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

!

All Star Break in DC

For the few days that baseball came to a halt as our greatest & brightest headed to NYC to compete in the All Star game, which of course was eventually won by the fabulous AL, my father & I headed into downtown DC as the tourists we are. We enjoyed a bus tour as well as the National Air & Space Museum. We also had a blast figuring out the DC subway system. Photographs:

for my favorite Canadians...!

Smores with dark chocolate - mmm

So this is something entirely special. My greatgrandfather, Henry Cocklin, helped design this plane, the PN-9. As you can see in the larger photograph, this plane set the world record in its day for the longest trip made by a seaplane. This plaque is hanging in the National Air & Space Museum.

Marilyn

National cathedral

Union Station, where I ate my first Philly cheese steak. Why I didn't have one in Philly, I cannot answer.

Stadium 4 - The Nationals (DC)

DC Nationals vs. Astros for a 5-0 loss of the Nationals to Texas.

While this game was fairly uneventful, the experience itself was very interesting. The pretzels were my father's absolute favorite but the food was about equal to Philly in price. The curious things about this particular ballpark were that 1) it was only about half full, our first small crowd 2) of that number, only about half of those people were actually Nationals fans and 3) everyone else was representing other teams from both the national and the american leagues! A very spacious and clean stadium, a great place to watch a game. Four on my scale all around.

...where are all the fans?

...leaving!!

Stadium 3 - Phillies

I apologize for the delay on my posting photographs/ramblings. Traveling in an RV, while cozy & always entertaining, I do not always have readily available internet sources. I hope that my sister will take note of that.

Phillies! Beat the Diamondbacks in the 12th inning, 6-5. This game is of course dedicated to Miss Erin Darnley, the only Phillies fan I know.

By far the best stadium yet. And writing this in retrospect, I can say that it is STILL the best park so far, having completed seeing the Nationals, the Orioles, and the Braves. The atmosphere was fabulous, the fans were excited the whole time, the food was phenomenal, and we tailgated before the game. All in all, a great experience. After being exposed to a few parks already, my father & I were in agreement that the best parks are the ones in which no cheers are led by the TVs or loudspeakers. Philly was the prime example of what a baseball stadium should be like.

Photographs for your viewing pleasure *COMING SOON! bad internet* consisting of the drive to the park, our first tailgating experience, and inside the park.