Days 3/4: The rest of North Carolina

Sorry this is so late, this week has been busy.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is said to be one of the premier road trips and most beautiful scenic roads in the USA. The 469-mile road running from Shenendoah NP in Virginia to the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee/North Carolina offers some of the best views in the Eastern part of the country. Driving down this road, a serene, relaxing feeling comes over you and the views around every corner are simply remarkable. No highways, no traffic, VERY little capitalism, no modernization has come to this area, and I love it the way it is.

This section of the Appalachians is also home to small mountains towns (such as Boone, NC above). These towns are so homey and have a great Appalachian atmosphere that make life in the Appalachians what it is. The draw is the outdoors, right in their backyards. Nothing fancy, nothing exaggerated. Nothing like Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg anyway...

(Above: Newbridge Bank Park, Greensboro Grasshoppers (Florida's A Affiliate))
(Below: Durham Bulls Athletic Park, Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay's AAA Affiliate))

In terms of central North Carolina baseball, the cities of Greensboro and Durham house their respective ballclubs in beautiful modern, brick ballparks in the middle of downtown. The Grasshoppers' home is a refreshing change from World War Memorial Stadium, one of the oldest stadiums in the nation (I mean, it is a memorial to the FIRST World War) The South Atlantic League affiliate of the Marlins took on the Phillies' affiliate, the Lakewood Blueclaws, this past Friday night. The Hoppers scored two in the first before the Claws took a 3-2 lead in the ninth. Greensboro managed to score two more in the ninth on a walk-ff Aaron Dudley single to win 4-3 over Lakewood. Greensboro is currently 34-24 in the Northern Division, one half game behind Blake Harper and the Hagerstown Suns with about a week to go in the first half of the season.

The Bulls' game was not as close. Durham hosted the Pawtucket Red Sox, Boston's top affiliate and they dominated. Dirk Hayhurst struggled, while top pitching Red Sox prospect Felix Doubront ptiched four innings of one-hit ball. Darnell McDonald and Lars Anderson both hit home runs over the big Blue Monster in left field, a la Fenway Park. It's funny...Durham's ballpark looks more like Fenway than Pawtucket's. Anyway, Pawtucket ran away with the 7-1 victory and both teams are now in the hunt for their division leads; Pawtucket (31-29) is third in the International League North, while Durham (32-27) is first in the IL South.