Baltimore Orioles

#27 - Friday, April 27th 2018. Another birthday game for Molly. I was in D.C. for an IRS meeting an Molly flew direct to Baltimore. I took the train in and meet her in BEAUTIFUL downtown Baltimore. The city has what I can only describe as a 'depressed' feeling. I'd been there before, but for a conference and never really saw the life in the city. Oriole Park at Camden Yard, which is one of the more complex stadium names out there, is well positioned in downtown just a couple blocks from the water front. Lots of people walking to the stadium from different parts of the city. Several restaurants and bars seemed lively in and around the stadium, not wriggleyville or anything but definitely stood out in the otherwise depressed cityscape. The concourse is not surprisingly closed around the infield. This really was the stadium that broke the mold of from the old huge multi purpose venues. They built the stadium to fit the space as opposed to what everyone had done up to that point. It was the first modernly urban stadium. This is evidenced by the Warehouse in left field. Watching Orioles games on TV I always thought that the warehouse was part of the field, but there is actually a public street in between where the stands end and the warehouse begins. During games they close gates on that street at both ends of the stadium and it becomes an expanded concourse. Very cool. there we went to Boog's BBQ. Boog is an old timer Oriole who's famous for having a stupid name and he managed to parlay that into a little cult following food item there. Way to go Boog! It was Aight. Lots of Baltimore themed food options and normal East Coast selections of beer, all standardly over priced. Played Detroit and had really good seats right behind home plate. O's won 6-0. This is a top 5 stadium for me. Intimate, lots of character, but obviously imperfect compared to the new parks being built now days.