Long day today. We took off at 6:30 from San Diego and stopped off to have breakfast with our Cousin Craig Woodhouse who generously treated us to breakfast and then bolted up I-5 to Dodger Stadium for a 10:00 am tour. We made it a little early and we managed to get a few pictures outside of the stadium. I had never been to Dodger Stadium so I was quite surprised at the fact you enter the stadium at the top level in the highest point of the upper deck. The stadium is the 3rd oldest in the majors - it opened in 1962.
The tour was great. Michael had a blast. We got to go out on the field and the grass was as perfectly manicured as I had ever seen. The stadium seemed a bit crypt-like though. From what people had told me in the past, I expected a place with much more character. There was a lot of history we saw on the tour. The walls are filled with old pictures of when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn and the memorabilia from their four world championships since moving to L.A. in 1959. Hanging out in the dugout and then later sitting in the press box was very cool. Anybody who knows anything about baseball knows that Vin Scully is perhaps the greatest baseball announcer who ever lived and seeing where he works is a treat for any baseball fan. Michael thoroughly enjoyed it. He thought the suite seats were very cool too. Overall, we gave Dodger Stadium a 3 stars out of 5.
After the tour, we jetted back down I-5 to Anaheim to catch the 12:30 game between the Braves and the Angels. Anaheim is another one of those older stadiums. It opened in 1966 and has been renovated a couple of times. The stadium looks great and the fans are actually pretty knowledgeable. It turned out to be a great day for baseball as the sun broke through about the 3rd inning and we enjoyed 70 degrees for the rest of the afternoon. As mentioned in an earlier post, our seats were not nearly as good as last night's Padres' seats. We sat in the upper deck, but the view was still great. Anaheim has this really nice rock formation in the left field area with a waterfall. We went to the game with my law school buddy Sanjit Das. Michael got to see his first home run of the trip thanks to Tori Hunter. Anyway, the game was great - the Angels won 4-1.
Then we took off to Disneyland for a few hours thanks to the free tickets Sanjit hooked us up with. Michael had a blast, but we did wait about 45 minutes to get on Space Mountain only to have the ride shutdown. On the way out we stopped and got some beignets (not sure if I spelled that right). Michael thought he had died and gone to heaven. I told him we would have some more when we stop in New Orleans later in the trip. We then headed over to Michael's aunt's house in Bellflower for the night. Tomorrow morning, we get up bright and early and head to San Francisco via the Pacific Coast Highway, which should be a treat. No games tomorrow, but we have an early tour of the A's stadium in Oakland on Tuesday and then a night game at AT&T Park in San Francisco to see the Giants play. So far, it's been a great trip just 2 days in.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
We've just seen Dodger and Anaheim Stadiums - where do we want to go now?
Petco Park, San Diego
Day 1 of the trip is in the books. After a nice 5.5 hour ride to SD from Chandler, AZ, Michael and I spent a couple of hours relaxing at our hotel near the park. We headed over to the park around 5:30 and hung out by walking around the park until game time. All we can say is that Petco is a beautiful park! The park is nestled right in between the downtown area with a great view from just about anywhere. From the upper deck in right field, you can see the Pacific Ocean and the Coronado Bridge.
The park seems small, but it is actually the perfect size with a lot of character including the Western Metals building in left field. We certainly enjoyed the game and lucked out tremendously with our seats. Major props to my brother-in-law Andy who scored us his company seats for the game, which were in the first row behind the Padres' dugout. The people around us were great and the food was good too. The Padres didn't do much in the game as they lost 4-0 to the Seattle Mariners. But it was enjoyable nonetheless. No homers, but plenty of good action including a Mariner who was gunned down at the plate in the middle of the game.
Anyway, tomorrow we get up early and head to L.A. for a 10:00am tour of Dodger Stadium, and then we jet down to Anaheim immediately after the tour for a 12:30 game between the Atlanta Braves and the Anaheim Angels with a friend of mine from law school. When the game is over, we are going over to Disneyland for a few hours before staying the night with a nearby relative. More pics and video to follow tomorrow.
The park seems small, but it is actually the perfect size with a lot of character including the Western Metals building in left field. We certainly enjoyed the game and lucked out tremendously with our seats. Major props to my brother-in-law Andy who scored us his company seats for the game, which were in the first row behind the Padres' dugout. The people around us were great and the food was good too. The Padres didn't do much in the game as they lost 4-0 to the Seattle Mariners. But it was enjoyable nonetheless. No homers, but plenty of good action including a Mariner who was gunned down at the plate in the middle of the game.
Anyway, tomorrow we get up early and head to L.A. for a 10:00am tour of Dodger Stadium, and then we jet down to Anaheim immediately after the tour for a 12:30 game between the Atlanta Braves and the Anaheim Angels with a friend of mine from law school. When the game is over, we are going over to Disneyland for a few hours before staying the night with a nearby relative. More pics and video to follow tomorrow.
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