Life The Quad Cities
We’re on the brink of World War III but, hey, I’m on vacation.
We stopped for the night in the Quad Cities—Davenport, Bettendorf, Rock Island, Moline—on the Mississippi. Walking along the river after dinner we heard cheers coming around a bend in the river. We walked on and found a tiny ballpark on the Iowa side of the Mississippi in Davenport. The Swing, a farm team for the St. Louis Cardinals, was playing the Beloit, Wisconsin, Something Or Others. The park was tiny and beautiful, you could see the river from our seats, and a game was the perfect antidote to a long day spent in a hot car.
Unfortunately we couldn’t get a decent beer. Only Bud was available in the cheap seats. You could get better beer in a bar just behind our seats—but that bar only served people holding tickets to the park’s luxury suite. Yes, luxury suites at the Quad Cities Swing. Luxury suites in the tiniest lil’ ballpark you ever did see. Here’s a picture of my boys watching the game from the dirt mound/levee that protects the park from the Mississippi…
That’s the whole damn park. And those black boxy things hovering over the seats? Those are the luxury suites, where the good beer is served. Sheesh. You just can’t escape the tyranny of luxury suites anymore. Is there any place in this country where the class war isn’t raging?
The Swing—er, the Swingers?—was behind/were behind four runs at the bottom of the ninth inning, but the mighty Swing rallied. They came from behind to win six runs to five. There were fireworks, and everyone left happy. On our way back to our hotel I spotted a historical marker. I’m a sucker for historical markers, so I crossed the street to read it. Here’s a blurry picture:
And here’s a clearer picture:
Yes, children. On this spot in Davenport in 1895, in a building that’s no longer on this spot, Daniel Palmer performed the first chiropractic adjustment. Sends a chill right down your misaligned spine, now doesn’t it?
you got some sort of back fetish going on there Dan?