Good morning! Today is Feb. 26. Three months from today, Uni Watch will turn 25 years old. That will also be my final day with the site, as I’ll be handing the baton to Phil and getting ready to move on to the post-Uni Watch phase of my life.
As I’ve previously mentioned a few times, I plan to mark the occasion with a Uni Watch 25th-anniversary tour, which will also be my de facto farewell tour. My plan all along was to choose locations from different parts of the country — east, midwest, south, and west, sort of like the NCAA’s Final Four regions. After a lot of behind-the-scenes planning, I’m now ready to share the tour dates and locations with you. Ready? Here we go:
Friday, May 17: Purp Walk in Baltimore
This will be the final edition of Purple Amnesty Day. I chose Baltimore because of the Ravens, obviously. We’ll gather at 7pm at the Union brewery, plus there’s a big roster of activities during the day. Full details here.
Sunday, May 19: Minneapolis
The tour’s midwestern stop will be in the Twin Cities, where we’ll be gathering at Gluek’s from 2-5pm. Gluek’s comes highly recommended by longtime Uni Watch pal Jimmy Lonetti (aka the Throwback Mailman), who has also agreed to host a pre-party gathering at his D&J Glove Repair shop from 11am-1pm.
Tuesday, May 21: Los Angeles
Somewhat amazingly, I haven’t been to L.A. in about 20 years. The details of this one are still being finalized, but it will definitely be an evening gathering, probably preceded by some fun extracurriculars. Stay tuned.
Update: The L.A. party will be at Tony P’s Dockside Grill at 7pm. Extracurricular activities still TBA.
Thursday, May 23: New Orleans
Ah, the Big Easy. We’ll gather at 7pm at Avenue Pub. Sorry, no extracurricular activities for this stop on the tour, because I’ll be spending my free time catching up with some close friends.
Sunday, May 26: New York
This day will be Uni Watch’s official 25th anniversary — and will also be my final day. We’ll gather from 1-5pm at the Bowery Electric in the East Village. From about 2:15 to 3:30, the great hockey-rock band the Zambonis will play downstairs — that performance will have a cover charge of $12 (tickets are available here), all of which will go to the band). But you can also just hang out on the main level and mingle, no ticket required.
I’m not sure yet about any NYC extracurricular activities (I may be too wiped out from the previous four stops on the tour), but we’ll see. Stay tuned!
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I asked readers to help underwrite my travel expenses, and they have successfully done so, so the tour is on!
(Special thanks to Andrew Cosentino, Jim Lonetti, Bob Halfacre, Scott M.X. Turner, and Dave Schneider for their planning assistance, and doubleplusthanks to Scott M.X. Turner for surprising me last night with the tour graphic shown on the home page.)
Man, super jealous! I would love to take a Southwest Airlines round trip from Albany to Baltimore, because the Babe Ruth Museum is incredible! Alas for very good reasons I’m stuck at home. All the best!
Awesome! Looking forward to welcoming you to Baltimore!
Can’t wait to meet you, Marcus!
Same!
Too bad there is no European leg to the farewell tour!
FWIW, Mustang Alley’s in Baltimore is walking distance (less than two miles) from the Babe Ruth Museum – much closer than Parkville Lanes.
Thank you! Duly noted.
Mustang Alley definitely isn’t walking distance. That’s a long ways away! Also, I don’t like its cooperate vibe. I used to LOVE Patterson Bowling Center, but they’ve closed. I’ll research this with Paul!
*corporate vibe
I did the walk for my bachelor party between Mustang Alley’s and Camden Yards – doable on a nice day, but your mileage may vary :-) – just providing a closer duckpin option is all if timing is tight.
Corey – Makes sense! I wasn’t trying to be a pain. I just don’t personally love Mustang Alley. In addition to Parkville Bowling Lanes, there is also Stoneleigh Lanes. I have been to neither.
I’ve been to Parkville Lanes many years ago. Good place to bowl and plenty of parking
Stoneleigh is a great place for duckpins, but parking is an issue. Also it’s a bit away from the other activities.
I hope to make it up to Minneapolis from Kansas City for the Midwest stop on the World Tour!
NOLA!!!
Dang, out of town that weekend but would have loved to participate in the Baltimore meetup. Enjoy duckpin bowling and have a Steady Eddie IPA for me! BTW my band did a jingle for them and our payment was a couple cases of the stuff link
That’s so awesome! I love Steady Eddie!
Dang! A real-life Uni-Watch event here in NOLA during the only week I’m out of town this Spring. Y’all have fun at Ave Pub, that joint is a favorite. Enjoy your farewell tour, Paul!
Please explain the logo, etc. on that magnificent sweatshirt you have on in the kitty photo!
Looks like something from Slippery Rock University
Correct! A freebie that a podcast advertiser sent me a few years ago. Decided to keep it instead of putting it in the year-end raffle!
Dude, I am DOWN for Charm City!
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Good Curling
Looking forward to the NY event!
Great idea, good luck with the Fun-raising, I’m in, and I’m hoping for a tour at least so I can get me one of those sweet Tour shirts I know they’ll be great, I’m a concert-aholic and will love that for my collection
If my calculations are correct…
Orioles have home games around that date.
Twins are on the road.
Angels are on the road, but Dodgers are at home.
New Orleans does not have a major league team at the moment.
Mets are at home, Yankees are not.
I’m planning to catch a Mets game the weekend of the New York party.
Not quality, Quality!
Baltimore, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, New Orleans, what else do they have in common?
Ravens, Vikings, Lakers, LSU, big cities near big purple fan bases!
Ha, I hadn’t even thought of that!
Paul,
An amazing coincidence that I’ll be visiting my wife’s family in MN during that weekend.
Whether or not it’s on the official itinerary, and considering your tastes, consider a trip to Can Can Wonderland.
link
Anyways, very much hope to see you then. With pins on!
Jason
Awesome that you are doing this tour! Not sure if I’ll be able to make it to one of the stops, but I’m chipping in regardless, as I remember how much fun it was at the Purp Walk in Denver a couple years back. Cheers!
Hey good afternoon Uni-Watch community,
I have never been to a meet up. Obviously I am a huge fan of Paul and uniforms in general. I’m a Uni-Watch card member (a purple card holder) since 2020 and have been an article reader long before that. I am from the Baltimore area and I would love to join the Purp Walk in Baltimore. Do I need to notify anyone through email that I am interested? Thanks for the help in advance.
Sincerely,
Connor Bernhey
Hi, Connor. I’ll publish the full itinerary of the day’s events once they’re settled. All you’ll have to do is show up!
Great! Thanks so much Paul!
Is that a Slippery Rock tshirt you’re wearing in the mascot pic?
Sweatshirt, but yes.
O’s are in town for May 17-18
Twins are out of town for Sunday
Uni-Ad Watch: MLB Video Game “The Show” introducing sleeve ads into this year’s iteration of the game.
link
Dang. The last kid’s graduating from high school on Minneapolis Day. Maybe I’ll get lucky and she won’t finish her senior paper and free me up to travel!
Wow — maybe it’s just me, but that sounds like a really early h.s. graduation date!
It’s a rare thing these days to leave a job on your own terms. Enjoy the tour, Paul. You’ve made a terrific impact on folks and earned your victory lap. Remember: when eating beignets, do not inhale while taking that first bite. Sugar in lungs is no bueno.
-C.
I am planning to drive down to New Orleans from Baton Rouge along with my DIY Bengals helmet (article from Super Bowl weekend, 2022). I’m not sure if I’ll wear any LSU purple though :)
I have to tell you, judging by the current rate of contributions, it’s looking like the middle three stops on the tour may not happen. I’m still hopeful, though!
Looking forward to the Minneapolis stop! I should bring my glove to D&J’s in the meantime.
I just ordered two shirts from the Naming Wrongs site.
Thank you!
Paul, i would love to attend the Minneapolis event, but i can’t commit to it, is this an rsvp type of event or is it just show up and have a fun time?
The latter. No RSVP needed!
Can you go over the $35 limit so we can entice you to LA? Asking for a friend.
How will will you communicate the availability of the new Purp Walk shirts and will they be ready before the Baltimore events?
I’ll communicate them the way I always do: Here on the blog. And it says right in this post that we’ll try to have them available in advance so people can wear them on May 17.