Vaca in Vaca

You know Picture in Picture on TVs, right?  Sunday I had a little Vacation in Vacation!  Baseball is in my blood, and I spent a few blissful hours in the sun watching the Asheville Tourists, single A farm team for the Colorado Rockies, at McCormick Field.  It never matters who is playing - it's all about the experience for me!  (But the Tourists were playing the Lexington Legends, a Houston Astros affiliate, for the record.)

First of all, I started the day in a habitual way.  But I had to drive 29 miles to get my Sunday morning "fix"!  Just makes it all the sweeter.  I got up early to get ahead of the bikers that were sure to be racing through the mountains on a beautiful day.  Then I knocked around at a Target store for a few things I needed and ate lunch at a great local spot, Tupelo Honey Cafe.  All southern cooking, and as much local and organic as possible.  Yum.

McCormick Field sits in the side of a hill near downtown Asheville, and has been there since 1924.  The stands were rebuilt back in the 90's, but the field itself is the same.  It seats about 3,500, I think...about 1/3 the size of Harbor Park in Norfolk.  The stadium has won some "most beautiful ballpark" awards lately - I would agree!

This is the new mascot this year.  Inexplicably, they've also hung on to the previous mascot, Ted E. Tourist.  In the very early days, the team was known as the Moonshiners for the area's infamous product back in the day.  But as sensibilities increased, I supposed sensitivities did as well, and the name was changed to Tourists (after the 2nd largest income-producer in the county.) And the new mascot's name is...

Gotta love it, right?

A lot is made over the fact that the scoreboard reads "Visitors" and "Tourists".  Is it really all that funny?  I don't know.  But sadly, the home team Tourists played rather poorly on this day.  I left after singing The Song at the seventh inning stretch, and the score was 18-8 at that point.

Has-been mascot Ted E. Tourist can be seen here, along with a shot of about 1/2 of the seating.  There are three options: box seats that are real seats with arms, bleacher seats that are benches with backs, and general admission, which are just benches.  I went first class with the box seats, but moved back to the bleacher seats that were in the shade after the 3rd inning.  The setting and view afforded vast opportunities for anthropological inquiry...better than a local Wal Mart!

The not-to-be-missed item on the menu?  Deep Fried Moon Pies.  Moon Pies fried in funnel cake batter.  I definitely did NOT try one, but saw fans buying and eating them.  Overall, it was a lovely way to spend a Sunday, and I turned toward my cozy cottage with a smile on my face and the love of the game in my heart!