Baseball is over in Portland...forever

Baseball is gone...the season is over and the team is leaving. The baseball team owner took a big risk and thought he could convince the city to build a new baseball stadium in the middle of a recession. He committed to MLS (Major League Soccer). One of the league rules in MLS is that your soccer stadium is just that - a soccer stadium, not to be shared with any other sport.

The Taylor family went to 2 of the last 3 Portland Beaver Triple A baseball games. We only missed the third game because it was on Sunday.

I found a great deal weeks ago online - every ticket for the last three games - $1.00 each, even the reserved infield seats. Soooooo....I bought 8 tickets (the max number) for Saturday nights and Monday afternoons game. We had a blast

We will miss baseball in Portland. The nearest baseball game is now 2 hours away.

One cool thing I did learn was the my Droid does a complete panoramic photo shoot...I think I would rather have baseball.

Tonight's the Night...

I know, I know I have been a fail-blogger.

Tonight I have a window of time to get things going again.

It's like dieting...until you give it your direct attention and focus, it isn't going to happen.

By putting this out their I help motivate myself to get going again!

Post Toasties...

My name is Mitch and yes, I am a blogger...

Oh great wife and family of mine...
Below find 4 new posts....Wouldn't want you to stop at just one.

New Orleans DAY 1

I am out in New Orleans for a few days…My work travel buddy, Craig Nielson (also a friend of John Olsen's family) and I, are out here for a National Court Conference. We are manning a booth for our company – hoping to drum up more business. We are also visiting a potential client and spending time with a current client here in New Orleans. Our primary objective ---Eat some good southern Cajun food!

This Lois Armstrong met us at the airport. He stands about 15 feet tall.

And this is the impressive mural that was behind Lois (I thought Jessica would like to see this). The city is proud of their musical heritage and shows where ever you go.

Our client works for the courts at Jefferson Parrish 24^th judicial court. The west has counties, the south has Parrishes. This is the statue in front of his building . It is a HOT and humid day here today. ( 90+ degrees and 85+% humidity). Who would enjoy living in this every year? Well, the food may be worth putting up with a little heat. Every time I went outside it felt like my underwear shrunk-wrapped to my body and I sealed it in with a layer of Mitch sweat.

This is our booth that we set up for Thursday's conference. Craig is the sales guy and I am…the stand up comedian…or the nice friendly face that draws them in.

there was another giant Lois Armstrong the Sheridan Hotel that was hosting the conference…He's everywhere.

We ended the evening with a stroll down Bourbon St. There was music blaring from every open door/window - the bars and resturants had mostly live bands, while the shops piped out recorded music. There were people trying to give you a 'coupon' to go into their establishment and I even had the luxury of a brief conversation with a 'lady of the night' (more like a man dressed like a lady). The whole street experience was like no other and is one that I will most likely never be experienced again. It is amazing that people 'want' to come here and their view of Bourbon St as a happy fun place. I can't even imagine what Mardi Gras is like. This is the down season and the street was alive with tourist.

The live music was an awesome and mostly positive experience, but not one worth everything else that surrounds it. The highlight of the street adventure was a brass band (10 or so teenage boys) playing some peppy jazz... an ending on a very positive note.

My Hotel - Holiday Inn expressed

Is it ever good to stay in a hotel that used to be called "Security Homestead Assn". I guess I feel safer. We parked our car out front, checked in, and the clerk told Craig that because he is a platinum member that there is valet parking. When we got up, our car was still there. We were told that they stopped doing the valet parking a couple of months ago and we would have to move said car. It sat in a No Parking Zone all night. No tickets.

There is a big Youth Catholic convention in town and there are literally 100s of teenagers walking around town wearing these green backpacks. A few of them decided to have a mini-meeting just outside my hotel room at 6a in the morning. Normally, that wouldn't be an issue, except for the fact that we arrived at the hotel at 1a and didn't getting to sleep until 2:30a that same morning. An extra hour would have been nice. Also, in this picture is my travel buddy Craig. He is in the window below the blue awning working out.

How many hotels do you know have a pool on the 6^th floor? I thought that was pretty cool…UNTIL

I saw the size of the pool – it can't be any bigger than 10x30 feet…with a max depth of 4 feet

This room wins the funniest room I have ever been in. Yes, those are windows that reach to the 3 foot mark off the floor. They must have been hanging out with the 6^th floor pool. I thought who can look out of a window that is 3 feet off the ground. I got on my hands and knees, opened the window and saw – the parking lot structure just a few feet away. I think the sun hits the window no more than one hour a day. Another strange HI Express factoid in the land of Jazz...there is NO cold water that flows from the tap. I can take a "cold" shower that is as warm as one I would have in Battle Ground. Makes for an interesting late night quick drink...

Winner Winner Crayfish Dinner...

We visited a client that works down at one of the Parrish (County to you, Parrish to the south) Courts. We asked for a place with good food. He told us of a 'hole in the wall' place next to a Comfort Inn…said it was the best food in the area - menu is on the wall with only a few choices (I think there were 5 boiled/Cajun selections and 6-7 fried choices (the same fish just prepared differently) with a handful selections of a sides. We shared 3 lbs of crayfish, a pound of shrimp, a couple of smoked sausages, corn on the cob and we each had a bowl of Gumbo. It truly was delicious…

Even though the area is known for voo-doo, this is not 'finger of a witch'. Crayfish eating was educational. Pull of the head, squeeze and suck. Then pinch the tail and pull out the meat…works and looks like miniature lobsters. The Cajun spice was just short of HOT. The corn was good and spicy.

Yes, I play with my food…The big crayfish battle…I won – many times

This is what all the work is for…a little piece of tail meat (see knife/fork for size comparisons).

This is my friend and travel buddy Craig Nielson – holding the tray of 'empties'. It was a tasty treat – everything was good.