{"id":31654,"date":"2015-08-17T21:28:24","date_gmt":"2015-08-18T01:28:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blacktypebugler.com\/?p=31654"},"modified":"2015-08-17T21:28:24","modified_gmt":"2015-08-18T01:28:24","slug":"trip-report-itchys-freedom-tour-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/?p=31654","title":{"rendered":"Trip report: Itchy’s Freedom Tour 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

By ITCH<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am starting to get the feeling that I’m going to have to start sparing my friends at home in West Virginia from all my Saratoga stories at some point.<\/p>\n

They might not be so interested in stories about people they’ve never met, and a place they’ve never been.<\/p>\n

But I’ve met you: Ace, Spinround, Pete, Frank, Robby, Dan, Lenny, MTK, Kingab, AFC and Despie.<\/p>\n

While my friends here at home may be spared at some point, this writer will take a guess that there are a few of us out there in the Sim who would like to hear the inside story of what really happened at the wild Saratoga Sim Gathering of 2015.<\/p>\n

Itchy’s Freedom Tour 2015 began on Tuesday, Aug. 11, when I left Point Pleasant in the morning, new cell phone and cooler in hand. The cell phone was to contact my new friends once I made it to my destinations. The cooler was to keep Lenny’s wings cold on the long trip across Interstate 90. (A second, convenient use was discovered later: cold Heinekens.)<\/p>\n

There I sat on a bench in front of the famous Duff’s in Buffalo, home of the world’s greatest wings. The menu says: “medium is hot, medium hot is very hot, and hot is very, very hot.”<\/p>\n

Sensitive to threat, I was intimidated. While the seasoned Miss Buffalo ordered some spice on her wings, I panicked and ordered mild. It was great chicken, but was completely free of the famous Duff’s wing sauce.<\/p>\n

That would be the last time this writer played it safe during Freedom Tour 2015.<\/p>\n

From Duff’s we went back across Sheridan Drive, safely deposting Lenny’s wings in the hotel room fridge. I hopped in the car with Ace and we proceeded to Tonawanda Bowl, which was a real blast for me.<\/p>\n

Ally and I bowled three leisurely games in the 42-lane house, and I could not escape the feeling that my late father had been there. My dad, Jack Maloney, passed away in 2011, and had grown up in Niagara Falls, right next to Buffalo. My dad was a terrific bowler, and with the historic feel of the Tonawanda lanes, it seemed like a reasonable possibility that my father had bowled there as a young man.<\/p>\n

Ace and I had a wonderful time getting to know each other a little bit, chatting between frames as we took our time. We both bowled our best in the third game, when a move left on the approach (as recommended by her new bowling coach) resulted in several strong pocket strikes by Miss Buff. I am proud of my friend Ally as she rolls a 15-pound ball, too heavy for many women bowlers. But not for Ally! She’s seasoned on the lanes and was the high-scorer later in the week at a charity bowling event. Nice going Ally, you deserve it!<\/p>\n

The alarm clock was set early the next morning, but I was so excited, I woke up before it activated.<\/p>\n

It was time to go to Saratoga!<\/p>\n

The plan was to drive to the track, find the Paddock Bar, and call Pete on my new cell phone. It worked perfectly!<\/p>\n

Before I knew it, there I was, sitting in a wonderful spot right next to the Saratoga paddock with Pete, Frank, Robby and Eliza (Spinround.) Dan came by soon to welcome us all, and the game was on. It was the most fun I ever had losing money. Guess I shoulda listened to Eliza and backed that 9 horse in the last race which her Facebook friend said was a lock.<\/p>\n

The only winners I had Wednesday were a horse Frank gave to me based on looks, and when I walked into the bar at the Saratoga harness track and noticed Del Mar was about to go off and blindly bet the 1.<\/p>\n

The funniest part of the night at the harness races was this strange bartender with an untraceable accent who took offense at Frank asking for a cube of ice in his wine. “Reeeaaaaaaaaaallllly,” and he rolled his eyes.<\/p>\n

Pete and I were in stitches.<\/p>\n

“Please,” said Frank, an expert on Italian cuisine and wines. “If it was good wine, I sure as hell wouldn’t be putting an ice cube in it.”<\/p>\n

Soon after the last standard-bred race of the day, I felt myself hitting the wall as the long day was demanding rest.<\/p>\n

Robby was on his way to the casino, but I could not wait. I was too tired. I bid Pete and Frank goodnight, and headed back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.<\/p>\n

I would need it.<\/p>\n

Thursday was wild!<\/p>\n

As I was standing at the paddock bar early Thursday handicapping a race, a guy came up behind me and said, “You can’t hide from us.”<\/p>\n

It was Pete. The game was on again!<\/p>\n

Robby scored us all tickets to a new area at Saratoga, the Carousel Bar. It was a swanky setup with a big, round wooden table.<\/p>\n

Seven of us settled in: Pete, Frank, Ryan (aka Lenny), Robby, MTK and myself. Ryan got off to a great start by hitting a big daily double, catching the longest shot of the field in the opening jumps race.<\/p>\n

Another hilarious incident involving Frank and his vino. Now, understand that Frank really loves being over by the paddock, and by far his favorite thing about being at the track is taking a good, close look at each horse. So, he was making a sacrifice on what he normally would be doing by joining the crew in the new bar.<\/p>\n

Then, the young kid that was waiting on our table brought out Frank’s “glass” of wine, which nobody but Frank noticed right away. It wasn’t a glass. It was a plastic shot glass. Pete was in stitches. Frank was not.<\/p>\n

“You need a real drink, my friend,” I said to my new New York city friend.<\/p>\n

We walked over to our Wednesday hangout, the Paddock Bar. I got another one of who knows how many Heinekens, and Frank got an adult serving of red wine.<\/p>\n

As we walked back to the gang, I had an admission I had to make to Frank.<\/p>\n

“You cannot be 48 years old and walk around this joint without feeling like a pervert,” I confessed.<\/p>\n

Thursday was Fillies Day at Saratoga. Near as I can tell, so is every other day.<\/p>\n

The first of the two gigantic highlights of my Saratoga trip was about to take place, thanks to MTK Mark. After asking him a question early in the day, Mark was nice enough to give me picks made by his friend, John. “He’s a pretty good handicapper, especially in turf races,” Mark said.<\/p>\n

In the third race, Mark’s buddy liked the 3 and 8. In the fifth, he liked the 1, 3 and 6. Simple enough, I thought, pick three with all in the fourth race.<\/p>\n

Son of a gun if the daggone thing didn’t hit for $574.<\/p>\n

About five minutes to post before the fifth race, Frank confessed to me that he liked the four horse. “Oh crap,” I thought. (There’s no 4 on the ticket.)<\/p>\n

I rode up the escalator to watch the race, the 4 broke on top. “Oh crap,” I thought. (Well, maybe a more severe word than that.)<\/p>\n

But down the stretch they came, and here came a gray horse named Spectacular Me on the outside. He was my 6 horse. He won!<\/p>\n

I let out a yell and hurried back to the table. The guys were all cheering. It was great.<\/p>\n

Caught up in the moment, I told the waiter to bring me the tab. And now, I can confess that I have paid the largest bar tab of my life. 200 dollars!<\/p>\n

But what the heck, it was crazy fun. Plus, when I did it, Pete nodded at me and said “all class.”<\/p>\n

I’ll have that memory forever and the 200 bucks woulda been gone quick anyway.<\/p>\n

Later that night, a guy I know named Jason had arranged a dinner party for our Sim group. I know Jason from internet poker and an internet poker message board. I did not know him as well as I knew all my Sim friends. One time, I gave away a few million play chips on Poker Stars to several members of the poker message board, one of whom was Jason. Apparently, the small gesture made a big impression on Jason.<\/p>\n

I did not know what I was leading the group into. I was worried it would be a bad place. I thought maybe Jason was a waiter or something.<\/p>\n

Little did I know!<\/p>\n

We walked into Angelo’s in Clifton Park, and it was by far the finest restaurant this little old West Virginia country boy ever visited. Then, Jason led us into our private room. It was a board room with horse races on a big screen! Jason was not a waiter. He owned the joint, along with six other restaurants around Saratoga.<\/p>\n

We had a terrific big group at Angelo’s and what ensued was a wild dinner party, complete with Robby swinging into action as the group’s parimutuel teller. People started throwing money at him and calling out their bets, and Robby started writing down everyone’s action and making their bets into his online account. To top it off, he went somewhere in the restaurant and printed out forms for everybody.<\/p>\n

“Is this even legal?” Frank wondered to Pete.<\/p>\n

I have not been around very many people in this world who are as fun as Robby, or have the beaming light of energy that makes him the life of the party. And the way he took our bets was slicker than snot. My buddy Jason must have asked for his balance 30 times, and Robby gave it to him right away every time. Robby, I had so much fun with you and I hope to be so lucky as to do it again sometime.<\/p>\n

Once Dan and his pal from Penn National showed up, it was time for the food to start being served.<\/p>\n

I mean, wow. We got appetizers that were far beyond the quality of any prepared food I ever ate. Then the main course of steak for me, just incredible. Even Frank was impressed.<\/p>\n

Once again, I got the big nod of approval from Pete.<\/p>\n

“You nailed it, Itch,” he said.<\/p>\n

That was the last thing I got right on the Freedom Tour.<\/p>\n

On Friday, a strong crew assembled at a picnic table Robby put a Nebraska blanket upon near the Big Red something or other sign. It was a nice landmark.<\/p>\n

I was glad when I heard we would be sitting in the picnic area on Friday because I wanted to be there with those people. It was kind of like seeing three Grateful Dead Shows at an amphitheater. The first two shows, we had nice seats up front. But you know? When you have nice seats like that, you can’t help but notice the real party is going on on the hillside up above.<\/p>\n

Several times during the trip, I compared the vibe at Saratoga to the vibe at a Dead show. The similarity is the communal feeling of everybody having the same kind of fun. I can remember so many times at shows, exchanging a wink or a nod or a smile at a stranger, and them grinning right back because we both were in on something good.<\/p>\n

It was the same way at Saratoga. I drank my ass off for three straight days with thousands and thousands of people, and never once did I hear one angry word or witness anything remotely unpleasant. The atmosphere is fantastic! Everybody is having a great time, and for three memorable days, I was included.<\/p>\n

Even though my luck ran out on Friday, it was still a blast to be with AFC and his two cool friends both named Bob, and to meet Desperado, who always has been so nice to me in chat.<\/p>\n

By the time Robby finally hit a big one late in the Friday card, it was time for Old Itchy to make his way back home.<\/p>\n

Here we are, safe and sound, and dreaming of big things with all these wonderful gift horses I have received in commemoration of my three days in Saratoga heaven. Thanks to Pete, Frank, Spinround, Lenny, MTK and Robby for these beatiful creatures with funny names.<\/p>\n

Finally, I want to make special note to my friends Pete and Frank, who treated me like gold and looked out for me more than a little bit.<\/p>\n

IT WAS A BLAST!!!!!! \u00a0THANKS EVERYBODY!!!!!!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By ITCH I am starting to get the feeling that I’m going to have to start sparing my friends at<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31654"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31660,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31654\/revisions\/31660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}