June 21, 2009 - Hickory, NC to Greenville, SC, etc.

Fathers' Day.
Summer Solstice, The longest day of the year.
And a good thing too...

We begin our journey to South Carolina through the peach growing center of the nation.

We tried to go to the Beacon, but it was Sunday so it was closed.

We found the actual Waffle House-IHOP Line! We chose IHOP as a nod to our Northern roots.

Hablamos Ingles.

Not a lot going on in Spartan Exchange Village...

We are in Greenville, SC at Fluor Field at the West End. We will be seeing the Greenville Drive (single A for the Red Sox) play the Lexington Legends (single A for the Houston Astros).

They have a Green Monster!

They are serious Sox fans. Their food is named for Red Sox players.


This gentleman showed Stephanie a picture of his father on Fathers' Day.

This is Melissa. Hi Melissa!

Melissa took our picture. Thanks Melissa!

This trolley brings people to the game.

This is the Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum, right across the street from the stadium.


Stephanie appreciated the plaque of Larry Doby, a native of South Carolina and the first player in the AL to cross the color barrier just weeks after Jackie Robinson did for the NL Brooklyn Dodgers. Mr. Doby played for the Cleveland Indians at that time and helped them win the World Series in 1948. Todd wants to mention that it was the most recent World Series title for the Indians. Thanks, Todd.

We liked this stand.

You could make your own stuffed animal here.

They played Plinko here.



The Father's Day flipper race!

Stephanie and the Green Monster, Reedy Rip'It.

Boiled peanuts. Yuck.

The Legends beat the Drive.

We met a lovely family. Hi to the Todds! (Hi Eduardo!)

After the game, they let everyone onto the field for a catch on Fathers' Day.

And so we went back up to North Carolina. Pretty drive after the Drive.

And we found the southern outpost of a New York pizza joint! Libretto's, on 36th and 3rd in NYC, recently opened a restaurant in Charlotte, NC. Yummy!


In the same complex, we visited Whisky River, a bar owned by NASCAR's #88, Dale Earnhardt, Jr.



Unfortunately, the mechanical bull was shut down for the evening.


As we mentioned, we are glad it was the longest day of the year. We drove from NC to SC to NC to SC to NC to SC. Whew! And still hot hot hot out there. Thanks again to Roshan; the car A/C is still cranking out the cool air.

Charity of the day: American Cancer Society http://community.acsevents.org/site/TR/CommunityFundraisingPages/CFPFY09Eastern?fr_id=19023&pg=entry
They were holding their Take Your Base Walk at Keyspan Park in Brooklyn, NY. We participated in it last year but are too far away this year.

Music of the day: It's a double shot.
- The McCabes (for the green of Greenville) www.mccabesband.com
- Diesel America (for the drive of the Greenville Drive) www.myspace.com/dieselamerica