Robbie Thomas
Holy Toledo!
TL;DR: I spent the day in Toledo, Ohio. Went to the Toledo Zoo, a bar called Cock N Bull, and to a Toledo Mud Hens game that had a lot happen.
Took the trip from Metro Detroit to Toledo. I have passed Toledo quite a few times in my life but never set foot in the city. I saw that the Toledo Zoo and Fifth Third Field are close to each other, about less than three miles. Attending a Triple-A baseball game was something on my bucket list, so with the week off, let’s do both!
The Toledo Zoo
The Toledo Zoo had more to offer than I thought. If anything, I thought my ADHD self would get bored with the Toldeo Zoo within two hours, but I was there for 3.5 hours. I like aquariums and the Toledo Zoo didn’t disappoint. Take a look above! The Zoo had Flamingos, Apes, Elephants and more. One of the minuses was no camels. This one area said it had camels there, but when I went to that area, the camel was not there and the displays were gone. Perhaps the camel died before I could get there?
I also enjoyed the Elephant show over there called Elephant Enrichment at Tembo Trail. I didn’t make any video of the show and I can’t find any other videos of this show. So here are some pics of that and a few more:
What is quite interesting is the Zoo has it’s enterance at one side of Route 25. And to enter the zoo, one would cross a bridge or go under a tunnel. The bridge had this song playing with a female singing about the Toledo Zoo. The next song comes from an African male singing about Zoos, but I didn’t hear Toledo being mentioned in it.
Downtown Toledo
Got into the downtown area of Toledo and wandered around for a little while. As said earlier, I’ve never set foot in Toledo so I was interested in what it had to offer. Yes, Toledo can’t compare with Detroit, but I did notice that beer and food weren’t so costly in Downtown Toledo compared to Downtown Detroit. I do like that and if I’m in need of something more simple and willing to drive a little more, I suppose Toldeo will do.
Just two blocks away from Fifth Third Field (where the Mud Hens play), I saw Huntington Center, where the AA affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings play. I might see them in December if things don’t fall apart by then. For starters, I went to Ye Olde Cock N Bull bar which was right across from Fifth Third Field. I asked a staffer about personal-size Pizzas and he suggested Home Slice. The pizza place in question had two stories. I went in and said I like to dine in, a staffer over there told me to go upstairs. The pizza didn’t cost too much, about $9. My two Angry Orchards at Cock N Bull cost me $4 apiece.
As one can notice in the last photo, a majority of Toledo radio stations are in one building, supposedly. When I saw that sign, I wondered what life as an employee of a Toledo station would be like. Would it be better than mine? I imagine most people working in Toledo radio don’t make a lot, but I wouldn’t really know.
Mud Hens Game
I was glad I didn’t have to go through a metal detector to get into the ballpark. Just like Jimmy John’s Field in Utica, Michigan, you just need your ticket. I went into the Swamp Shop which sells clothes and other items with the Mudhens and Walleye logos on them. Didn’t buy anything but ran into two guys from my home state, one from Monroe and the other from Warren. The guy from Monroe prefers the Mudhens experience as opposed to going to see the Tigers in Comerica. He says that Toledo is closer and just like me, he doesn’t have to go through a metal detector.
Onto the game, we had Daz Cameron, Dustin Garneau, and Spencer Torkelson on the roster, all three have played for the Tigers at one point. A surprise to me was Stephen Piscotty was on the roster for the opposing Louisville Bats. A quick Google search showed me that Piscotty was released by the Oakland A’s and soon signed a minor-league deal with the Cincinnati Reds. Piscotty made his exit from the game in the 6th inning. Another player I found interesting was Nick Vincent. He has played a handful of games in the Majors but had mainly cruised in AAA. Similar to Mike Hessman (an outfielder this time) who did well during his debut with the Tigers in 2007, but after that, he couldn’t keep going in the Minors. However, he broke records in the International League.
There were quite a few firsts I’ve witnessed with my own eyes in this game. The sound went dead from the home team intro until around the 4th inning. It was awkward to hear no announcer and the music along with introing the Mud Hens. I was kinda hoping that the sound would not come back at all. I didn’t want to hear “Everybody Clap Your Hands.” Like I said, they finally fixed the sound in the 4th inning. And against my wishes, they played the song in the 6th inning with little audience participation. Mine not included.
Ryan Kreidler hit an inside-the-park home run in the 3rd inning. I see that Kreidler is a fan favorite here in Toledo and I wouldn’t be surprised if I see him in a Tigers jersey pretty soon. In the 7th inning, I witnessed a Triple Play! Sadly, the Mud Hens were on the wrong side of the wall on this one. They had a man on 2nd and 1st. A line drive went to the first baseman which he caught. The runners got confused and that first baseman took advantage of that, tagging his base and next throwing to the second baseman and getting the guy on 2nd out. Ouch!
The final score was in favor for the Lousiville Bats, winning 5-4. Ryan Kriedler had the final at bat of the game, in which he struck out. Getting out of Toledo wasn’t much trouble. I went home listening to Tom Leykis new podcast about President Biden forgiving student debt. He and I are on the same page on that one. Sadly, my tax dollars are going to pay for some dummy going to college for a useless Art History or Creative Writing degree. For the second mention, I like Creative Writing, but I’m not going to go $100,000 a debt for that degree… If I get it.
In the last innings of the game, I sat by four people who were talking among themselves. I tried to talk to them but besides something in the game one of them had a question about, they didn’t want to talk to me. I guess I wasn’t their type or me wearing my Tigers fisherman hat was a big minus. In the row before me was a family of three kids and two adult females. I wondered if they were an established lesbian couple (nothing wrong with that) and wondered what area in Toledo they live in. I did a little research via HomeSnacks on the wealthy suburbs of Toledo during a break in the game. A couple of them are at the Ohio/Michigan border around State Route 184, such as Franklin Park and Beverly.
Peace, Love and Fractions
Robbie T.