A Southern Diversion, Part 1

It's March and with March comes Spring Training baseball.  So this year I traveled down to Bradenton, FL to watch some Spring Training baseball, including my favorite team, the Minnesota Twins.  

I started my journey down to Florida on Wednesday afternoon after work. After a smooth journey from Minneapolis to Tampa that arrived around 11:30 pm.  I was able to retrieve my rental car around midnight.  

Now knowing that that I wouldn't arrive until late in the evening and that Bradenton is about an hour away from Tampa, I decided as a practical matter to sleep in my rental car the first evening.  Yes, I just said that I planned to sleep in my car on vacation.  What I did was drove down the I-275 to a well-lit rest stop and slept in the back seat.  It wasn't too bad, although I woke up around 5 am because it was quite cold with not running heat.  

I did make a reservation at a Motel 6 in Bradenton for Thursday through Saturday night.  Since I woke up at 5 am I thought I would check to see when I could check-in.  Well, thanks to the Almighty, the innkeeper told me that I could come by right away since there was a room open for me.  So with that I arrived at the Motel 6 in Bradenton at 6 am and checked in after making a trip to the Walmart next door for some fruit and supplies.  It's nice to have a bed and a shower.

My Residence

I have to confess though that Thursday I didn't take too many photos, so you'll just have to take my word for what I did.  After a morning completing devotions, washing up, working and taking a long phone call, I spent the rest of the day with Pastor and Mrs. Magnuson, who are staying nearby.   I spent the afternoon with Pastor at an Orioles baseball game in Sarasota.  Here's my perspective:

It's Orioles vs. Blue Jays at Ed Smith Stadium 

I then spent the evening with Pastor and Mrs. Magnuson having dinner and watching documentaries and Poirot Agatha Christie film.  A relaxing and enjoyable evening, especially since I was feeling the after effects of the car nap.

Well, as you see you probably would find it more interesting and efficient if I just told you what I did, so here's a summary of day two:

Here's some pictures that chronologically describe the day:

Breakfast at First Watch:  I had oatmeal

Bradenton Beach getting a sunburn 

Ice cream after a beach walk!  Great idea!!

Where's the Butter Brickle?!!! Boooooooo!!!!!!

Wen-Yin Chen, Orioles Pitcher

McKechnie Field Concourse

Starting Lineups (Former Twins involved)

My View

So until next time…..