In planning this trip, we knew we wanted to visit Isy's friend in Philadelphia, but we also had been to America's Eastern Seaboard multiple times recently and longed to go somewhere else.

The solution was obvious - take advantage of America's cheaper flights and fly Tulsa to Philadelphia on the way back to where we live!

Morgan was busy when we arrived, so Isy and I found food and killed time around the neighbourhood. The weather felt downright tropical to a couple from Newfoundland and the moment clearly called for mai tais, haha.

Isy later mentioned to Morgan how nice it was that it was 20 degrees and I read the confusion on Morgan's face. I'm in tune with Americans though, so when it was my turn to talk, I referenced 20 degrees when addressing Isy, but a couple sentences later, calculated 70 degrees as I turned to speak to Morgan.

The next day Morgan and Isy went out for breakfast while I enjoyed reading with a pair of new cat friends.

Soon enough, I had an Amtrak to catch down to Baltimore for an Orioles game. Seeing as this guy was in front of me, I knew I was in line for the right train.

(The Business Class Quiet Car was only like $11 more, lol.)

I was down in Baltimore in no time and mannnn was it nice to be back where there's relatively cheap trains and busses that can pop you over to another nearby city with ease. I'm so jealous, but I suppose I could pay $66 for the 2-hour bus ride to Grand Falls-Windsor at exactly 11:25am and then pay $66 for a 2-hour ride back to Corner Brook the next day at exactly 2:14pm.

Anyway, a 71-minute train ride spit me out at Baltimore's fine Union Station, where I then took a light rail down to Camden Yards. I wanted to check out the legendary Pickles Pub across from Camden, but this was also a spectacular Friday evening against the Red Sox. Pickles was absolutely jammed and there were a lot of bros. I didn't have any cash either, so I was left trying to yell over people to put a beer on a card? I ended up just leaving.

Looking up the nearest liquor mart, I grabbed a few Natty Boh's and went for a walk.

I found Conway Street Park, a small woody enclave in a nice enough neighbourhood, right across the street from Camden Yards. It was far enough that I didn't think any cops would roll up on me, but it was also close enough to feel like I was still part of the gameday excitement. Listening to the birds and enjoying the temps, this seemed a lot better than Pickles.

There was a guy pushing his baby around the park and I did my best to put my beer beside me and under my hat whenever he rolled by. There's only one small loop to the park though, so he ended up passing a few times and on the last pass he asked if I was going to the game. We got to chatting and I asked how young his baby was and he asked where I was from and if I had any kids of my own. I told him we were trying and he wished me luck.

Which was really strange and therapeutic because I hadn't told any of my friends to this point. I just opened up more to this random Minnesotan-turned-Baltimore man than anyone who's actually in my life. And while I tend to clam up or think people will be bored with life happenings, I mostly enjoy sharing them in the right spots.

As buddy walked away, I couldn't help but feel good about the pleasant interaction and his well wishes. I hope he's doing well wherever he is.

Anyway, like I say, it was a spectacular evening in Baltimore. I made sure to pick seats where I was amongst the last to enter the shadows caused by the setting sun.

I really miss glorious evenings at the ballpark because of living in Newfoundland. And like I said when I mentioned us going to that game in Houston, it was even worse in 2020, 2021, and 2022 due to Covid restrictions and it feeling like I'd never get back to the Great American Ball Park or Camden Yards or Kauffman Stadium.

So even though I had just been to Minute Maid Park in Houston about a week ago, that yearning was still strong and I was elated to find myself at Camden tonight.

I slipped down to the lower bowl as the game stretched on, where a beer man soon came over running a little scam where he pocketed a bit of money and I got cheaper beer. The only problem was that I didn't really understand the scheme and messed it up the second time, where he gave me the "are you serious?" face as I accidentally paid full price on the machine. Whoops!

Anyway, the lousy Red Sox won. The one thing I remember from the game was Ryan Mountcastle coming out to Moneybagg Yo and the speakers blaring "she ate my dick through my underwear, ughhh." This must've fired up Mountcastle to hit a ninth inning homer.

Not knowing the safe or dangerous areas of Baltimore very well, I hopped on a bus after the game to cover what would be a 20 minute walk to the dive bar Mum's.

On a bit of a tangent here, but throughout the trip, Isy had been finding people along the way that were a bit too cold and efficient for her liking, while I was like, "oh no, this is beautiful. Concise, transactional interactions!"

Sure enough, the bus driver pulled away as I was still trying to sort out my change, leaving me to stumble and fight against falling, all while she yelled at cars and drunken Orioles fans to get out of her way. I absolutely loved it.

Mum's was bumping and fantastic. One regret I have involving Baltimore is the one time I went out in this town, I felt so shitty that I told Clarkson we should pack it in for the night after just one drink. As I should've pushed through, I was happy to finally sample some of the The Charm City's nightlife.

Except that there was a bit of an edge and coolness to Mum's that made really nervous about asking for the WiFi. I needed it to summon a Lyft though, so I just had to accept that the bartender was likely to chew me out or ignore me.

I couldn't have been more wrong. "What time's your bus? Yeah, no problem, I'll take care of it. You need another beer?" And that was that. I didn't even need to do anything! I got another Natty Boh and settled in to watching the Timberwolves playoff game that they of course had on the TV.

The solution to getting me to the bus station was the bartender asking a regular if he could call me an Uber, haha. I expressed my appreciation and told the guy that I wouldn't do anything in the car and I was so happy he was trusting me with his Uber account and carrying on about this - until he suddenly got a bit worried and asked if I felt like I was going to throw up. "Oh, no, no, sorry, it'll be all good." Soon after I went outside and caught an Uber for "David".

Down at the Baltimore Greyhound station, there was no sign of my bus. A friendly security guard told me it'd be 4 or 5am before my bus would arrive, so having seen a casino on the way to the station, I figured I'd pop back up there. $25USD per spin at roulette was a bit steep, but I had time to kill and there were some fun characters at the table, so even if I lost a hundo, it'd be worth it for the experience and the laugh (I'd end up winning about $250 instead, booyah!)

The casino also had a legit cheesesteak, which I demolished. I then went to grab a drink from the bar and the bartender was simply like, "Yuengling?" with a point, leading to a black lady beside me dying laughing and asking, "did you just see this white boy walk up and knew he wanted a Yuengling??"

The bartender explained that it was my second, but it was still pretty funny.

The bus station and the casino aren't that far from one another, but somehow I got turned around afterwards and ended up in a stereotypical Baltimore neighbourhood. Thinking I'd be able to figure this out and right the ship, I kept walking, but it started to get close to 4am and there was no sign of the bus station. It was also a good thing I had $250 in cash on me, in case I ran into any wallet inspectors in these strange neighbourhoods.

Just silly behaviour on my part.

Finally finding some WiFi outside of a youth centre, I swallowed my pride and called a Lyft instead of missing my bus. It was wild how long it took to get back to the bus station and my picture of the "Birdland Mart" shows that I walked at least a mile away from the casino.

Arriving back at the bus station at 355am, the same friendly security guard from earlier, remained friendly and helpful even at this hour. Looking up my bus again, he told me it was still an hour away. I thanked him one more time and took a seat. Oddly, most of the lights were turned off at this hour, but I suppose that would've ruled for a normal person who may have slept instead of going gambling/cheesesteak eating/Yuengling drinking/wandering.

My bus came at 5am and dropped me off in Philadelphia at 730am. Bleary-eyed and discombobulated, I stepped out of the Philadelphia Greyhound Station to immediately cross paths with a guy who exclaimed, "man, why you look so sad, man!" And after I told him that I was really tired, he goes "mannnn, it’s a sunny day, you’re alive, smile man!"

I think about that guy sometimes when I'm having a crummy day due to petty nonsense like the gas pump being slow because someone's on the other side or Tim Horton's taking away their drive-thru garbages or whatever. I strive to have more of his zest and appreciation for life.

Calling a Lyft with my phone on 1%, I finally got to Morgan's and crashed out shortly after 8am.

Continue to Part 9