Florida Weekend

Went to Gainesville this weekend to show a friend's kid the University of Florida.

Got an AirBnB near the University which was very Gator.

A rather comfy place with all that was needed.

We hit some favorite eating spots like Cantina Anejo, Pho Hanoi, and Raisin Canes.

We had signed the kid up for a campus tour on Friday, and it was very well done.  He liked the campus and he's going to apply there.  Friday evening, we found out the Tigers were in Tampa for a series, with a game Saturday at noon, so why not go?

So on Saturday we got up and headed out to Tampa. We managed to get a screaming good deal on some great seats, so we did the two hour drive to the stadium.

The game was held at George Steinbrenner Stadium as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' regular stadium is out of commission.

 This will be the only season they are playing in there.  As a minor-league stadium hosting major-league teams, home runs were definitely on the menu.

It's a nice stadium and they've tried to have as many Rays logos over the Yankee logos as possible.

 

Interestingly enough, there were about as many Detroit fans in the stands as there were Tampa Bay fans and many Detroiters traveled to the stadium to watch the entire series. 

We got great seats, 5 rows back, right behind home plate.

 

Great seats. Real hot and sunny out, so lots of water was consumed.

We unfortunately got to watch the Tigers get eaten by the Devil Rays up close and personal. 

The Tigers in the first inning managed to leave men stranded on the bases without scoring. But, they did manage to load up the bases with Devil Rays and then walk in a run, and after striking the very next player walk in a second run! Then a base hit right after brought in two more runs for an early 4-0 lead for Tampa, with none of the runs counting as earned.  A rather inauspicious start.

The Tigers manged to get in a run in the 4th but by then it was 7-1, with some solo home runs smacked in by the Devil Rays. You knew they were homers just how they sounded coming off the bat - fun to watch it happen.

We got to see the major league debut of Devil Rays' pitcher Paul Gervase, at the top of the seventh inning, and in six pitches he retired the Tigers.  Not a bad welcome to the big leagues.

The game mercifully ended 8-3 for the Devil Rays. The game was still a heckuva lot of fun to watch, and that's a nice little stadium, even as Detroit lost badly. 

I then drove back from Tampa and we got some BBQ for dinner at a great BBQ place in Gainesville, Adam's Rib.

 A solid slab of ribs were rather happy-making.

Got up Sunday morning for breakfast in Gainesville and then drove back to Jacksonville. Flew home yesterday and after over an hour delay departing from Jacksonville, arrived home to find the power had been out for three hours and the place was sweltering.

It had been a great weekend getaway.