date #5 or take me out to the ballgame ...

if you were sitting in your office cubicle yesterday, i am sorry for you ... because it was ridiculously beautiful outside. such a change from the mondays of the past few weeks. of course, by the time jon picked me up last night, the clouds had just started rolling in and covering up the brilliant sun. jon's plan for the evening, however, allowed us to chase the sun and win some extra hours of blue sky.

at 4:30, jon and i got in the car bundled in layers with a cooler and bag of snacks in the back, fully prepared to tailgate before the brewers game at miller park that night (!).

because it was so chilly and because we were short on time, we didn't do the whole grilling thing, so jon had stopped at the store for sandwiches and oreos and fruit and beer. Really good beer (Jon's pretty experimental when it comes to finding beers he likes, and that means I get to try a lot of stuff I'd otherwise know nothing about).

i hadn't been to the brewers' ballpark since it was remodeled a few years back, so it was pretty incredible to see how much it had changed. it's really pretty impressive. it didn't hurt either that we had the best seats i've ever had at a baseball game.

now, the brewers aren't known for their winning records, but they were taking on the st. louis cardinals who, as i understand it, have a good shot at making the series. it was an eventful game with frequent runs and one homer (from the cardinals who got three in from just that one). and everytime the brewers score, they shoot fireworks off inside the park. i LOVE fireworks.

anyway, the score was 3-3 until the bottom of the ninth. jon and i had decided we'd take off after the ninth whether it was finished or not (i'd had enough beer to make me feel a little sleepy). the row of nuns directly in front of us would not leave after the ninth, we knew. they appeared to be fairly die-hard brewers fans. probably even bigger fans than the row of seven twenty-something guys right next to them. too bad they aren't allowed to wear brewers jerseys over their habits.

so we're at the bottom of the ninth, two outs, two strikes, and a guy on third. and what do the unimpressive brewers do? send it to the left, just between second and third, sending mr. third baseman home to win it for the home team.

that was awesome. it's great to see a winning game.

what's great about a brewers game is that there are usually always tickets available (it's not like they've got the blind frenzied following of the cubs) and i was excited that jon had managed to swing such great seats. and not only did he have dinner for us, but he also packed treats in a bookbag so we could munch our way through his 3 lb bag of peanuts that probably cost half of what a 1/2 lb bag of peanuts would cost you at miller park. he's so smart :)

because it only takes a little over an hour to get to milwaukee, a brewers game is a great fall date. it really doesn't matter what the game is, i think. just seeing something like that live, and getting to sit back, lick the salt off of peanuts, drink a beer, and have some relaxed conversation is a sweet way to spend time together. i kind of wish the season wasn't coming to an end so quickly. and i want to go back in the summer when the top's open, too.

so to sum it up:
eating dinner in the car, bundled up = love it.
miller park = very clean, very spacious, lots of good seats, want to go back to see what it looks like when the ceiling is pulled back.
brewers surprisingly good show against cardinals = A+
city of milwaukee = rocks.
date night = rocks even harder.