I left Boston kind of late in the evening. It takes about six hours to reach
Philadelphia and by the time I got there I was pretty tired. This was another one of those times where
getting a hotel really didn’t make much sense.
So I did what any normal person would do, I found a hotel parking lot,
parked in the way back, and took a nap.
I woke up pretty early in the morning because I got cold and decided to
start my day. I looked up local YMCA’s
on my phone and decided to head towards one so I could take a shower. When I arrived there it was in what appeared
to be a shady neighborhood and there was no parking. I decided to forgo the shower and just wear a
hat all day. My next stop was a Starbucks. I was hoping to get some writing done and
post a new blog. Starbuck did not have
an internet connection so I just stayed there and did some writing. My next step for the day was getting some
food. I couldn’t be in Philadelphia and
not get a Cheese Steak. I made my way
over to the cheesesteak corner and went with Genos. Everybody I talked to said I should go to
Genos instead of Pats so that’s what I did.
I liked the feel of this place and it was really busy. All over they had signs thanking military and
police. One sign in particular that made
me laugh said if you can’t speak English get out of the line. I ordered a cheesesteak with provolone and
everything on it. Every time I go to a
new place and try something I try it just the way it’s intended. It was pretty good. A lot different than a Philly Cheesesteak
from Subway.
I was still kind of tired so I decided to make my way to one
of the parking lots in the arena district and take a nap. I found a parking lot that cost $10 so I went
in and parked there. I took a spot that
was un-crowded, tilted my chair back and fell asleep. When I woke up there was full on tailgating
going on all around me. There were beer
pong tables, hillbilly horse shoes, and corn hole being played everywhere. Off in the distance they had a food tent, a
ying-ling beer tent, and a band. I sat
there for a while and realized I was pretty thirsty. I made my way over to the beer tent and
realized that everybody and bracelet on their wrist showing that they were of
age to drink. I walked over to a table
and asked a lady how I could get one. She informed me that the tailgate was actually
a fundraiser for fallen fire-fighters.
She told me I could purchase a bracelet for $95 and that included all
the food and drinks from the tailgate plus a ticket to the game. I told her that I already had a ticket to the
game and I just wanted something to drink.
Just a bracelet to par take in the tailgating was $45. There was no way that I was going to be able
to get my money’s worth on that deal so I declined. I’m all for supporting good causes but that
was a little steep for my blood.
I walked towards the park and walked around for a little
bit. I took pictures of the statues and
people watched. On feature I like about
the outside of the park was all the sitting space. If you are waiting for somebody to meet you
at the game you have plenty of areas to take a load off your feet. I made my way into the park and found my
seats. I was pretty early so there weren’t
very many people in the crowd. My seats
were four rows up in left center. It was
a pretty good view and I enjoyed sitting there.
The people were interesting and entertaining. The crowd filled in and I was in a sea of
red, wearing my “cheers” t-shirt I picked up in Boston. The beer guy for that was section was
friendly and seemed to know everybody.
One thing I noticed as I watched the game was how quiet the
fans were. There were a few people who
would yell out something but for the most part it was pretty quiet. When I expressed this to the gentleman next
to me he said it was because they were mad at the team. Apparently they’re only loud when their team
is doing well. I’ve heard how crazy
Philadelphia fans are and I was kind of disappointed I couldn’t see it first-hand. When I was in Pittsburg and saw the Phillies
play the Pirates the Phillies fans were louder.
The 7th inning stretch came along and I said
goodbye to my new friends from that game.
I walked up to the corridor and met Andrew Van Cleve and the Ultimate
Sports Baby. The baby isn’t even two
years old yet and he was attending his 60th Professional Baseball
game. It was his 135th
professional sporting event. I haven’t
even been to that many sporting events. I
couldn’t even tell you how many games I’ve been to in my life. The baby sat there and played with his hot
wheels and me and Andrew discussed sports traveling.
I walked around the park one last time. I honestly wasn’t too impressed. It was a nice park, very clean, large
corridors. It just wasn’t a park that
stood out amongst any of the others.
After the game I made my way back to the parking lot and hung out while
traffic died down. My next game was
going to be in the Bronx and I was looking forward to it.
Keep On Smilin- It's Baseball Season
Keep On Smilin- It's Baseball Season
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