2008 Spring Training Trip - Part 2

I was still pretty haggard when we got to our hotel; Quality Inn, I think. The hotel had apparently redone the facade of their building, because it had a pleasant faux-adobe look and some nice landscaping, but once you got past the office this was obviously a run-down hotel. But, it was cheap.

Wes and Bart were pretty anxious to check out Tucson, and I was a little anxious to nap. So they went out and had a couple beers and shot some pool, I napped. I asked them not to eat without me, so they came and got me so we could track down a Mexican food place someone recommended to Bart.

The part of Tucson where the hotel and ball park were was kind of an industrial area, and pretty nondescript. I should also mention that I spent the entire trip in the back seat of the Explorer while Wes drove most of the time. So, most of the time I just got out when he parked and didn't learn much about getting around Tucson. What I'm trying to say is we couldn't find the Mexican place we were looking for. We spotted a pizza place and gave that a try, which is good because not only did they make a mean thin-crust pesto but we got a recommendation on a taco shop from our waitress. The waitress even drew a map for us.

Monday was St. Patty's Day and we headed up to U of A campus for some breakfast. We cruised 4th Ave looking for a likely spot, and settled on a place called the B-Line. They make a great breakfast burrito and serve good coffee. I'd recommend it for the atmosphere alone, but the food was good too.

Part of our mission in visiting Tucson was trying as much local grub as we could. Aside from Grimaldi's, the chain pizza place from Sunday night, we tried to hit only unique, local eateries; and to not repeat spots. I figured Tucson would have a different style of Mexican food than San Diego, which is influenced by Baja California's food. The first taste was the chorizo in my burrito at B-Line. Not the red, juicy chorizo I'm used to in SD, but a dry, lighter-spiced mixture. Definitely delicious though

Since it was St. Patty's Day, we decided to have a Guinness at a pub called the Auld Dubliner. It was 10 a.m. after all. Our waitress, though cute, looked like she was about 16. Don't they have laws about that sort of thing? Since it was getting near game time, and the Auld Dubliner was serving Guinness in a plastic cup (blasphemy!) we went back to the hotel to sunscreen up and grab hats etc.

Sunscreen wasn't really necessary, as it was in the 40s and threatening to rain all day, but it's habit. We picked up the tickets at Will Call, and went into Tucson Electric Park about 40 minutes early, to check things out. Those Spring Training parks are pretty small in relation to Major League park, so 40 minutes is about 25 minutes longer than necessary to check the park. I lined up at the first bratwurst stand I saw and covered it in sauteed peppers and onions, and threw some jalepeños on there for good measure. After that we got some beers and found our seats.

The Padres and Dodgers went to China to play a couple exhibition games, and only a half squad was left in Arizona to continue the Spring Training game schedule. That meant some of the stars and starting pitchers wouldn't be in Arizona during our games. It wasn't all walk-ons and bench-warmers thought, as Khalil Greene, Josh Bard, Tony Clark, Tadahito Iguchi and Brian Giles all started the St. Patty's Day game.

Beside the typical beers and ballpark grub, it was a fairly uneventful game. A few dingers, hit batters, some nice double plays turned by the Padres, but they still went down 8 - 4 to the Arizona Diamondbacks. We had these three guys behind us who didn't not stop blathering the entire game. It was ridiculous, they must have been on speed or something. Not really, but it was just obnoxious. However, they did help us find a brewery called Nimbus.

After the game, we decided to check out the brewery and hopefully get some food and a beer. I'd found the Nimbus online whilst looking for places to go and eat. It was mentioned as being a little hard to find, and not till we bought a map did we figure it out, and even then it was a few missed turns and U-turns before we stumbled upon it. It's in an industrial area, and the outside is a little nondescript. I was expecting a tasting room, and a souvenir rack, but when I opened the door, there was a full dining area, a bar, pool tables, and an upstairs eating area. The back of the room had a chain-link gate that looked in to the brewing and bottling plant. Just kind of lace we beer nerds love. As we snaked our way through the dining area to a table, I noticed the special was corned beef and cabbage, which is a no-brainer on St. Patty's Day with two Irishmen. We ordered some dark, smokey pints of beer and looked over the t-shirts while waiting for the chow to arrive. The corned beef wasn't the thick, fatty slabs I prefer but sort of shredded and dryish. The cabbage, however was delicious. The beef was good to, but just different than I prefer. That's all. After we devoured too much meat, we thought we'd better get up shoot some pool lest we doze off or something. I think Bart got the better of us, overall, on the billiard table that night. Then we bought souvenirs and headed back to the hotel.

This is where I got the most shit of the weekend, because when they wanted to go back up to U of A for some more St. Patty's beers, I was still a little wary from Saturday's St. Patty's celebration, and chose not to join them. Instead I stayed and watched Anthony Bourdain until I fell asleep. Their description of the night didn't warrant any regrets on my part.

Yes, there's more...