Day 68 - Jupiter - Cardinal Nation

We were on our way to the Roger Dean Stadium by 10 am.  We had invited Betsy to come with us, but turns out she is not a baseball fan.  It had been a cool night but the sun was warming things up fast. 

Roger Dean Stadium, the spring training home of the St. Louis Cardinals and the Miami Marlins, is in Abacoa, a planned community with a town center directly across from Roger Dean Stadium.  The game did not start until 1 pm, but already there were many people in red shirts and hats milling around.  As we approach the stadium we saw a man on the corner, holding up tickets.  He wanted $60 apiece for the tickets (face value $32 each).  Randy offered $40 and we ended up having to pay $50.  The game was sold out and the top players were in the lineup, so the seller had the most leverage this time.  We crossed over to the park and felt very conspicuous as we were not wearing Cardinal gear.  Even the babies had Cardinal outfits!  To remedy this, we hit the stadium shop and purchased 2 shirts and 1 hat, which we changed into right away.

Soon it was time to enter the stadium.  We found our seats and took a “selfie” with the field in the background.  It was literally a sea of red in there.  I counted 2 Nationals fans – that was about it.  Everyone else was cheering the Redbirds.  After a few innings the aspiring newcomers stepped in and the star players stepped out.  Although the quality of the game suffered, it was still fun to sit in a small stadium on a beautiful warm day and watch.  The score was tied at 4 after 10 innings and was declared tie, even though according to Captain Randy “There is no tying in baseball”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The people sitting next to us told us about a bar on the ICW that lots of the Cardinal fans go to after games, a place called the Square Grouper Tiki Bar.  It was on the way back to the boat, so we decided to stop in.  This was a very popular place.  We managed to score a close parking spot (due to Captain Randy’s infamous parking karma) thus avoided the auxiliary lot and shuttle.  As is typical in Florida, the Square Grouper was all outdoors, with 2 bars and tables along the water.  It is located very close to the Jupiter Inlet and lighthouse, which we had passed on our way on the ocean from West Palm Beach to Stuart a couple weeks earlier.  A small, 1 dock marina, Castaways, is right in the middle of the place.    There was live music by the Andrew Morris Band, who covered artists such as Zac Brown and the Eagles.  It worked for us!  We had cocktails and some pulled pork sliders.  While there were some Cardinal fans, there was a variety of other people, not in red shirts, of different ages and groups.  There was a table of Harley folks wearing vests and jackets from a Palm Beach Biker’s club, boaters from Castaways, tourists, and locals.

 

 

 

Captain Randy spied a West Marine (his favorite store)0 as we were driving back, so we had to stop in to pick up a few items we forgot to get yesterday.  We also stopped at a CVS for some miscellaneous items and then a gas station to fill the small can for the dinghy as well as the tank for the rental car.  When we arrived back at our boat, we told Betsy about our adventures and made plans to go to yet another art fair the next day.