seeing history

good morning!

hopefully everyone avoided those storms last night - we got stuck in them while out to eat and made a bee-line for the car while the hail was coming down

we don't always make smart decisions.

yesterday was spent downtown

where we visited the slugger museum

bill tested out his catching skills

and i took selfies with derek jeter.

besides the wax figures, we actually got to see a real living baseball legend. 

while on the tour (where no cameras are allowed - bummer :(  )

I see this guy in a wheel chair with a cigar in his mouth.

i knew right away he had to be important, because there is definitely no way just some joe schmoe off the street comes into a factory with a cigar

our tour guide let us in on who he was - monday, MLB players wore the #42 in honor of jackie robinson - the first baseball player to break MLB's color barrier

and touring the facility just a day after was Chuck Harmon - the first black american to play for the cincinnatti red(legs)s
 

by my calculations - he's just shy of 80 years old now

it was pretty neat to see living history - especially in light of the jackie robinson tribute games and the movie being out

after the slugger museum we headed over to the muhammad ali museum

where if you need a big dose of conviction you should check it out

muhammad ali fought for his human rights in a racist white society, fought for his spiritual rights to worship and be accepted as a muslim convert, and challenged those same oppressors when he refused to join the draft - they weren't fighting for his rights as an american, so why should he fight a war for america.

i had never been to the muhammad ali museum - there is A LOT of stuff to see.  LOTS!

a few interactive exhibits keeps it interesting for those with a short attention span

and LOTS of inspirational stories and quotes

i recommend checking it out if your downtown some time- it may have been my hormones, but i teared up a few times.

all day the clouds looked ominous

but we made it back to the car without encountering any rain

or gum for that matter - thanks in part to fellow activists.

my favorite part of staycation so far?

day drinking on the patio (it was allllmost 5...) with bill and playing cards.  i can't remember the last time i played a card game.

we're sitting on the patio now, too, only now we're getting our coffee in before heading out for the afternoon.

i'm vaguely remembering a list of all the stuff i wanted to do on break and silently laughing at myself for being so ambitious.

i'm going to keep on taking it easy - and if some of that stuff gets done, then great :)