Kansas City Royals - Part Two - April 28, 2018

We went BACK to Kansas City to finish our quest.  It was a really wonderful trip.  First, we had the best barbecue we've ever had in our lives at Q39 in Kansas City.  The waiter there was absolutely one of the kindest, most polite, most adorable people we have ever met.  Aliyah said he just needed to be a few years younger and she would take him home.

Mmmmmm... Barbecue.

The weather for game attempt #2 could not have been more different than our first visit.  It was in the low 70s, sunny and breezy - gorgeous!  Tailgating is a THING in Kansas City.  This is a city that takes its barbecue seriously.  There were tons of cars, vans and trailers with oodles of barbecue going.  It was a pretty delicious smell heading into the stadium.

The first place we always go is to Guest Services to get a free First Game certificate for the kids.  We told the Guest Services people about our quest and one of the guys said to wait and that he had a gift for us.  He came back and gave us a really lovely picture frame that said Royals on it.  He said, "I thought you could take a picture in the stadium and then frame the picture of your last game in your quest."  How cool is that!  And that it how everyone was at the stadium.  They were so friendly and warm and welcoming.  I loved it!

There's a really nice museum inside the stadium.  It tells the history of the team, the area, players and of baseball itself.  It was really cool.  They also had a really nice kids area with zip lining, base running, hitting, etc. 

We have been to every stadium in the country and I have never seen as many people wearing team gear as I did in Kansas City.  EVERYONE was wearing Royals gear.  I don't know if it's because there's not much competition teamwise in that area or if people are just that devoted, but it was a sea of blue.

There was some good eating at Kansas City.  Aliyah had a great hot dog and chocolate drizzled strawberries on a stick.  Lee had pork tenderloin.  Owen got pulled pork with mac and cheese. I had an enormous pretzel and really amazing ice cream from the Belfonte Ice Cream stand.

Aliyah had chocolate drizzled strawberries on a stick. No one would follow my advice and get burnt ends. 

Owen always tries to mess up my panorama shots

Owen wore his special hat to this last game.  It has the logo of every MLB team on it.

Thanks Kansas City!  You were a great end to our journey.

Kansas City Royals - Part One & The Field of Dreams

We were supposed to go to see Kansas City Royals on April 1.  Mother Nature sure pulled the worst April Fool's Day joke.  When we got to the stadium from the airport, we discovered that the game was canceled because of weather.  It was 35 degrees and sleeting.  (Same temperature in Detroit and they still played, but then, we're pretty tough here in Michigan.  Just saying....)

Our car doors were frozen shut.  At one point, Lee had to get off at the exit and I rubbed the windshield wipers
with hand sanitizer to keep them from freezing.

I cannot express adequately how truly bummed we were.  This was supposed to be the conclusion of eight years of trekking across the country.  And now we had to come back!  On top of that, we had a 13 hour drive back to Detroit.

Our plan all along had been to end the journey at the Field of Dreams.  We talked about whether to still stop or to reschedule that, too.  In the end, we decided to salvage that part of the trip, so we drove to Iowa to stay the night.

Dad, want to have a catch?

The Field of Dreams truly is in the middle of nowhere.  It's free to go on the field, which was frozen solid that day.  Lee and Owen brought their mitts with them and had a catch.  It was really sweet.  It was FREEZING cold that day, so we walked around a little, bought some items from the incredibly nice lady at the gift shop, and hopped back in the car for the rest of the long drive home.

Atlanta Braves - March 31, 2018

We had a really wonderful trip to Atlanta.  It started off with a visit with family, who were nice enough to meet us at the Marietta Diner with almost no notice.

Since we had some time before the night game, we visited Stone Mountain and rented electric bikes.  This was a godsend for Aliyah because she was cruising, without flaring her arthritis.

Finally, it was off to the new Braves stadium.  It is built into a beautiful area of restaurants, bars, etc.  We parked a ways away and made our way through the streets that were hopping with people.  There was some EXCELLENT people watching.  There was a marching band that proceeded across the walkway before the gates opened.  It included some awesome drumline riffs and dancers.

There is a really cool museum in the ballpark, including the #755 made out of bats to honor Hank Aaron. The scoreboard is GORGEOUS, but content on it was really lame.  It was like building a crazy-awesome TV room and then using it to watch Ishtar.  They also had an old-fashioned organ, which I really like, which played a crazy variety of stuff, including Grease Lightning, Ode to Joy and Here Comes the Bride.

Foodwise, there was pretty basic ballpark fare.  One exception was the gigante burrito that Aliyah ordered.  She had no idea how gigantic it would really be.  There was no way she could finish it.  Even Aliyah and Lee together couldn't take it down.

Aliyah made a mistake in not realizing how truly gigante, the Gigante Burrito was.

 

Nice view.  Nice stadium.

Unfortunately, we were sitting right behind a group of twenty-somethings who were super into flirting with each other, drinking, taking selfies, and playing with their hair (both girls and guys).  Aliyah was going to LOSE HER MIND if the girl in front of her tossed her hair over Aliyah's knee one more time.  When they finally left in the 8th inning, Aliyah said under her breath, "Please use Uber.  And protection!"  I laughed out loud.

I know lots of places do it, but I can NOT get behind the tomahawk chop.  We never joined in.  I turned to the kids and said, "On a scale of 1 to racist..."  They immediately knew what I meant.  Not my thing, dude.  Why does this still exist?

Our overall impression of the Atlanta Braves was that the stadium was nice, but nothing super special. (The area just outside the stadium is top notch, though.)  We would give it a solid B+.  (Aliyah feels that I should state for the record that I have hated the Atlanta Braves ever since I moved to Chicago in 1991 and thus my opinion may not be totally unbiased.)

Oakland A's - July 28, 2017

We were pretty excited about seeing our first A's game because we were all obsessed with the movie, Moneyball. Oakland fans are AWESOME. Even before we got into the stadium, their enthusiasm was contagious.

The stadium itself is a bit of a dump. Remember the Silverdome? Yeah, a little like that.

Inadvertently caught Aliyah in my pic of the stadium

This Toledo girl LOVED the Holy Toledo sign that lit up in center field.

The people who work at the stadium are incredibly kind and helpful.  From food service to the fan shop to security, every single person I talked to was so nice.

We happened to visit on G Eazy bobblehead night. True facts, I had to use my phone to look up G Eazy because I had never heard of him. He had some DEVOTED fans there as he threw out the first pitch.

Owen and Lee both caught balls during batting practice.

This mac and cheese was amazing, especially because it was FREEZING that night.

You can imagine who loved this scoreboard with its Advanced Stats Primer.

Owen's first churro - I have no idea why it took us this long to introduce this child to the magic of the churro.

I actually really liked the A's. I thought the physical plant was a mess. There is literally duct tape on the ground. But the spirit of the people there is so happy and excited.  They're like the Bad News Bears.  You can't help but root for them. They also have an incredible staff. The food was pretty good, though not top tier. All in all, we had a great (if chilly) night.

San Francisco Giants - July 26, 2017

The worst thing about the San Francisco Giants experience occurs at the beginning and the end - parking. Parking in any major city is a challenge, but we've never seen parking so far away from the stadium or so jammed up after a game. It sends you into the game frustrated and it's the last thing you experience when you leave the game.

Everything else is pretty cool.

First, the Giants may have the most beautiful view in all of Major League Baseball.

What a gorgeous day for a ball game and some sailboat watching.

This picture shows you how high up we were in the upper deck, but we still had a great view of the game.

We got to share the game with some of the people we love most - the PG Freemans!

The cousins smiling and laughing together

Lee needs to take some selfie lessons from Aliyah, but what a good looking crew!

The food was pretty average. Aliyah got a brat with sauerkraut, the kiddos ate LOTS of cotton candy, and Owen got a frozen treat. I just got a cheese pizza. We were surprised the food wasn't better and more vegetarian friendly. Giants fans are pretty enthusiastic and are good company for a game.

Thankfully, the company, the view and the gorgeous weather more than made up for the food and parking.

San Diego Padres - July 24, 2017

The San Diego Padres game was one of the absolute best surprises in all of Major League Baseball. The stadium is GORGEOUS. The food is AMAZING.

Look at the entrance to the stadium. You already know it's going to be gorgeous.

There were hanging gardens INSIDE the stadium. Wow!

Surfer burritos? Yes, please!

Pulled pork, garlic fries and cole slaw

Tri-tip sandwich? Where else could you get this?

The weather in San Diego is uniformly gorgeous. The food is amazing. The stadium feels like a cross between surfer coastal and Brooklyn hipster craft brewery. The only sad thing about this place is the absolute lack of enthusiasm by the fans. Maybe they're all too blissed out by the waves and the weather, but we watched them play the Mets and the Mets fans were WAY louder. (Could you even GET farther away from San Diego than New York?)

San Diego folks, you have a GEM! Get behind those Padres before you lose them.

Arizona Diamondbacks - July 22, 2017

The best thing about the Arizona Diamondbacks was the company. We got to visit our wonderful friends, the Rendells, who also put us up for the night. First stop when we got to the stadium was Guest Services to get everyone their First Game certificates. It was also a bobblehead night. I love when we don't have to buy souvenirs!
 

Hanging with my goddaughter at the game

Owen won this Bimbo t-shirt at the spinning wheel

The whole crew, minus the photographer

Owen sporting his new braces

Talking to my goddaughter about baseball during the game was the best part of the Diamondbacks game. The stadium itself is pretty average. The food was just meh. The fans were nice, but not super passionate about baseball. When you raise your kids on Comerica Park, it's tough to measure up.