Great Lakes Baseball Trip Recap

Boring Backstory

Because I get antsy sitting still for a couple months straight, we tapped back into our travel fund for a family vacation to the Great Lakes region, centered largely around checking more baseball stadiums off the list. I spent many hours planning over the course of months—really from the moment the 2025 MLB schedule was released—searching for the optimal route where multiple teams played at home over a short period of time. Rather than wait til summer, I thought it would be fun to attend games with the possibility of it still being springlike weather.

There were a few good options, but none better than an itinerary that started in Cincinnati, took us up through Columbus and Cleveland, and ended in Detroit, flying back on a Wednesday night after seeing five games—2 in Cincy, 1 in Cleveland, and 2 in Detroit. Separately, we had been planning on John visiting Grandma and Grandpa for a couple weeks again this summer after he apparently had fun for 11 days on the farm in 2024. The original plan called for the family to return to Austin Wednesday night, and then turning around and driving halfway to South Dakota over the following weekend for a John drop-off. The sole reason for returning to Austin for a couple days was just to let John pack a big suitcase and get some final home time. But that seemed a little foolish to do so much extra cross-country traveling. Instead, John and I would extend our part of the trip with a flight to Chicago for a Cubs game, and then take advantage of the little Chicago-Watertown direct flight. It would be a very convenient way to deliver John. I would then fly to Austin solo.

And so it was all booked, a flight from Austin to Cincinnati. Rental car from Cincy to Columbus to Cleveland to Detroit. Flight from Detroit to Chicago. Lauren/Edie return flight from Cleveland to Austin. Flight from Chicago to Watertown. Flight from Sioux Falls to Austin. Four baseball stadiums—3 of them new to all of us.

Cincinnati

We flew Allegiant because it is cheap (about $100 per person one-way) and it was one of two possible direct routes. After landing at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky airport, we were able to check into our hotel early. We had a free hotel room too thanks to all Lauren’s Hilton points from her WF days. We ate lunch at Nicholson’s Fine Food & Whiskey and then walked down to the riverwalk, where we posed for a picture on the bridge separating Ohio and Kentucky. At night, John and I went to the Reds vs. Cubs game while Lauren and Edie stayed in, tired from a long day of travel. We sat down the right field line in the corner by the foul pole. As you likely heard on The Facebook, John caught a ball thrown into the crowd by a bullpen catcher who had been playing catch with Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki. I was just in shock, because John is 10 and had now gotten 8 balls at major league games in his young life, while many adults I know have never once gotten one in hundreds of games.

The next day we toured the American Sign Museum, where the kids acted like god damn maniacs and nearly broke dozens of priceless signs from American lore. Edie was given a bribe of a second souvenir from the trip if she was good. She calmed down enough to earn a $4 squishy kitty from the sign gift shop. That afternoon, we went to the Reds game as a family and roasted our asses off in the upper deck. On the way back to the hotel, we encountered the Cincinnati Food Festival and all picked something tasty.

Columbus

In the morning, I rented a car and the family drove up to Columbus, Ohio. That’s where my good friend Bart and his family moved a few years ago. We spent the afternoon chilling at their pad and then grabbed dinner together. Afterwards, Bart took me out on the town to see his favorite bars. Folks, I won a game of pool at the Char Bar. I don’t win pool games. I ran the table on Bart’s au pair’s boyfriend to secure the W. Noteworthy.

Cleveland

In the morning the family drove up to Cleveland where we again had a free room courtesy Lauren’s points. So far, the trip was rather economical! We visited the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which Lauren and I would have spent all day in, but the kids had other ideas, being looney and fighting. In their defense, we picked activities that weren’t super kid-friendly. The R&R HOF had very little of interest for kids… not even the sixth floor Bon Jovi tribute interested them!! Crazy. In the afternoon, we visited Southern Tier Brewing for lunch, and then Edie and I went to the Guardians game early. It was Edie’s wish to catch a ball like big bro. To our chagrin, the Dodgers opted against taking batting practice. So we sat there for two hours until Lauren and John arrived. The stadium was sold out thanks to Memorial Day and Shohei. In the ninth inning, as we were about to leave, Dodgers outfielder Kike Hernandez tossed a ball into the stands into a huge group of kids and John caught it, and handed to Edie, who was elated. It was the most brotherly thing he’d ever done in his life, and Edie was over the moon!

Detroit

In the morning, Lauren and Edie flew home, but John and I drove over to Detroit to continue our half of the trip. We had a devil of a time returning a rental car into a mall, but did so and checked into our Marriott, free with points from my travels. After touring the Henry Ford Museum, and lunch at Grand Trunk Pub, we spent the afternoon enjoying some needed downtime in the hotel. I lied to John and said the game started at 6:00 to get him to go to the stadium early, when it in fact started at 6:40! He was glad that we did, though, as he caught a batting practice ball thrown into the stands by Giants pitcher Robbie Ray! When the game started, we snagged a foul ball in the top of the first off the bat of Matt Chapman. We loved our time at Comerica Park and Detroit. I can’t believe how much the city has changed since I last spent time there in 2005.

Chicago

In the morning, we flew from Detroit to Chicago. We were lucky to have done so considering how Lakisha’s death-defying Uber drive to the airport went. In Chicago, we again were able to check into our hotel extra early. After lunch at a Mexican spot in the Lake View East neighborhood, we spent the afternoon napping. Eventually I nudged John out the door to check out Wrigley Field… how dare I. Again, he was glad I did, because we were so early into the gates that the staff allowed John onto the field to watch batting practice! So, baseballs in Cincy, Cleveland and Detroit, and on-field BP at Wrigley. Come on, this kid is beyond any realm of lucky. At the game, we had a blast in the fog as the Cubs beat the Rockies.

South Dakota

The next morning we flew to Watertown directly from Chicago—so nice that that exists. Mom picked us up and we spent a calm night on the farm, enjoying an Alex family campfire. On Friday John and I volunteered our services to work cows, somewhat legitimately helping Dad and Alex with their laborious chore. In the afternoon we drove all the way to Vermillion to help celebrate twin Jack and Betty’s second birthdays. It was a long 3.5-hour drive on each end. And then Mom drove me back to the Sioux Falls airport on Saturday morning.

The Final Tallies

Airports visited for the family on this one trip… EIGHT!
– Austin, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Watertown, Sioux Falls, and Dallas.

Baseball stadiums visited… FOUR!
Great American Ballpark, Progressive Field, Comerica Park, Wrigley Field.

MLB teams seen… SEVEN!
Reds, Cubs, Guardians, Dodgers, Tigers, Giants, Rockies. No, we did not see the Twins and that’s fine. There’s something even more fun about seeing games with no rooting interest and just chilling and enjoying the game without a rooting interest.

NEW STATES VISITED… ONE, FOR THE KIDS!
The kids, and maybe Lauren, had never been to Kentucky. I realize how ridiculous it is that 10-year-old John and 6-year-old Edie have been to so many states. John is now up to 35 and Edie 24. Again, I had been to ONE STATE by this point in John’s life, good old SoDak! We have the means to travel, and I am a god damn ball of anxiety sitting still for two consecutive minutes. Traveling with kids is not the easiest, but I couldn’t care less. I’d rather go new places with children than remain idle. I surely have undiagnosed mental illnesses—I step foot into my house after a trip and have absolutely nothing to do and start thinking about the next trip.

What’s Next?

Right back to South Dakota to get John, of course. He’ll spend two whole weeks on the farm with the family before Lauren, Edie and I go retrieve him.

Beyond that, maybe a Fourth of July South Padre Island trip.

Remaining MLB Visits

I have very few left. I have now seen home games for 23 teams. Those remaining are the Angels, Padres, Rays, Marlins, Braves, Phillies and Diamondbacks. And Dbacks, I’ve at least been there but not seen a game. Barring some unforeseen incident, I think I can easily do all 30 teams before turning 50, probably sooner.

The question is, do we next do like 2024 when we spent a long weekend in Pittsburgh and just chilled in one city, or do we do another go-go-go trip like this? It would be tough to do this again, just because there aren’t many stadiums within close distance where it would even work. Angels-Padres, maybe? We will have to wait til the 2026 schedule comes out to see!