Philadelphia Phillies

#30 - I've been putting off typing this one up. Maybe it's because I really don't want it to be over. I've had this goal officially for over 15 years and now that its over I'm left with a feeling of 'Well now what?'. One of the primary benefits of completing this journey is that now I can go to meetings and have a legit response when they do the ice breaker of 'Tell us one thing about you we wouldn't know unless specifically asked'. Take that Tom Brady's 2nd cousin! Anyway, here you have it NUMBER THIRTY. Citizen's Bank. Really enjoyed this place, much of it because of circumstance. Sept 1st vs YOUR Chicago Cubs. It was somewhat meant to be that #30 was against the Cubs. We paired this trip with the US Open so it was something of a very memorable moment for me/us in our efforts to 'sports' our way through this life. That to say I enjoyed this place more than I should have, but it really was a solid stadium.

Built in 2004, the stadium is in the middle of nowhere. It's next to Lincoln Financial, where the eagles play, but outside of that a lot of industrial among a highway jungle. Couple a bars that popped up to serve the stadiums, but they looked overly crowded and annoying (Keeping in mind that Trudii was 7 months pregnant with Joey at this point). Regardless, inside the stadium it is a really nicely laid out park. Standard accoutrement throughout the infield concourse. Nothing super modern like embedded restaurants or bars or anything but lots of common area. Very open for 2004. The outfield had something of a 'roof top' style area which looked to standing room only. Kinda felt like that's where the party was. Scoreboard was ALL the way in left field, which I guess is okay cause there aren't many seats over there. Really liked the ivy covered batters eye, stadiums just aren't really maximizing the batters eye space anymore. It's a damn shame (RIP Tal's Hill). We'd always heard rumors of the nasty phily fans so we specifically tried to avoid them by getting seats above the Cubs dug out. Not surprisingly Cubs fans represented hard and we were mostly among blue. Cubs walloped em 7-1. They did a nice tribute to Cole Hamels even though he didn't pitch that series. Outside of game 5 of the 2016 World Series I really can't remember enjoying a game more.

Well what do I do now non-readers of this blog? Well...need to do some maintenance on the list. As we sit today  there have been several teams that have built new stadiums since I've visiting. Specifically: Yankees, Reds, and Braves. More likely we'll complete the journey for Trudii. She still needs Red Sox, Reds, & Mariners. Then maybe the kids? Just give up.... Call it a career? Start watching hockey? I don't know...Regardless of what's next it really has been an excellent way to travel this great nation of ours and I feel very fortunate to have circled the sun long enough to have achieved such a seemingly useless badge of having visited all 30 Major League Baseball teams.