Hotlanta! Friday Report

So when I found out I was coming down to ‘bama I was all bummed out, seeing as it meant I was going to miss seeing the Tigers play at Fenway. I did some looking into which ballpark was the closest but none were really all that close. Basically it was: Atlanta – 5 hours, Houston or Tampa – 7 hours, Arlington or Miami – 10 hours. I thought about heading to one of those cities but at first it never even occurred to me to see if the Tigers were playing one of those teams in interleague.

A few weeks back, after reading an article in which Chipper Jones bitched about the Braves’ tough schedule I decided to see if the Tigers played the Braves. Sure enough, they were scheduled to play in Atlanta June 22 thru 24. To Travelocity I went and booked myself a room for Friday night. The plan was to bounce from work around noonish on Friday, blast up to Hotlanta, see the Friday night game, stay Friday night, see the Saturday afternoon game, then jet back to Mobile.

Soon after I decided to extend the trip, taking in a Montgomery Biscuits (AA) game in Montgomery, Alabama on my way back on Sunday. Off I went to Travelocity again to book Saturday night at the same place.

I bounced out of work on Friday at noon on the dot. Google Maps figured the trip would take me 5 hours. Unfortunately, I had forgotten about the difference in time zones, so this meant I only had an hour’s margin for error in which to find the stadium, park nearby (but not so close by that I had to pay, which would probably necessitate a 15 minutes walk) scalp tickets, and then get into a seat (although probably not the one I was ticketed for). Of course, there’s really nothing between Mobile and Atlanta besides brief passes through Montgomery, AL and Auburn, AL (home of the college football powerhouse of the same name). With a few hours averaging over 80 mph, I was able to buy some time and get into Hotlanta with plenty of time to spare. It also helped that the game actually started at 7:30, rather than 7:00.

The area around the ballpark left MUCH to be desired. Needless to say, there were areas one would be afraid to walk alone at night. Parking lots immediately near the stadium were all offering parking at the low-low price of $20. All the streets surrounding the park, if you dared to park and walk, had signs requiring resident parking passes. I eventually went down a major thoroughfare (not quite as sketchy, but still bad) and ultimately parking a good 10 blocks or so from the park in a decent residential area. 15 minutes of walking brought me to the park. It turns out scalping is outlawed within 2700 feet (half a mile!) of the park, so that was right out. So I was forced to shell out $12 (I was hoping to pay a scalper $7) for stratosphere seats.

The Ted was a nice park. It didn’t really have any features that made it exceptional. It had statues of the franchise’s greats out front, but these can be found in most parks. Probably the most noteworthy aspect of the park is that the bullpens are open above. You can stand at a railing and look right down on the pitcher warming up (actually, he’s about 5 feet under the overhang for beer-poured-on-visiting-players-related-reasons). This was the first start of the season for the just-off-the-DL Kenny Rogers, and he was matched up against John Smoltz in a battle of the oldsters.

Being only one person, I was easily able to make my way into vastly superior seats probably 50 rows from the field. The Ted only had ushers from first base wrapped around to third base. If you were further down the line, they didn’t seem to be as aggressive in ticket checking. In any event I settled into the seat and only left once (the obligatory beer run).

The game itself went by pretty quick. Smoltz and Rogers matched zeros (although I had my doubts when Kenny beaned the first batter he faced) until the 6^th inning. The Tigers exploded for 5 runs in the top of the 6^th and that was it. I moved out to centerfield for the last half inning, to be closer to the exit, as well as to get a different vantage point.

It was a fireworks night at the park, which I didn’t stick around for. I hiked back to the car as quickly as possible. Much of the route was poorly lit, but the walk went by uneventfully. I was only scared for 9 ½ of the 10 block walk. Little did I know my adventure for the evening was far from being over.

I headed for my hotel. My first thought that I might have problems was that I was able to get a room through Travelocity for the obscene price of $30. I’d printed directions from the park to the hotel and had not trouble finding it. I rolled up at 11:01 PM. The hotel lobby was dark. That’s Ok I thought, they probably have someone onsight, they’ve just retreated to the back room. My Travelocity printout informed me that the lobby was open until 11, and instructed me to ring the bell after 11 to check in. No problem.

Problem.

Bang on the door. Ring the bell. Walk around the perimeter, maybe they are making a tour of the grounds. Walk around the building and look in the windows. Bang on the door some more. Call the phone number, and get sent right to voicemail. Ring the bell some more. Contemplate all sorts of vandalism. Contemplate calling 911 so that the hotel owner is notified and shows up. Call Travelocity. After 20 minutes on the phone, Travelocity offers to book another hotel for the low cost of $90. Take out your anger on the guy on the phone, sarcastically citing Travelocity’s “we’ll make it right” guarantee. Wait on hold longer. Get Travelocity to eat the cost of another hotel. Depart the hotel you’ve already paid for at 11:45. Find the Airport Econo Lodge based on a vague recollection of passing the airport coming into town.

So after that joyous ordeal I was at the Econo Lodge, all checked in. I was looking forward to some air conditioning, jumping online for a little bit (the sign out front advertised that they had wireless internet) and then some sleep. Up to the room I go, and man is it warm, probably 80 or 82. The Ec has a remote control style thermostat for adjusting the air conditioning. There’s a bracket on the wall to hold the remote. And that’s it. No remote, just the bracket to hold it. No way to turn the AC on. Nice.

Ok, I figure, let’s fire up the laptop and check the old fantasy team. The laptop can’t find a wireless network. After making the tour of the room with the laptop looking for a spot that works, and trying to using the power cord as a crude antenna, I call down to the front desk. I’m informed that they don’t have the internet yet. So THAT’S what the sign meant when it said “Free Wireless Internet.” Now it’s bedtime so I go to set the alarm, and in the final indignity, the clock is broken and doesn’t even display the time. So ends the Friday adventure.