Stadium Tour

Well, three stadiums down...only twenty-seven to go! Ryan and I had a great time this past weekend. We traveled to St. Louis on Saturday, enjoyed a trip to the ARCH. Saw some riverboats on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. We ate a wonderful steak dinner with Aunt Char, and three of my cousins. Then we were able to watch Spencer play a ball game. We went to church with Char and Mason on Sunday and then we were off to the new Busch Stadium. I rate the stadium as a 10/10! It's the inaugural season at the stadium and it could not be better. The stadium is set in the heart of St. Louis, and just above the scoreboard, the Arch can be seen as the gateway to the west. The fans in St. Louis are true baseball fans. They love their cardinals, but truly love the game of baseball and it was an overall great experience. I would definately LOVE to go back to the park again. Stats: Tickets: $38 a piece for front row right field tickets. $10.00 parking for a ten minute walk. (right off the freeway, can't beat it!) $3.50 hotdogs. $5.00 large sodas. Cardinals won 6-3, and the highlight was watching Pujols hit three homers in a row, and nearly a fourth that went to the warning track.
We left the baseball game and met up with Lisa and Dominique to give them a taste of home. We went out to eat at California Pizza and each enjoyed our own personal pieces. My had avocados on it, Ryan went with BBQ pizza, Lisa a Hawaiian Pizza and Dominique had something with red onions, mushrooms and honey-wheat crust. (which, apparently, was cooked on the wrong crust. Our server brought him the pizza on the wrong crust, informed him of the mistake and told him that both his proper pizza and the one that he'd been given were his to take home. Great service!) Dom and Lisa dropped us off at our car and we got some Ben and Jerry's and walked around the oldest portion of St. Louis. We had a good time guessing which house would have been Captain Joe's, and were amazed at the size of the St. Louis Basillica! We got back to Char's house and enjoyed some tv and finishing up fantasy football draft #1. We had to leave early this morning and made for a 6 hour trip to Chicago. We met up with my old roommate MaryBeth and her boyfriend Derek. They drove us into the city, and found parking. (I'm SO glad that I don't live in Chi-town) We went to Wrigley Field and enjoyed an overcast/cold game again with the Pirates. Ryan let me steal his track jacket, and kept me warm for most of the game. The first inning was the most scoring and the Pirates kept their lead for the rest of the game. Juan Pierre ended up being my favorite player for the cubs, not because he's lightning quick an stole third base twice today, but because he wears baggy pants and tall socks. CLASSIC!! I L-O-V-E, LOVE it! Stats: Tickets $18.00 a piece for front row upper deck seats even with third base. Parking $15.00, with about a fifteen minute walk. $3.00 hotdogs, and $4.50 large sodas. Cubbies lost 5-4 to the Pirates, but it was still a fun game. Interesting to be in such an old park, with real ivy, bullpens on the field, and apartment buildings with bleachers on top of them so that residents can watch games. Cool environment, but definately not as clean and crisp as the new Busch Stadium.
MaryBeth treated us to custom ice cream from Dairy Star, and we chatted for a bit. I was too tired to go out to eat, so we promised to return soon for dinner. Ryan drove us the rest of the way home.
It was a great weekend, but I'm exhausted. I'm glad that it's only a four day work week this week. Resting up for a trip to Colorado in a week. Looking forward to it, but I need rest for now.