GAME 3: Reds vs. Phillies at Citizens Bank Park

Citizens Bank Park is impressive. Easily the coolest-looking park I've visited so far, complete with all the bells & whistles of the new-age ballparks. There are multiple restaurants & bars. If you don't want to sit at your seat to eat your hot dog or nachos or whatever, you can belly up to a bar (that is just behind the seats on the third terrace) & watch the game while enjoying your food.

I didn't want to get wet tonight as I did last night, so I visited the ballpark in between rain showers over Philly tonight. That meant that I only actually watched about 4 innings of baseball. I also felt a little like a bad-luck charm -- Phillies pitcher Brett Myers had a no-hitter going before I got to my seat. An inning later, Reds infielder Joey Votto breaks it up.

I was also impressed by the Phillies fans. Much different from the apathetic fans of other stadiums I've visited. They hung on each pitch, even after the no-hitter was broken up. They were also smart -- last couple games I've attended there have been loud-mouth amateur announcers that pointed out every obvious detail about the game. Tonight, anything I overheard was intelligent.

The one thing that was real frustrating, though, were the sight-lines from the 4th terrace where I was sitting. Anytime somebody stood up & walked all the way down the aisle, they obstructed the view of play. That was pretty annoying.

The tab...

Tolls
$ 5.00
$ 4.00
$ 2.00
$ 1.80
$ 3.00
=====
$15.80

Lunch
About $5.50

Ice for the Cooler
$1.80

Hotel
$60.16

Parking
FREE... because I got there late. ;) It was a phenomenal spot, too -- a sand wedge from the stadium.

Dog & a Water at the ballpark
$7.50

Ticket
$28.00 (including fees & charges)

Total Pilgrimage Tab now stands at $739.74.

Travel day tomorrow. A little site-seeing, and then on the road up to Massachusetts. If time allows, I might just wander into Boston & try to scalp a ticket. Whatever. We'll see what happens...