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Saturday, May 5, 2012

Camden Yards


After a few days hanging out with my family in North Carolina I headed back up north to Baltimore.  I arrived into town pretty early so I walked around the park for a bit and watched the street vendors set up.  I had purchased my tickets on stub hub but I didn’t have the opportunity to print them out.  I made my way to the ticket office and they printed them out for me.  I told the guy that I was trying to get an actual ticket from each park and he gave me what he called a “Dead Ticket.”  It was a season ticket holder’s ticket and I think we can all agree that those are the best ones.

I went over to the Baltimore Sports Hall of Fame but didn’t get the opportunity to check it out because they were hosting a private event.  But they ensured me that the gift shop was still open if I wanted to purchase a souvenir from the museum that I was unable to see.  I had recently seen somebody post on www.Ballparkchasers.com about the Babe Ruth Museum a few blocks away from Camden Yards.  I decided to check it out.  I followed the giant Babe Ruth baseballs that were painted on the sidewalk.  I got to the Museum which is the actual birthplace of Babe Ruth.  The attendant explained to me that Babe’s parents actually lived above a bar not too far from there but when it was time to give birth they came to Babes mothers house.  It was a pretty cool sight to see.  Tons and tons of Babe Ruth Memorabilia along with other great hitters as well.  There was only one room that seemed “untouched” by renovations and that was the room the Babe was born in.  I walked around that museum thinking of memories of my own past.  It was a great walk down the great bambino’s memory lane.  I would recommend any baseball fan that visits Baltimore go check it out. 

I was a bit thirsty and had some time so I found the tiny little strip of bars outside of Camden.  There are three bars side by side, Pickles Pub, The Bullpen, and Sliders.  There was a man advertising a sign that said “Cheap Ass Beer” and he was correct.  Tallboy cans of beer were only $2.00 which is pretty amazing.  However, they did not have Bud Light which is my drink of choice.  I tried a local Baltimore brew called National Bohemian Beer.  It was pretty good, I could drink it for $2. 

I went into the park and did my normal routine.  One of the things I noticed about the park was that it appeared that people were smoking everywhere.  I asked a worker about it and he explained to me that the street between the park and the warehouse is actually a public street and people are free to smoke wherever they’d like in that section.  I noticed that the park was incredibly clean.  There were plenty of trash cans and recycle bins.  There were tons of concession stand.  My favorite concession stand was Pollock Johnnies sausage.  I have a Pollock uncle named John so this amused me.  Everything was incredibly expensive.  It was literally freezing out that night so I went to go buy a hoodie.  I don’t care what team it had on it, I just needed to be warm.  The first one I saw was $120, I don’t need to be warm that much.  After looking I didn’t see any prices that I was willing to pay and decided to be cold.  I made my way to the top deck like I usually do when it’s a small crowd and I noticed that there were already giant groups of people leaving and it was only the 3rd inning. 

In the later innings I made my way behind home plate and talked with a few people there.  I spent most of that time talking to a Police officer who was originally from Philadelphia.  He gave me the history of the awesome looking clock tower, the warehouse, and told me about the museum of dentistry that they have in Baltimore.  It was a really interesting conversation and this man knew a lot about a lot.  I was freezing so I decided to leave the park at the end of the 8th inning and make my way to Tampa Florida. 
See Pictures Here
Keep On Smilin- It's Baseball Season!

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