Stadium 11 - Busch (St Louis Cardinals)

After sweating profusely for the past month or so, it was nice to head north to old St Louis to see the Cardinals lose to the Phillies, 2-1, all scores resulting from home runs. Not that it was nice to see the Cardinals lose, exactly. We did, however, kick their butts in the '04 World Series in a lovely sweep. As for Busch Stadium - a wonderful view of the arch, cupholders on the seats, good sized seats, fairly expensive, interested crowd, obviously stadium-led cheers, great brick siding, and overall a great place to watch a ball game.
My father & I were fortunate enough to have my Aunt Judy join us in St. Louis for the two days we visited the city, and with her we went up into the famous arch and of course watched the ball game. We actually had to make two trips to the arch; the first day it was too crowded to take a ride to the top before the game, so we went back Sunday morning in the dreary weather. During the baseball game we were thoroughly entertained by a family sitting in front of us, who had a child we dubbed "the Changling". This child was possessed by something otherwordly, and we were fascinated by him. It may be one of those, you-had-to-be-there moments, but I took many pictures of him, and the most character lending are seen below.





Note: No flag for 2004!

The Changeling!!

The changeling in another form at our RV park...

Pa and his sis being silly!

Our home for the couple of days in St. Louis

Back to the arch...

View from the top!

My main man, Tommy Jefferson

Our little egg we took to the top

The architect designing the arch with his men.

And finally, on our way to Kansas City, we found this little gem.

Stadium 10 - Rangers (Arlington, TX)

After a brief drive up to Dallas from Houston, we saw the Rangers play Seattle with a 4-3 win by the home team. We were sitting way up on the third base line, but we had a fantastic view. The seats were angled towards home plate which avoided the potential neck strain that naturally occurs during a baseball game. This stadium was lovely, very open and even had a wall of office buildings that overlooked the park. Right behind our section was a great little eatery that served $1 hot dogs!

My pictures are MIA...will be up soon!!

Stadium 9 - Minute Maid (Astros, Houston TX)

As my father and I proceeded on our lengthy drive from Miami to Houston, we had the luxury of staying with my mom's sister, Linda, and her family, just outside of Houston. They have an enormous, beautiful home, with a pool that we of course used to get a bit of sun and refresh from the hot hot heat of Texas.



We headed to Minute Maid Park, home of the Astros, who beat the Cincinnati Reds. This park had a retractable roof, which was closed for our game because of the heat. However, contrary to Tropicana Field, this indoor park did not feel so cagelike. There were windows spanning the left field line that gave us a fantastic view of downtown Houston. The park was clearly built to be an outdoor park that just happened to have a roof. There were no cupholders on the seats, and the seats themselves were fairly small. There was even a mini green monster out in left field, as well as a Citgo sign hanging on the glass wall! Fenway will never be rivaled. As far as cost goes, the beer was 7 bucks, and food was comparable. Overall, it was a great place to watch a ballgame, in the air conditioning and on a nice looking field. See for yourself below:

New Orleans is my new favorite place

Compiling our driving from Miami to Texas into two days, my father and I had a chance to spend a day in downtown New Orleans. We took a bus tour (our new favorite thing!) and explored the French Quarter. We were both amazed at the amount of destruction still visible on the city streets from the storm 3 years ago. We also ate delicious gumbo.

Stadium 8 - Marlins (Miami)

Marlins vs. Braves, with a 9-4 loss, the Marlins rallying in the 9th to get those 4 runs. 

First things first; Happy Birthday Jay!

With Tampa being our first indoor ballpark, Miami was our first experience with a baseball game in a football stadium. The Marlins use the Dolphins stadium for their home games, and it was quite a different feel. The stadium felt small, although it was bigger than any park we have been to thus far. The fans were fairly enthusiastic, considering how few of them there were in attendance. The Marlins looked sharp in their black shirts and pinstripe pants, and even with Uggula on their team, who helped the NL lose in the All Star game, they played a good ball game. The food was cheap, the beer was $6, but they didn't sell souvenir cups, which I have been collecting. The Marlins were also the only team we have seen so far who had cheerleaders! (Although they were frighteningly young.) The seats were comfortable, the cupholders were awesome, and the feel of the park in general was surprisingly euphoric. I would for sure come back to Dolphin stadium to see the Marlins play, even though I do not care whatsoever for the team themselves. This stadium gets a 5.

This guy was raised to be a Red Sox, but he was a bit too much to handle. He is now the Marlin's best player.

Thanks for winning us the AL the All Star Game!