Day 45: Camden Yards, Baltimore; September 22

Today is day 45. It's the magical number that has been on top of this blog since day one. It's finally here except that there is one small problem: Baltimore is only ballpark number 29, and there are 30 MLB parks. Should I continue? Should I just quit at 29 and call it a trip? I'll have to hear what my readers have to say and then I will decide. I think 29 is fine, though. I can live with it. Anyway, I wake up about 8:00 and get some errands done in NYC before I catch the 11:00 MVP Chinatown special bus to Baltimore. The ride is surprisingly comfortable and I actually get a lot of work done. This road trip isn't official unless I take at least one bus ride, so I'm happy to be on the MVP southbound. I get to Baltimore about 3:00 and realize I am pretty much in the middle of the ghetto. This is no NYC Canal Street packed with tourists. The street I'm on is filled with locals and they don't like the looks of me. I hail a cab and feel like I'm in a third world country as the guy flies through lights in his barely-working car. I take a business call in the back and the driver- clearly aware I'm on a call for at least five minutes- decides to turn on the radio at full blast at the most crucial part of the call. "What are you doing?" I ask, in a tone that should not be confused with nice. He drops me at the Radisson downtown and I check into the $110 room I reserved on Hotwire two days earlier. As I organize my stuff and strip down to my boxers to change clothes, my door opens. "What the hell are you doing in my room?" I ask a guy standing there looking right back at me in my skivvies. "It's my room," he says. "They just gave me a key to 1408". I am not happy. The guy leaves and I articulate my aggravation in a tone slightly less nice than the one I used with crazy cabbie. "Sir, we will look into what we can do to make your stay better," The manager says as I leave for the game. I eat some pizza from Mario's and grab a couple "2 for $5" beers outside the stadium. I enjoy the monument of Baltimore native, Babe Ruth, and the fact that I get a free club level ticket from a couple I interview (Steven and Carrie pictured above). I sneak down behind home plate which is VERY easy. I settle about ten rows behind home plate where I stay until the 5th inning, at which point both pitchers still have no hitters! By the time I get to the Club Level seats in 272, the no- hitters are over BUT club level has ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT food with the ticket! I grab an ice cream bar, nachos and and a soda. I joke that I will take 12 ice creams and the woman says, "You can take what you want- we don't care!" Nice! The Orioles try their best not to win and accommodate the Rays who grab the win and move one step closer to clinching first place. The other highlight of the night is getting a call from the Radisson night manager who tells me that Hotwire has comped my room. What a great way to end the trip on my last night! Last night you ask? Yes it is. It's day 45 so it's officially over. No more blogging, video-taping, racing across the country at break-neck speed. Done. Thanks for coming along for the ride. I have made it to 29 out of 30 in 45 days. Not bad for the second time around. I hope you all have amazing lives. Please keep in touch and write me often. Goodbye..... PS, If anyone has ever been to the Rogers Centre in Toronto, please tell me a little about it. I would love to know more since I missed it.