March 11, 2009: Clearwater, Fl

Clearwater is the home of spring training the all American game of baseball. There were a number of major league baseball teams playing this week. Today was the

day for the big game between the 2008 World Series winner, the

Phillies, and the Atlanta Braves. We bought tickets from someone of craigslist and with the sunny day nearing 80 degrees, we took a taxi over to Brighthouse Field to check in at the will call window.

We were surprised to find our seats on the 2^nd row near the third base and a horde of people congregated there collecting autographs from the players as they came out on the field. They were offering baseball cards n three ring binders, baseballs, caps and even a red and white Phillies baseball shoe to get a signature.

This game included everything that baseball offers. My list included grand slammers over the fence for home runs, strikeouts, walks, steals, tag outs at home with the ball thrown from the outfield, a pitcher balk, foul balls, a broken bat as well as hot sunshine, hotdogs, cherry shaved ice, and the seventh inning stretch. We even saw a shirtless macho guy snag a foul ball and pass it over to an 8 year old little boy in a Braves T-shirt in front of us. Apparently this is the home field for the Phillies, because there were bus loads of people down from Philadelphia and South Jersey (Cape May) to see the game. Of course this was not a major league field, so the 8000 people there filled the stands and the grassy berm beyond the outfield fence.

We learned that some of the star players were missing and playing in a world cup type championship. But we guessed that spring training was probably a time to try out “up and coming” players and new pitchers. The final score Braves 12 to Phillies 10 indicated some weakness in pitching. The Braves pitcher, Reyes, did a great job while he was playing for the first four innings holding the Phillies to just two runs. But the new pitcher in the fifth inning gave up 5 runs before they switched him out. All in all, it was a fun afternoon sharing the family atmosphere at the ball game.

It was tough finding a taxi to go back to the Marina, but we were lucky to find a hometown driver who gave us a great recommendation for dinner. Back at the marina, we got our bikes out and road the short way to the Clearwater Beach. There was an interesting boardwalk that included a juggler with 3 torches in the air as well as spray paint art work and hair braiding. It led to a high long concrete fishing pier and a beach of white sand at least 100 yards wide. We walked in the water and appreciated the beauty of the beach and wondered how crowded it would be in June.

Next we proceeded a few blocks farther to the recommended Frenchy’s Rockaway Grill. It was a restaurant right on the beach with tables under a yellow awning (inside) and also tables in the sand. There were three huge palm trees creating some flitting shade from the late afternoon sun. We took first table available and sat inside where we could hear the live band tuning up as our seafood came. The place was very busy, but still very casual and relaxing. By the time we were finishing our dinner we got to watch the huge glowing ball of a sun set in a haze beyond blue water.