Vacation Day 7

It is no secret that one of the big reasons I came home during the summer was to see the Phillies new stadium, Citizens Bank Park. Philadelphia came late to the whole new ballpark craze. I think this might be one of the last ballparks built in this generation. Most of these parks have been adult Disneyland. They have lots of amenities besides what are needed strictly for a baseball game. Lots of cities have spent lots of money to build these new stadiums. Some of the teams have done better after getting new stadiums, but not all. There is also some questions of how long the magic lasts.

For years people around Philadelphia have been calling for a new Stadium to be built. Lots of people in Philadelphia and outside hated the Veterans Stadium. They said it was a large, concrete, ugly, monstrosity. I always like it because it felt like what the major league should feel like.

This is the Phillies inaugural season at Citizens Bank Park. I came this year so I did not have to keep on hearing people talk about the new park. I wanted to see it in the first year before they made any changes. I want to be able to say that I was there in the first year.

It is beautiful ballpark. My sisters and I got there early so we could walk around the park. There are so many things to explore that I could have walked around for four hours before the game. There are lots of little neat things about the stadium. It is interesting to see how all the new parks are different. I have gone to SBC park a lot in San Francisco. You would not every confuse these parks for each other.

The site lines in Citizens Bank Park are great. We were sitting in the upper deck at the foul poll. We could see the action very well. It did not feel like we were far away. We could not see some of the action in left field, but we still could see the rest of the field fine.

I really liked the energy at the park. It was packed and everyone was paying attention to the game. It did not feel like people where just there to see the sights. Most of the people there were wearing red or Phillies gear. I am not sure how the crowd was different because it was a fireworks game.

I had a hot dog at the Citizens Bank Park. The hot dog is the baseline item which you judge all concessions. I give the hot dog a 'B+'. It is not as good as the hot dogs in the last seasons of the Vet. Of the current parks I can say only Camden Yards has a better hot dog.

Over all I give the concessions at Citizens Bank Park an A. They have a wide selection of food. They have a lot of brand name products, but they still have a very local feel. They have good popcorn and very good pretzels. It is hard to judge prices for concessions because every stadium is really expensive.

They did have lots of good merchandise. There were lots of things that I wanted to buy. I know this is because I do not get to see this kind of merchandise in San Jose. I have to keep my hand off my wallet so I did not spend all my money. I did pick up a few things that I would not normally get.

I noticed a couple of things. There seemed to be a lot of families there. It was not only family with young kids like SBC Park. There were lots of families with late teenage and adult children. There was something electric around the crowd and I think this has something to so with it.

The Phillies played a good game. The game was very tight. The crowd was into it the action. Every time someone would drop a foul ball they would get booed. Everyone were on the edge of their seats because it was so close. The Phillies ended up winning the game.

I am happy the Phillies have a new ballpark. It is the kind of cathedral of baseball that Philadelphia fans really deserve. It is good to see that so many Phillies fans are excited about Citizens Bank Park.