Day 3

Started the morning with some link sausage & eggs, covered with whipped cream. Either my taste buds are wacky now, or I've discovered one of those little joys of how certain foods go well together, even when they may not be usually paired together. Went to my 1st solo appointment with Chuck - hit the ground running (ok, talking) & really enjoyed the conversation... it really was a time of 'connecting the dots' for me - esp. in light of the EHS materials that I've been going over for the last while.

Finished up & had to process - lots of processing - lucky for me, the gym was open, so I went in & ran around for about an hour, shot some hoop, & checked out the 'weight room;' decided "No Thanks!" on the weights & shot some more. It was sweltering in the gym - which is almost the perfect atmosphere for what I was doing.

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After getting cleaned up, theBean & I went to WalMart to return some defective hair product, then headed back to our favorite spot that we've discovered so far: the Starbucks @ Kent Square. TheBean picked up a magazine or two from the VTU student union building, & I dove back into A Long Obedience... We hung out outside until our parking stub had to be re-validated.

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By that time, we were pretty hungry; & I was craving wings - & thought that I'd seen an ad for a Buffalo Wild Wings somewhere in Blacksburg. We didn't know for sure, but were both feeling pretty adventurous - & decided to try & deduce where a Buffalo Wild Wings SHOULD be, & then go find it. We both agreed that the best place for such a business would be in close proximity to the campus in order to take advantage of the 'locusts' - kinda like you see around the UNR campus.

So, we had a plan, & a general idea, & started driving. Did a couple of switchbacks & U-Turns, & found a street that looked promising - boom. There it is. Total search time: 10 minutes. Nice. We are awesome.

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The first night, we'd gone to Salem to catch a Carolina League, "High" Class A baseball game; tonight we wanted to try something different, a trip to Pulaski for a Rookie League game. Drove about 20 minutes to the I-81 exit, & then drove through town, looking for the park where the game would be held. It was only 6 p.m. but the streets were totally barren, like everyone had been raptured but us. Nothing & no one anywhere. We drove for about 30 minutes looking for the park, driving up & down insanely steep hills, through neighborhoods that made me wish I warn't so 'city-fied'. Finally, we found a service station, & a nice guy named Doug that pointed us in the direction of the park. Took 5 minutes to get there.

All I can say is that Calfree Park, home of the Pulaski Mariners, is as far from the Salem experience we had, as is the east from the west. Wow. For theBean, who loves people watching, we entered a gold mine. It was "Halloween In August" night at the game, which meant lots of people dressed up in all sorts of costumes, with a Mayberry flair (& I mean that in a good way.) Other highlights from the night:

There was 6 feet difference between the general admission seats & the box seats.

One of the "Reserved Box Seats" was called the "No Red Sox" Box. No fans of the Sox were allowed inside it.

The ball game seemed to be a social highlight, so there was all kinds of strutting going on, from the teen girl squad, to the pseudo-jock crowd, to the good old boys, to the 'looking back at the glory days' group - pretty amazing. (Again, a gold mine.)

The announcer (& press box crew) took every opportunity to show off their ability to use technology (sound effects, including some from movies, & music) to poke fun at the other team - the Bluefield Orioles. For example, one of the guys (the oldest players are 21 & 22; some are 17 & 18) had a Giambi-like mustache; whenever he came to the plate, the announcer would play the Magnum PI theme song. Priceless. And for a strike out? Wayne & Garth saying "Schwing!"

The two 10-12 year old boys behind us had a running commentary going on - think Opie meets the Dukes of Hazzard. Then they got onto the topic of which one of them was "sexier" than the other. Finally, one of them said, "I am soooo sexy, that I've got two middle names. Sexy & sexy." I lost it when they then fought over which one had the sexiest mother.

TheBean, in her people watching, had a couple of gems as well; she asked, "Are these people all related? Because they all look alike. Especially the small noses..."

Good times. The home team lost a pitchers duel (2-0) but it was a great experience. Again. We'll probably catch at least one more game while we're here... probably in Salem.

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Ended the night with Double Cheeseburgers, 47 Pound Rooster, & the Office. And some deep talks. Very nice. Here's some pics.