A coworker and I drove into New York to see Old Fort Niagara. This lighthouse was in the parking lot, and when we first arrived, the light was on. We weren’t allowed inside.
The lighthouse can be seen beyond the fort on the left, with the Niagara River in the background. It was built in 1871.
A coworker and I were in Canada for business. We had Saturday to kill before our flight home on Sunday morning, so we borrowed a car and headed to New York to do some touristing. Our first stop was Old Fort Niagara, located on the point where the Niagara River empties in Lake Ontario.
A fort was first built here by the French in 1679. They built the French Castle in 1726. Britain gained control in 1759 during the French and Indian War after a siege. The United States took it over after the Revolution, but the British retook it for two years during the War of 1812.
I took this picture on the path as we approached the fort. The drawbridge leads to the Gate of the Five Nations. The two Chinese-looking buildings are the South Redoubt (left) and the North Redoubt (right).
Here’s a close-up of the South Redoubt, with the guns of the 18-pounder battery in the foreground and the French Castle in the left background. The ground floor of the redoubt was a fortified gateway, the second floor was a barracks and the top was a cannon platform.
The French Castle, built in 1726, is the oldest part of the fort. It was built by the French as a self-contained fortress disguised as a trading post to confuse the Indians. The inside was dark, with rock walls and massive wooden doors that creaked and reeked of history. On the ground floor was a well that is supposed to be haunted by a headless French guy, but we didn’t see him. It was cool, and a bit weird, to have it to ourselves.
The parade ground. The buildings in the background are (l. to r.) the South Redoubt, the provisions storeroom (which contains a museum), the powder magazine and the trading post (which contains a gift shop and snack bar).
A friend and I drove down to Wrigley Field to see the Cubs play the Phillies. Our seats were on the third base side of home plate, looking right down the first base line, about nine rows up from the field. They would have been great seats except that they were on a major aisle right next to a stairway.
For the first hour, we were in the sun and it was hot and humid. But when the sun went behind the stands, it wasn’t bad. The game was great — it had everything but pitching, although Greg Maddux managed to get his 18th win of the season. The Cubs won 14-9.
Two friends and I drove into Chicago to see the White Sox play the Tigers in a double-header. A business associate got the tickets for us and met us at the park. He’d arranged for us to eat supper in the Stadium Club in right field inside the park.
We went up to the Stadium Club. The dining room wasn’t open yet, so we went up another floor to the bar and spent a half hour drinking pop and eating cheese puffs.
When it was almost game time, we went down to our table in the second row up from the windows. I had my back to the infield so I had no idea what was happening on the field. I could see the scoreboard, so when I wanted to know what was happening, I looked there. The food wasn’t exceptionally good, but it wasn’t bad either. The final bill came to $140.00. It was fun to be there, but I certainly wouldn’t spend my own money to go.
We left the Stadium Club in the seventh inning of the first game and walked around inside the park. We watched the final inning from the walkway behind the left field bleachers. The White Sox won 4-3. I didn’t score the game.
For the second game, we had seats down the first base line just beyond the tarp. The White Sox won this game too, also by the score of 4-3.
You can see the Stadium Club in this photo. It’s the large picture window behind the right-field foul pole.
We spent the day with friends, first visiting the Milwaukee Zoo and then heading to the Brewers game. The place was packed, and we were stuck in traffic heading into the parking lot. I jumped out of the car and walked around the outside of the park taking pictures.
I met the others inside the park, then wandered around taking more photos.
Our seats were way down the right field line up under the stands — I took these two photos from my seat.
In the fourth inning, with Frank Thomas on second base and George Bell on first, Robin Ventura grounded to the Brewers’ second baseman, Scott Fletcher. He fielded the ball and threw to the shortstop Listach just as Bell slid hard into the general area of the base. Bell and Listach went down in a heap and came up shouting at each other. Robin Yount ran in from center field and pushed Bell. Both benches and bullpens emptied. Everybody milled around for a while, then went back where they were supposed to be. Ventura was ruled out on Bell’s interference, Bell was tossed from the game and the inning was over.
The game was scoreless going into the bottom of the ninth. Scott Fletcher, the Brewers’ ninth-place hitter, hit a three-run home run to win it for the Brewers 3-0.
I took one final photo when we finally got to where the car was parked.
