Day 1 (July 22nd)

Today was travel day. No pictures from the airlines but I will say that both Nancy and I were not very happy that we had to valet check our camera bag. This because of the small Northwest Airlines Canadair jet. Fortunately all the cameras made the trip fine.

We landed in Charlotte a few minutes late but managed to get luggage and rental car in good time. The drive to Kannapolis was uneventful. We checked into the hotel and headed for the ballpark.

The Kannapolis Intimidators are a minor league baseball team named after the late Dale Earnhardt. Nancy and I always love minor league baseball and you just can't pass up a chance to see a team named after the Intimidator.

We missed the first half of the first inning but were impressed by the ballpark

As with most minor league games, there is entertainment between innings. Here we have a couple of young once having John Deere races. The mascot, "Dub", is the finish line.

You never know what names you might recognize at a minor league game. This is Fernando Valenzuela Jr. batting for the Intimidators. Baseball fans might remember his father who was a big league pitcher

Candlesticks! OK, if you don't know that means, you need to go watch Bull Durham, the best baseball movie ever made. Too bad the Durham Bulls are not playing in town while we are here.

As the pitcher warms up, you can see that the club is partially supported by the Dale Earnhardt foundation.

The Intimidators won the game 5-2. Yeah!