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!

Updated Phillies!

Sorry I dropped the ball on the Phillies...computer problems! Those photographs are up.

Stadium 7 - Tropicana Field (Tampa Bay)

So game 7 was the Rays vs. the A's, with a Tampa victory over Oakland.
This baseball park cannot even fit into baseball park status, in my opinion. I distinctly felt as if I were at a circus, observing something vaguely uninteresting while the rest of the audience was having a blast. A clear outsider, I did not have a horn or a cowbell to obnoxiously ring every other minute in the planetarium-like dome that is Tropicana Field. The fake grass was badly worn, but the groundskeepers did a nice job at pretending we were watching a real baseball game. The only redeeming feature of this stadium was the air conditioning to keep the oppressive heat & starving mosquitoes at bay. I can only hope the other indoor parks offer something better than St. Pete & the very few Rays fans.

Ray tank!

the RV park was beautiful, but dangerously full of mosquitoes!

Stadium 6 - Turner Field (Atlanta)

Braves vs. Nationals in a stunning 8-2 loss to the Nats with some terrible fielding on the part of the Braves.

As we headed out of our capitol and down to the hot hot heat, we had a streak of bad luck. We were misguided by our GPS girl, Lola, and we were in dire need of an oil change that could not be found. It will not be until we reach Tampa that we finally get the job done. But the ball game! Not the greatest. The fans seemed very robotic, only cheering when led by the stadium prompts, hacking away with their chop that seemed too reminiscent of hailing Hitler for my taste. There were, however, many activities within the ballpark for kids in particular, and a whole Cartoon Network wall with things to do. Beer was $6.50, better than the New York teams at least. And the fans kept cheering, even when their team was playing terribly. (This would never fly at Fenway!) A visual is as follows:

Not related to Gary Orr, as I later found out.

Captain Steve's newbestfriend, the toothless propane man.

This little girl is the only one who could feel our pain. (Yes, that is her ice cream lying on the ground, fallen forever from her grasp.)

We had to make sure we got there early so we could secure a parking spot & not have to fight the crowd. See the crowd? No? Me neither. I did, however, see many young men relieve themselves in our direction with no shame whatsoever.

Look whos an Atlanta Brave - Julian! We won't miss you.

Stadium 5 - Camden Yards, Baltimore

Baltimore vs Detroit, Detroit taking the win 6-5, leaving Kevin Millar, an ex and yet very dear Red Sox, literally sitting on first base for the last out.

Camden Yards is a lovely ballpark with great views and easy accessibility. Beer was only six bucks, but the seats had no cupholders for them. I give this park a 4 on my little scale on all accounts. A good experience overall, but cheers were stadium-led for the most part. This game had the added bonus of a last minute addition to simply my father & I; my brother flew in for the day of the game and we had a chance to explore the Inner Harbor with him! We also wandered through the Sports Legends Museum which is right next to the ballpark.

Kevin!

Emily's man...!

Magsss

Papi's home run at Camden Yards

Kevyy

2 outta 3 sibs

Captain Steve & son

Our man Babe

Captain Steve at the tailgating exhibit.

Brother playing some game?

Babe himself

Inner Harbor

Man in a fishtank

Like father, like son.

Can you see us?

Cuddling with the statues

!