven't been there since they changed the name of the casino. I played one hand of horrible 6-5 BJ and got a BJ for a small $10 win and then we left for the game. The game was an amazing atmosphere, 42,000 screaming fans and we were not in friendly territory. The game started well with the Sox jumping out to a lead but from there they couldn't score much and Rick Porcello was getting hammered every time he threw a pitch. He left down 5-3 and although the Sox had multiple chances they couldn't beat the Indians bullpen and eventually lost 5-4.
Day: 3
This was a very simple day. It started with another visit to Melt bar and grill where I had the breakfast grilled cheese that has bacon and eggs sunny side up in it. From there we went to the game and got absolutely dominated by Cory Kluber. He dominated and nobody was going to hit him that day. Sox lost 6-0 and would be eliminated three days later in game 3 at Fenway Park. It is a very sad time for a Sox fan as this team had the potential to win it all but they slumped at exactly the wrong time.
Day: 4
I dropped my dad at the airport around 5 am and headed to Cincinnati to get a chip from the new Jack Casino. I got there lost about $50 and then went to Chipotle for lunch. From there I drove to the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond to kill some time because I wasn't supposed to be in Green Bay until around 9 pm. I got Hammond and lost some money on vulturing before grabbing a free buffet there. It was a solid buffet, I am not a big fan of buffets but it was fresh so it was good. I then drove to GB and got caught in the terrible Chicago traffic, I don't understand how people do that every day. When I finally got to GB we all went out for drinks and got quite lubricated. We made a drunken trip to the casino (took a cab don't worry) and everyone lost except for yours truly who got the casino for a whole $45. Weee!
Day: 5
Sunday was game day. We grabbed breakfast at this place across the street from the hotel. It was good but they didn't have Sunday ticket so we walked back to the bar from the previous night. They had a buy 1 get one 1 on all drinks which meant my alcoholic friend was happy. He drank 8 double rum and cokes while I hadn't finished 2 beer yet. Wow! We then went to hotel to catch the shuttle to the game where my drunk friend had another beer in the hotel lobby. We got to the game and went to Brett Favre's bar and grill where we had free tickets to the tailgate in the parking lot. There was free food and drinks for 3 hours before the game and we all took full advantage of that. My drunk friend had at least 12 drinks and was slobbering drunk while the rest of us were just riding a nice buzz. Lambeau field is beautiful! I loved everything about it (except maybe the metal benches|). The crowd was great, the views were amazing, just an overall great experience. My friends continued to put away $10 beer after $10 beer until they were all hammered. I personally refuse to pay that much for a beer. The Giants lost which always makes me happy and then we took another trip to the casino where I lost $40.
Day: 6
The drive from Green Bay to Winnipeg is long and I decided to break up the drive by going to a bunch of casinos. Seemed like a good idea. I lost $250 at Menominee and lost on vulturing too. Next was North Star Mohican where I played DD and won $600 and I was finally up on gambling for the trip. Ho chunk got me for $50 and I then got Running Aces in Minnesota for $115. As always I wasted too much time and now was exhausted, you would think I would learn right? I drove about halfway from Minneapolis to Winnipeg before pulling over at a rest stop and sleeping in my back seat. This is why I always travel with a blanket! I woke up, grabbed breakfast and drove the last 4.5 hours home where I went to sleep at around 11 am.
All told the trip was fun, sad that the Sox lost but all three games I saw between baseball and football were awesome. I drove just under 3000 miles over the 7 days. I didn't keep perfect records of spending but overall I spent $213 on gas, $34 on tolls and won about $300. My overall spending was about $180 cash, $305 for Packers ticket and hotel and $600 for Red Sox tickets. All told a pretty awesome trip for under $1100 US.
I hope you enjoy this and it isn't too all over the place as I am writing it while I am currently so tired that I am having trouble seeing straight lol.
Quote: beachbumbabsGood report, PG,thanks! I don't know how Chicago/Milwaukee corridor can be tolerable as a regular commute, either. Just awful the couple times I did it.
It might be faster to completely drive around Chicago.
Quote: IbeatyouracesIt might be faster to completely drive around Chicago.
It is if I were say driving from Cleveland directly home to Winnipeg but not to go to GB. The around Chicago method adds too much distance.
Quote: djatcChipotle? Are you mad? Or you must use teh free Canadian healthcare.
All the bad press aside, I still enjoy a Chicken bowl about once a month from Chipotle. I would guess PG is a burrito buyer?
As a mild NYY fan I am not saddened by BOS getting bounced in the playoffs. They just did not have the pitching to make a deep run and relied heavily on their offense. I really do not like the Blue Jays, but they honestly had the best combo of pitching and hitting in the AL East. Those ticket prices for the CLE home playoff games sounded very reasonable. Tickets in BOS obviously would have been much more. BOS fans seem to travel well due to better ticket prices around the country (think Tampa Bay/Miami).
Thanks for the trip report.
Quote: GWAEI hate chicago. I was once hauling a car at 4 am. It was crazy traffic like rush hour already. I was going 70 and getting past like I wasn't moving. Oh and wtf, there were exits to the right, to the left, and in the freaking middle lane. Who the hell has exits in lane 3 of a 5 lane highway.
Yeah, if traffic isn't jammed, you gotta go at least 70 to not cause a hazard. I dunno where this "middle lane" exit is though. It's still significantly better than Atlanta though.
Nice report PokerGrinder!
What hotel did you stay out if you dont mind saying?
Quote: beachbumbabsI don't know how Chicago/Milwaukee corridor can be tolerable as a regular commute, either. Just awful the couple times I did it.
My poor brother-in-law for a few years lived in north suburb of Chicago (Glenview I think) and worked in Gary, Indiana!!! His hours varied, but if he got out evening rush hour he said sometimes it would take 3 hours to get home! His life changed for the better when he got a job 'only' 45 minutes from where he lives.
I commuted to work in Atlanta for more than 25 years, ~26 miles each way. I never got on the interstate roads while commuting -- way too much hassle in my opinion.Quote: tringlomaneIt's still significantly better than Atlanta though.
Quote: KeeneoneAll the bad press aside, I still enjoy a Chicken bowl about once a month from Chipotle. I would guess PG is a burrito buyer?
As a mild NYY fan I am not saddened by BOS getting bounced in the playoffs. They just did not have the pitching to make a deep run and relied heavily on their offense. I really do not like the Blue Jays, but they honestly had the best combo of pitching and hitting in the AL East. Those ticket prices for the CLE home playoff games sounded very reasonable. Tickets in BOS obviously would have been much more. BOS fans seem to travel well due to better ticket prices around the country (think Tampa Bay/Miami).
Thanks for the trip report.
Nope I am a chicken bowl guy, I had a burrito once but it fell apart because it was overstuffed. I don't understand why everyone hates Chipotle so much. I love it and have never had a bad meal there.
Nostrone we stayed at the Country Inn and Suites nowhere near the stadium cause we had a shuttle that took us to the game.
Maybe Canadian media didn't report all that when it happened. Was mostly in the Boston area.
"No" is just fine and will be appreciated if that happens to be the right answer from your recollection.
Sorry 'bout the untimely demise of your Sox.*
*A shameless lie, told by a notorious liar fondling an Indians future wager ticket.
LA has a few of those. Apparently dreamed up as an informal population control measure. See: "East LA Interchange." Otherwise known as the cosmic implosion of the Golden State, Santa Ana, Pomona, and Santa Monica freeways twisting and swooping and corkscrewing and double backflipping upon one another all at once, causing a warp in the space-time continuum that tilts one side of the universe.Quote: GWAEI hate chicago. I was once hauling a car at 4 am. It was crazy traffic like rush hour already. I was going 70 and getting past like I wasn't moving. Oh and wtf, there were exits to the right, to the left, and in the freaking middle lane. Who the hell has exits in lane 3 of a 5 lane highway.
Quote: PokerGrinderNope I am a chicken bowl guy, I had a burrito once but it fell apart because it was overstuffed. I don't understand why everyone hates Chipotle so much. I love it and have never had a bad meal there.-snip-
Good point about the burritos, they do fall apart easily requiring a fork/spoon/fingers to finish.
Quote: DrawingDeadPoker G, if you feel like it, are there any things about Cleveland's ballpark & immediate surroundings you noticed that you think might be useful to be clued in on if someone who has never been there was planning to go? Sections that you'd particularly favor or avoid, like any parts that you think might be better or worse than someone would guess just from looking at a seating chart, tips or tricks for getting in and out more smoothly one way than another, or other significant unique things about it that someone wouldn't know by generalizing from experiences at other ballparks in the majors?
"No" is just fine and will be appreciated if that happens to be the right answer from your recollection.
Sorry 'bout the untimely demise of your Sox.*
*A shameless lie, told by a notorious liar fondling an Indians future wager ticket.
The first 5-10 rows behind the home/visitor dugouts are usually pretty solid for viewing a ballgame. Ha!
Go Cleveland!
Cavs won the NBA Championship, Indians could win MLB, then the Browns...
Well I hope so, for somebody's sake. There are no tickets available directly now. But there are some on the semi-official reseller site StubHub. They start at $975 + fees for standing room only tickets, though I see asking prices are moving and some have now decided to hold out for over $2,000 for their ticket with no seating. Looks like parking passes are going for about $160 and climbing. But in spite of most of Chicago apparently just now deciding to move in to their new suburb in Ohio, it is still possible to sit down, via StubHub, here and there. In those rows behind the dugouts if you act fast at this moment that'll run ya about $7,000-$8,000. While some other seats can be pried loose from someone for $18,500. Each.Quote: Keeneone
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The first 5-10 rows behind the home/visitor dugouts are usually pretty solid for viewing a ballgame. Ha!
...<SNIP>...
I think I'm gonna have an appointment with a television on those days.
Quote: DrawingDeadPoker G, if you feel like it, are there any things about Cleveland's ballpark & immediate surroundings you noticed that you think might be useful to be clued in on if someone who has never been there was planning to go? Sections that you'd particularly favor or avoid, like any parts that you think might be better or worse than someone would guess just from looking at a seating chart, tips or tricks for getting in and out more smoothly one way than another, or other significant unique things about it that someone wouldn't know by generalizing from experiences at other ballparks in the majors?
"No" is just fine and will be appreciated if that happens to be the right answer from your recollection.
Sorry 'bout the untimely demise of your Sox.*
*A shameless lie, told by a notorious liar fondling an Indians future wager ticket.
Hey sorry I just saw this. We always sit right behind home plate off to either side because my dad is blind in his right eye. So we always buy premium seats. I'm not really sure about all the other stuff as I have have only seen 3 games over two different trips to Cleveland. Gl on your Indians bet I will be rooting for them against the Cubbies.
After the ticket buying frenzy that apparently went on Saturday night, I'm imagining how the north side of Chicago folks are gonna like searching for sushi martinis, or whatever is trendy with them around Wrigley right now, in Cleveland.
Quote: PokerGrinderQuote: DrawingDeadPoker G, if you feel like it, are there any things about Cleveland's ballpark & immediate surroundings you noticed that you think might be useful to be clued in on if someone who has never been there was planning to go? Sections that you'd particularly favor or avoid, like any parts that you think might be better or worse than someone would guess just from looking at a seating chart, tips or tricks for getting in and out more smoothly one way than another, or other significant unique things about it that someone wouldn't know by generalizing from experiences at other ballparks in the majors?
"No" is just fine and will be appreciated if that happens to be the right answer from your recollection.
Sorry 'bout the untimely demise of your Sox.*
*A shameless lie, told by a notorious liar fondling an Indians future wager ticket.
Hey sorry I just saw this. We always sit right behind home plate off to either side because my dad is blind in his right eye. So we always buy premium seats. I'm not really sure about all the other stuff as I have have only seen 3 games over two different trips to Cleveland. Gl on your Indians bet I will be rooting for them against the Cubbies.
IMO the best is the "steak" bowls. Get the chips, and you're in heaven. Only downside is the chips are never warm. So I bring them home and microwave them for 30 seconds. Throw on some Futurama, Mofy, or SVU. That's some good livin' right there.
If you're a true die hard chipotle fan, you go quite often, meaning you can't always order the same thing. In such a circumanstance, I'll order a steak burrito without the chips.
Always get guacamole, sour creem, and cheese. Never get corn or lettuce -- that's for communists (sorry PG, idk what they do up in Canadia, so you're probably a corn & lettuce kinda guy).
The chicken there isn't super great IMO. If I'm feeling like mixing it up, I'll get something other than steak. I never know what the other things are called so I just point at the one that's kinda stringy lookin and get that.
Unfortunately, they have recently started using RED AND YELLOW vegetable thingies. Those are also for communists, and will not eat commie food. I like the green ones, though. Similarly, I forget what they're called so I ask "for the wonky lookin' green things" but only if they're the green ones.
Commies like DJATC and others will try to lead you to believe chipotle is bad for you, has Ebolai, or is detrimental to having clean underwear. These are all hoaxes, lies, merely spread rumors that should not be tolerated. Commies don't like chipotle. Coincidence? You decide!
Edit: Been to Canadia once in my life (my dad got lost and we ended up in Canada somehow). Worst 15 minutes ever. But if I'm up there again, I think I'd like to try a Polar Bear Steak burrito. Do you recommend this, PG?
