Twins Road Trip to the K (Part I)

On Friday, June 3, my spouse, Renee, and I began our annual Minnesota Twins road trip, as we traveled to Kansas City, MO.   This has become a tradition since we were engaged on our first Twins road trip to US Cellular for the Chicago White Sox in 2007.  We did not travel in 2008 due to wedding plans, and have since resumed travel:

St. Louis Cardinals, Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO (2009)

Detroit Tiger, Comerica Park, Detroit, MI (2010)

We departed Minneapolis at 7am on June 3, as we traveled by car on our way down to KC.  We made a quick stop fuel and 2 Caribou drinks in Bloomington and then we were officially off on the journey down I-35.

   

We made good time and made it to Iowa by 9:25am.  

We made our first “official” stop in Bevington, Iowa at 11:40am for a fuel stop.  We were cruising with 29MPG to boot with the excellent time.

At 12:15pm we entered Missouri and made our second stop for lunch at Sonic in Bethany, MO.  It was nice stop for good food, but wasn’t as exciting, as we now have Sonic in Minnesota.

 

 

At 2:30pm we arrive to our hotel, the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in Downtown Kansas City, MO.  We checked in to our room, unpacked quickly and got ready for the game.  This was my 3^rd time to KC and also my 3^rd visit to the Crown Center, more on this later.  

At 4:40pm, we departed the hotel for Kauffman Stadium (aka, The “K”).  On our way to the game we were met with unexpected traffic, as a severe injury accident backed traffic up heading out of Downtown towards Kauffman Stadium.    

As we neared the stadium, we were caught off guard as the stadium snuck up on us out of nowhere.    Kauffman is right of the Interstate, however, as you venture towards the stadium, a couple roads get together and there are heightened hills and trees until you get to an open pasture.  

To me, there is just a cool feeling, almost giddy-like, the first time seeing a new stadium, almost overwhelming.  This time was no different.  From the Interstate all we could see was the back of the largest MLB scoreboard with the giant KC on the back, reaching seats from line foul pole to foul pole, and parking as far as the eye could see.

At 5:15pm we arrived to the exit to Kauffman and were able to follow the traffic in, as it was not easily apparent where to enter.  The entrance process was fairly simple, as we presented our ticket for our Premium parking and were escorted by traffic staff to our parking right next to the stadium entrance.  We were able to hop in line and the gates opened at 5:30pm.  This was also a smooth process, as security checked all bags, and all fans needed to remove hats to reveal no hidden items under our caps.

We went right down to our seats, as the Twins were just taking the field for batting practice.  During BP we watched the players interact with one another as we took photos.  In previous road trips, a player or two would walk up and down the line and sign a few autographs, but this did not occur on Friday.  My guess is that with the large contingent of Twins fans, it limited their desire/ability to sign a couple hundred autographs prior to the game. 

During BP, Gardy took some fielding, making a couple nice stops and throws across the diamond, along with mixing in some TrEvor PlouffE style play (emphasis on the two E’s).

The game was really good, as the Twins won 5-2 and Carl Pavano pitched a complete game to get his 100^th career win.  It was a great night for baseball and to be witness to this game was just awesome!

After the game was the Friday night fireworks, which were excellent!  Fireworks were launched high in the air, flares from the center field crown, and fountains going with spectacular lighting of colors.

 

 

After the fireworks ended, we headed to our car to go back to the hotel.  The parking was very chaotic on the way out.  I see this as a combination of a rookie trying to find my way out, traffic controllers looking overwhelmed and pedestrian traffic walking wherever they felt and not using crossing lanes.  This was a bit frustrating to say the least, but we were able to get out in a decent amount of time. 

This experience really made me appreciate our parking options at Target Field in Downtown Minneapolis.  I definitely see why some KC fans stayed around to tailgate after the game and avoid leaving in the rush.  I guess Minnesota may get to have this experience should the Vikings build a stadium in Arden Hills.  In that case, I will be sure to bring beer to sip on and wait out the traffic.

After getting through the parking and road construction traffic, we went to the hotel, changed, and ventured to the Skies Lounge on the 42^nd floor of our hotel.  The lounge is a revolving restaurant and lounge with excellent views of Downtown KC and surrounding area.  The restaurant takes 1 hour to make a full 360 degree rotation. 

While at Skies we had a few drinks while taking in the wonderful view.  I had the Blue Hawaiian and a Boulevard while Renee had an Absolut Relaxation and a Blue Hawaiian.  I would definitely recommend the Blue Hawaiian: White run, Blue Curacao, and Daily’s Piña Colada.  The only downside to Skies was it was only open until Midnight.  If I had any recommendations, it would be for management to proof read their menu and use spell check.

On our way back to the room we decided to order a late night snack and ordered pizza from Santora’s Pizza.  The pizza was very good and really hit the spot.

***

I will be posting Part II tomorrow at some point, I hope you have enjoyed so far!  Please ask any questions you may have!