March 20, 2011 Mariners 5, Mets 0…we go to a ballgame

Even Al is unclear on the swamp tour planned for today, but in any case the operator cancelled it for half our group; as we are in the cancelled half, we are at first upset. Ever since Miami Vice I’ve wanted to zip through the everglades on an airboat, the wind in my hair, a beer in my hand, a girl… and this seemed like my only chance.

Bill sees the unhappiness spreading and suggests we rejects go to a baseball game, and we do. He arranges the tickets and about a dozen of us head for Jupiter and the spring training camp of the Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals. Today, the Marlins are playing the Mets in a modern park maybe not as nice as Raley Field in West Sacramento, but still quite nice. The weather is great, Bob brings peanuts, I buy Marcia and me beers and hot dogs ($22), parking is free (if the game doesn’t take over 3 hours). Nothing much happens but we have a nice time, the only scores coming in the 8th inning. We leave before the 9th and get back to my truck with a couple minutes to spare.

That night, at a very nice ice cream sundae social organized by WBCCI’s Florida Treasure Coast unit, we learn from the swamp tour participants that it was nice but there were no airboats; instead, they were on a guided two-mile nature walk on an elevated walkway.