Our Cave of Champions is not new by any means. I've previously mentioned it used to be a bedroom. We transformed it into a cave, which by the way can't really be considered a cave since we have a one level house, several months after my Nanny died in 2005. What is new is that it now has a name, and a really cool entrance.
We can't call it a "man cave" because it has always been more of a "teen cave." When it isn't full of teens, it is full of crazy Alabama fans! When it isn't full of crazy Alabama fans, it is full of my family watching a movie. Hopefully soon it will be full of Reds fans watching the World Series.
So...back to the turnstile. Ladies, have you ever been shopping and found the perfect dress or the perfect pair of shoes, so you just bought it (them), no matter what the price? I guess this piece of history can sort of be compared to that. In 2002, Riverfront Stadium, home of The Big Red Machine, was demolished. At that time, there were seats from the stadium for sale. We thought about purchasing a few. These would be original seats from the stadium where Lowell went to games with his dad. Priceless. Unfortunately, we were not able to do this. I was a stay at home mom. It was a wise (and pretty easy) financial decision to let that dream go.
Fast forward to July 2012, on vacation in Cinci. Our family walked into the REDS Hall of Fame to check on ticket prices, and there it was...another piece of history...with a price tag on it. There are no longer turnstiles at Great American Ballpark, and sure enough the remaining were for sale. Cries of "Dad, you have to buy that" began. Everyone wanted Lowell to buy this thing, and I'll admit I was on board as well. Did we have the money, no...not really. NO NO NO said Lowell. We thought about it...overnight. The kids, bless their hearts, donated their allowance. Scott offered some of his graduation money. So sure enough, the Great American Ballpark turnstile was loaded into our minivan. (free shipping) I drove the van to the Cincinnati Zoo with that 300 pound piece of history in the back. [ And please don't tell any cops but the kids had to trade out riding on the floor on the trip home. ]
If you ever visit my house for a sporting event, or to watch a chick flick, you can now enter via turnstile number 15. This is the very same turnstile L and J went through at their first Cincinnati Reds home game. At least that's our story :-).
Here is my ticket taker. She worked a couple of hours making Bama vs. Michigan game tickets. There are a few fans in the background. They had to wait for the gate to open.
If you want to know what we paid for our piece of history, I'm not telling. I will tell that I looked it up and retail price is around $3000.00. We didn't come anywhere close to that. It was a little bit like an episode of American Pickers, except we are not reselling!
Roll Tide and Go Reds!
Post Script: I hope you like color...some of this was on purpose, some of it just happened :-)
How unique!
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