The outfield wall of the old Forbes Field stadium still stands, a monument to 60 years of baseball history in Pittsburgh and one historic home run.
Built in 1909, Forbes Field was the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates until 1970. It would be the site of many historic events in Major League Baseball. The Pirates' first season at Forbes Field ended with a World Series win over the Detroit Tigers. The last MLB tripleheader occured here in 1920. Babe Ruth hit the last three home runs of his career in 1935. The Homestead Grays would also play home games there for 17 years. Two fires would damage the closed stadium before it was demolished in July of 1971.
The left outfield wall still stands in tribute to the field itself and one of the most historic plays in baseball (and New York Yankees fans might want to skip to the next paragraph). It was over this wall that Bill Mazeroski hit his walk-off home run to end Game 7 of the 1960 World Series with a Pirates victory. Fans known as the Game 7 Gang gather to listen to the radio broadcast on the game's anniversary, and a plaque marks the location where the ball cleared the wall. The actual section of the wall was moved to the Pirates' new home fields, Three Rivers Stadium and PNC Park.
Forbes Field also has another memorial near the wall. Just inside the entrance of the University of Pittsburgh's Posvar Hall, set into the floor, is one of Forbes Field's home plates. The plate is not in its actual location, as it would be in a library on the ground floor, with previous estimations putting it out of reach of half of the fans interested in reliving baseball history, inside a ladies' restroom.
Nestled in the Laos jungle near the Tat Kuang Si Bear Rescue Centre, the cascading tiers of the Kuang Si Waterfalls draw gawking onlookers seeking a little bit of serene beauty in the midst of the jungle's cacophony.
The vibrant blue waters that flow down the falls travel down through a series of pools before rejoining the flow of the jungle river. After ages of flowing over the rocks, the falls have etched deep lines into the stone creating a beautiful travertine pattern. The pools are smaller near the top of the falls, but tend to wider out nearer to the bottom eventually becoming big enough to swim in should the tropical heat inspire someone to jump in as it often does. The locals (who charge a small fee to visitors to the falls) have built out a wooden platform that visitors can take in the rushing waters from, or even dive off of in some places.
Reaching the Kunag Si Falls is a bit tricky as they are pretty far off the beaten path and require a willing driver or rental. However the ubiquitous tuk-tuk drivers in the nearby town of Lunag Prabang are generally willing to take anyone interested in traveling to the falls for a nominal (if negotiable fee). Its well worth it to haggle your way into a ride to the falls not just to escape the heat by swimming in the pools, but also to soak in some natural beauty found few other places in the world.
Yesterday I wrote about one of the most amazing fares I’ve ever seen, under $100 roundtrip in business or first class between the UK and most anywhere in the world. United isn’t honoring the tickets. But there have been many amazing deals that airlines and hotels have chosen to make good on in the past. […]
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Some might claim that I'm a bit biased in my love of Lufthansa.
I tend to think I'm pretty fair and balanced with them. ;) I think they offer one of the world's best first class products, while their old business class product is abysmal. Like, truly abysmal, and among the worst transatlantic business class products out there. I flew it from Seattle to Frankfurt a couple of years ago, and had the following conclusion:
"On the whole this flight was eye opening. Don’t get me wrong, business class is always more comfortable than coach, and I’m incredibly appreciative to be able to fly business class on miles. But one of my goals with this blog is to compare products because I realize not everyone has as much “vacation time” as I do, and I want to be sure you’re making the most of your time traveling. I think the assumption is always that business class on foreign carriers is better than business class on US carriers, and I kind of assumed that as well. In this case, however, I think business class on most US carriers beats Lufthansa business class in just about every manner from seat comfort to food to entertainment."
The post My Most Boring, Productive Flight Ever appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
The announcement about new elite benefits for Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond members brings to mind a recent One Mile at a Time post wondering why there aren’t greater Diamond benefits for staying more than the requisite 25 times or 50 nights for top tier status. Hyatt is introducing new benefits for Diamond members, but not […]
The post Why Didn’t Hyatt Add a New Higher Elite Tier — and Why Don’t Credit Cards Offer More Rewards for Higher Spending? appeared first on View from the Wing.