Ballpark #11: Tropicana Field

The Pilot and I didn't have plans last night. He got home from work around 4 and we did the typical, "How was your day? Good. How was your day?" chat (which I'm really gonna miss) and then moved on to the, "What do you want to do tonight?" I suggested mini-golfing but he had a different idea.

"Tonight's the last night the Rays are home while you're here. Do you want to go to Tampa? If we leave now, we can just make it. You've got to go to one of the Florida ballparks while you're here!"

Wait...what?

Yes, The Pilot does read my blog. So he knows all about my list and the fact that he said this...was awesome. It was 4:30 at this point and the game started at 6:40. We live, He lives on the Space Coast...aka the East Coast of Florida and the Rays play in St. Petersburg which is on the Gulf Coast, so we had to drive all the way across Florida to get to the game.

The drive up was awesome. We blasted country music and just so much fun driving. It was just one of those trips that makes you really appreciate the little moments in life. (Sorry, I just served y'all with a plate of cheese balls)

Outside the stadium

Anyway, we got to the Field about 7:10 and by the time we bought our tickets, got food and made our way to our seats, it was the bottom of the 3rd. No big deal though.

We went up to our seats way up in the 300 level behind home plate to eat our quesadillas (quesadillas at a ball park? I'll take it!) and watch the game. By the way, in my opinion, if you're trying to visit a ball park on a budget, these are the best seats. The top level behind home plate...you have a great view of the stadium and there are usually some pretty awesome fans up there.

The Rays were playing the Yankees. Gross. I hate the Yankees. But the Rays are in 1st place right now with the Yanks 2 games back (2.5 before yesterday...grrr) so it was a fun game to watch.

After swallowing our quesadillas whole we ate, we decided to go walk around, get some beer, etc.

Here's where my critique of the stadium comes in.

1) The stadium is completely indoors. What??? A ballpark in Florida where the sun shines about 360 days a year is completely indoors? Something about that just didn't quite sit right to me. I hated that the whole time we were walking around, we relied on TVs to tell us what was going on at the game. I'm a much bigger fan of places like CitiField or AT&T Park where you can spend the whole game walking around the park and still have a view of the field from almost everywhere in the park.

Notice the roof? And the closed in walls? Not a fan of the Indoor thing...

2) There was a lot going on at Tropicana. They had 2 or 3 bars/restaurants, one of which was so loud and blasting dance music that for a minute I thought we were at a club instead of a baseball game. And while I was trying to order my beer, there were girls (who looked about 18) taking shots and a couple guys who were trying to pick up girls...umm...again, are we at a baseball game or a club?
3) There were arcade games and some sort of kids playground. Who goes to a ball game to play arcade games???

After walking around for a bit and getting beers (the most important part of any ball game!), we were able to sneak into some 100 level seats and sit in Left Field. YES!

Much better seats!

When we got to these seats, the Yankees were up 2-1 in the 5th inning. Within about 15 minutes, they scored 2 more runs and ended up winning 5-1. Gross. Did I mention that I hate the Yankees?

Speaking of the Yankees, now that I've been to Tropicana Field, I'm 1 field away from seeing every stadium in the AL East. What's left? You guessed it...Yankee Stadium. I'm tempted to not go. But here's the catch. I graduate next May. Where? You guessed it...Yankee Stadium. I'm sure I'll suck it up and go there at some point though...we'll see.

We had a great time last night. It sucks that the Rays lost but we still had a blast because well, Boyfriend and I could probably have fun in a dungeon. I wasn't a fan of the stadium, but I still had fun.

Yes, I was wearing sunglasses on my head indoors.
When we left the condo, I didn't realize I would be inside all night!

The drive back was just as much fun as the drive there. I was full on with the energy to try and keep The Pilot awake but I started to fall asleep about 20 minutes from home. We finally got home around 12:30 and passed out. He had to be out of the house at 7:30 this morning to go fly which I felt bad about but seriously? Taking me on a 5 hour round-trip trip just to cross another ballpark off my list just proves how awesome he is.

Tonight? We're going to the pool to get some laps in while he feeds my addiction for endurance sports.

Guys, I think we have a keeper on our hands ;)

Hope you're all having and awesome week!

I know I am!