The clubs has been pretty successful this month so far, including a 6-1 homestand in early May. That included the team's longest winning streak at five straight. Four of those wins occurred in a series sweep of Greenville. I'm not certain that there are "teams that you should beat" in this league. Those were, though, games that we should (and did) win. The Drive have struggled offensively this year and we caught them at a good time for us.
After that strong homestand, we took our first trek to Kentucky this year. West Virginia has played Lexington more than any other opponent since 2005. Different season... different players... different affiliates. Same rivalry each time.
Whitaker Bank Ballpark in Lexington is a good place to watch a game. Not my favorite ballpark by any stretch for a number of reasons, but still decent. One upside... the atmosphere. This park has good sight lines and got some amazing crowds during our visit. One downside... the pricing. I had to buy my own food in this park and spent $9.50 on their famous meatball sub, $10 on barbecue and $4.00 per pop/ water. I was underwhelmed by each of these for the price paid.
West Virginia lost Thursday in one hour and 43 minutes. The fastest game in Power history. I barely had time to start and finish a sentence before each inning was over. On Friday, the game was rained out. I had planned on taking an early bus in then working my way across town via public transportation to a restaurant called Bourbon n' Toulouse. With the rain though, there wasn't an early bus. And then there wasn't a game. Fortunately I caught a break.
Rod Blackstone was in town. You may know him by that name... or your know him as The Toastman. Rod was on his way to Indianapolis to see a few friends and games. He knows my culinary quests from this blog and was obliged to help. We went to a section of Lexington known as Chevy Chase and tried this Cajun and Creole joint that TripAdvisor rates as the top restaurant in the city.
Bourbon n' Toulouse would fit in well in Charleston. It reminded me of Tricky Fish or Bluegrass. I tried their jambalaya and their chicken etouffee while Rod had the shrimp and the chicken etouffee. As per their website: This New Orleans staple is pronounced “A – Two – Faye” and is our top selling dish! It is a spicy roux based brown gravy with shredded all natural chicken that simply has to be tried to be fully appreciated. These dishes were outstanding. Just the right amount of kick and spice. They also came with a baguette that had some sort of oily spread that made it taste like popcorn. Even better! |
| I forgot to take a picture of my food, so I snapped this one of someone else's etouffee. |
The next day, before Rod left for Indy, we went to breakfast. Francisco Diaz joined us on this excursion. As we were driving down the highway, Rod was wondering what I had scouted out for breakfast. I hadn't thought of it, so two minutes and one iPhone search later produced this result.
Think Cracker Barrel but with better food and a smaller store. Rated #3 by TripAdvisor.
They specialize in breakfast and po-boy sandwiches. I went for breakfast. The bacon was so greasily-amazing... I knew I made the right call.It was great to have a friend in Lexington. I was happy to have some great conversations with Rod about baseball and our fair city of Charleston. I'm disappointed that he did not get selected for the South Atlantic League Hall of Fame this season. He seems to have come to terms with it, but I have vowed that my quest to resolve this is no where near complete.
West Virginia split a doubleheader on Saturday and took Sunday's game to halve the series.
On to Hickory and a meeting with more old friends from Appalachian Power Park.
Before I call it a night (I'll tell you about Hickory tomorrow), one last story. While I was on the road a few weeks back, my wife was in a fender bender. She was rear ended on I-64. Brienne is fine, but her Subaru took some damage. She got a ride to the park and picked up my SUV. We have rental on our policy and decided to take advantage of it (especially since the other guy's insurance is paying for it all). When I got back to town, we stopped by Enterprise and picked up the car: a Toyota Yaris. They told me that if she didn't like the Yaris that we should call and they would exchange it for something else.
I didn't like the Yaris. Not because it is a Toyota Yaris, but because it was a smoker. Not the car... but last 73 drivers apparently. I got a headache driving two blocks from the rental place to the ballpark. Enterprise lived up to their promise to replace the car. They met me at the park a few hours later with a non-smoker replacement.
Which led to a new problem... Brienne wouldn't drive this new rental either. Not because of the smell... but because of the style. It was too hillbilly redneck. So she has been driving my SUV. And I'm driving the car we call "The Ghost."
I'll never have another bad day.
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