#114 (of 365) "Breakthrough" Modest Mouse

I don't know if I told this story on this countdown already. If I did, I apologize and am simply repeating it here. But back in the last 90s when I was going through some shit trying to figure out my life post-college, I decide to do a road trip, fueled primarily by the want to drive a long distance with music playing (like the title of this album). I decided to tour baseball stadiums, because I was into baseball then and that seemed like a reason to drive somewhere, so I bought tickets to a Pirates game and a Reds game and planned out the trip so that I could also catch the Indians and Cubs at home on my journey (I think) which in retrospect would have taken at least a week or more of time off work, which maybe I took but I really don't remember. The only thing I remember is not knowing what to do with myself, by myself in Pittsburgh, in a pre-smart phone era and GPS mapping and nascent Internet and I think after the Pirates game (which was a cool experience) I might have eaten a Primanti Bros. sandwich in my hotel room and drove back to New Jersey the next morning. The road trip was a bust. I have since, of course, spent multiple combined weeks in Cincy, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and especially Cleveland (or at least its suburbs, where I've had a client for the past decade) and have been to a couple Indians games and maybe the Reds? Not sure. Never been to Wrigley. Don't care about baseball anymore and haven't in at least a decade. And luckily I have a partner to travel with now and I have friends I've gone on trips with and I am absolutely comfortable going to Manhattan Beach on my own (which I don't get to do anymore outside work but if I could I would) but despite the bust of an attempt at adventure, I look back fondly at the thought of it at least, of wanted to explore the world outside of New Jersey. Just kind of sad I didn't make it past Pennsylvania.

"Breakthrough" - Modest Mouse // This is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About (1996)