Journal entries from Ryly Jane Hambleton on her trip with Mr. Sportsknowitall to visit five major-league parks last month:

June 8

We took the MetroLink into the city from O'Fallon, a suburb of St. Louis. Thunderstorms all morning made the outlook bleak and dreary, but rain ponchos gave us the confidence to strike out for the ball park.

The sun broke through as we crossed the street from the MetroLink station to the stadium. After we bought our tickets - along the third-base side in the outfield - we had plenty of time to walk through the new stadium.

At our first stop, we saw a Louisville slugger being made and next to that, a gentleman explained the time-honored way to stitch a baseball. Plenty of memorabilia was available.

Best deal of the trip - giant hot dog, bag of peanuts, large soda pop and a St. Louis Cardinals hat for just $20.

A little girl, at the game with her father and older brother and sister, made her way down the row in front of us to be in the shade. Dressed in pink from head to toe, it was a cinch she'd want the pink cotton candy and not the blue.

The scoreboard was all baseball, all the time - lineups, information on the batter, tidbits of other information.

The Cardinals used six pitchers and still lost 5-2 to the Rockies, who got a solo homer from Troy Tulowitzki. Jason Marquis got the win for Colorado and Houston Street - of College World Series fame - got the save.

The walk to the Gateway to the West was pleasant and the arch stunning.

June 12

After a day-long deluge at Klinger Lake in southern Michigan, we played golf at Green Valley Golf & Health Club near Sturgis with Charlie McBride. The former defensive coordinator for the Cornhuskers just got word that he will be voting in the Harris Poll this fall. The groundskeeper at the course told us they got 51/2 inches of rain the previous day, leaving a couple of fairways under water. But the course was still enjoyable and friendly enough to surrender a birdie to this bogey (or double-bogey) golfer.

June 13

Thanks to former Lincoln Journal Star sportswriter Chuck Sinclair, now senior vice president of global communications for Goodyear, we got to play the West Course at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. The World Golf Championships will be there in August. It is a lush and challenging course.

June 14

Another tip of the cap to Sinclair, who managed to get tickets from some ESPN contacts for the Cleveland-St. Louis game.

Found out that "Hang on, Sloopy" is the state song of Ohio, the mustard beat the ketchup and onion and we learned that black pepper helps digestion.

The seagull incident with the Royals had just occurred at Progressive Field and the Indians decided to set off fireworks every half-inning to try to send the birds away. Watching the seagulls pop up and down among the seats in the upper deck, it was apparent the fireworks were less than successful.

Cliff Lee, last year's Cy Young winner for the Indians, came into the game and struggled to start, walking two of the first three batters he faced. But then he retired 20 straight batters before surrendering a lead-off double by Yadier Molina.

The Indians' marketing director should have been fired. The between-inning trivia question after the seventh inning asked what Indian had pitched a perfect game. The fan knew it was Len Barker, but obviously, the marketing director didn't know you aren't supposed to talk about a no-hitter.

Lee held on for a three-hitter in the Indians' 3-0 victory.

June 15

We drove in another deluge as we entered the Philadelphia area. Certain there would be signs for a hotel somewhere along the way, we doggedly stuck with Interstate 76 along downtown Philadelphia. Slowed by traffic and heavy rain, we still saw no signs until Ken directed me to take the Walt Whitman Bridge to Camden, N.J. We couldn't see New Jersey until we were halfway across the bridge. We didn't stay long. We kept driving and took the Ben Franklin Bridge back to Philadelphia and then took the Broad Street exit. The Flyers were Broad Street Bullies and it seemed appropriate to try that exit.

Once past downtown, Broad Street widened and we found cars parked in the fifth lane in the middle of the street, just like in small town Nebraska or anywhere. We drove past the Sports Complex, where the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers and 76ers play and settled for a hotel near the airport.

June 16

We took the Septa train from the airport to downtown Philadelphia and walked a couple of blocks to Independence Mall. After a mouth-watering hot dog in a bagel, our first stop was the Liberty Bell Center. Video, pictures and documents described the bell's history, culminating with the Liberty Bell itself.

We walked across the street to Independence Hall, sandwiched between Congress Hall, where our first two presidents were inaugurated, and Old City Hall. That is where we found out we should have started at the Visitor Center, three blocks away. Only there could you get tickets to tour Independence Hall.

So off we went to the Visitor Center, only to have a park ranger tell the ticket givers (tickets are free) that no more tickets would be available for that day. Philadelphia could use a better Chamber of Commerce to help visitors.

Instead, we went to the National Constitution Center. A theater-in-the-round presentation of "We, the people" got you in the mood. The interactive exhibits were incredible, from Supreme Court cases to the podium where the presidential oath of office could be taken.

The only drawback was the four classes of fifth-graders from Somerville (probably New Jersey). They were quiet during "We, the people" but after that, they were 75 or 80 of the loudest, most disrespectful young people I've seen in awhile. And the teachers and chaperones didn't seem to care. The Napoleon exhibit downstairs was a quiet respite.

After a Philly cheese steak in the Reading Terminal Market, we took the train back to the hotel and then drove to Citizens Bank Park for the Phillies' game with the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Phillies took a 3-2 lead on Jayson Werth's sixth-inning home run. The Liberty Bell (20 feet tall) lights up and rings for a Philadelphia home run. But Toronto tied the game in the ninth on a bases-loaded walk and then used a five-run outburst in the 10th to win.

The Phillies' ballpark had the best design for keeping track of games around the country. Next to the two teams playing was a baseball diamond. Green lights came on for runners at the bases and red lights indicated outs. It was clear and easy to watch. Washington's win over the New York Yankees was roundly cheered in our section.

A local high school baseball coach and his wife (also a teacher) sat on one side of us and season ticket holders were on the other side. A great way to get an even more complete feel of the ball park, which had the best food of the trip.

June 17

Driving south on Interstate 95 from Philadelphia, we crossed into Maryland and immediately saw a sign for golf and decided to check it out. Five miles off the road, we found the Chesapeake Bay Golf Club at Rising Sun in northeast Maryland. A beautiful little course, it has a sister course down the road (Chesapeake Bay Golf Club North East) and they have package deals with the hotel in between (www.victorygolfpass.com).

June 18

We drove from the Palisades area of Washington D.C., via the Beltway, to Baltimore and spent an afternoon there, taking a water taxi through the Inner Harbor area. A short walk, and we were at Camden Yards, the ballpark that laid the foundation for all the other parks we saw.

The classic Oriole on every wrought-iron fence and at the end of each row of seats was an indication of the attention to detail inherent in the ball park.

The Orioles may have fallen on some hard times, but manager Dave Trembly is doing all he can to promote good will. Before the game, he was at the outfield fence along the opposite side of the field from the O's, talking to fans and signing autographs. He graciously signed a scorecard and talked to Ken before heading to the dugout for the game.

Tommy Lasorda was at the game, part of a group promoting colon cancer prevention. The crowd screams "O's" when the Star Spangled Banner reaches the "oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave."

Mets fans nearly outnumbered Orioles fans for the game and became loud and rowdy when the Mets took a 4-2 lead in the seventh. The Orioles cut the lead in half with a run in the eighth and then scored twice in the bottom of the ninth on a bases-loaded walk by Adam Jones and an RBI single by Aubrey Huff for the 5-4 victory. It was wonderful to see those Orioles celebrate and the Mets fans walk out broken-hearted.

June 19

We caught the D6 bus a half-block from where we were staying to DuPont Circle, where we caught the Red Line of the Metro. We walked to the White House (well, near the White House) and then to the Washington Monument before getting back on the Red Line and changing to the Green before getting off just about 100 yards from Nationals Park to see the lowly Washington Nationals (who had just taken a series from the Yankees) play Toronto.

The scorecard was free (the only park that did that) and they had a beach towel giveaway for Beach Party night. A parade of pitchers - seven for the Blue Jays and six for the Nats - took us through 11 innings. The Nationals won their third game in a row (the first time this season they had done that) when Adam Dunn hit a bases-loaded single with one out for a 2-1 victory.

Late in the game, a young woman and her friends moved into the seats next to us. After the ninth inning, she asked if we were die-hard Nationals fans, noting the scorecard we had kept. When I said that we were Nats fans for the night only and were headed home the next day, she said, "Too bad. I have tickets for a couple of games I can't go to and would like to give them to you." I told her my niece and nephew lived in D.C., she gave me the tickets to give to them. Katie Lane is an attorney and has season tickets to provide to her clients. In this case, she kindly gave tickets for a game in August and one in September to baseball fans. And to think I ever told a lawyer joke.

June 20

Heading back west, we saw the brown historical highway sign for Antietam Battlefield and decided to take a side trip.

The green fields were serene, belying the fact this was the site of the bloodiest one-day battle of the Civil War. About 23,000 of the 100,000 soldiers engaged in the battle were killed, wounded or missing. The daily fee was suspended, "because we wanted to," according to one of the park rangers.

A film provided the historical backdrop to the battle. President Lincoln, frustrated with the actions of Gen. George McClellan, sarcastically asked if he could "borrow" the Army of the Potomac from McClellan. We now know that if McClellan had pursued Robert E. Lee's army after Antietam instead of resting, the Civil War likely would have ended three years sooner than it did.

It was surreal to see Burnside Bridge, where 500 Confederate soldiers held ground for three hours before Gen. Ambrose Burnside (he of the bushy sideburns, so named because of him) finally captured the bridge and crossed Antietam Creek, which forced the Confederates back.

The North called it the Battle of Antietam, while the South called it the Battle of Sharpsburg. All of the brochures referred to "Dunker Church," but old signs indicated it was also called Dunkard Church. Obviously, winners get to name the battles and the various points of interest.

June 21

A morning tee time at Sleepy Hollow Golf Club, part of the Cleveland Metroparks. It was the course Ken's grandfather and grandmother played. His aunt, Mary Lou Garcher, had talked about the course during our visit earlier in the trip and how Ken's father had caddied for his father there.

The clubhouse was new, but our golfing partners told us where to find paintings of the original clubhouse. A couple of pictures of the old place and a logo golf ball should be pleasant reminders for his dad. Happy Father's Day, a bit late.