The family converged on the city of Philadelphia this weekend to mark another baseball stadium off of Hubby's bucket list. His co-workers had gifted him with four tickets to see the Philadelphia Phillies for his 50th birthday. With some strategic logistics, Hubby was able to manage to get all of us to Philly within an hour or so of each other. That was no easy feat! Me and Chip flew in from Texas. Hubby flew in from China. Harry flew in from Phoenix!
I checked Chip out of school a little early. He was all smiles about that, although I did have to convince him it would be safe to fly on the fourteenth anniversary of 9/11. I really wish his teachers had not recounted their personal experiences from that horrible day right before he was set to walk on to a big ol' jet airliner. A bit unnerving. I reassured him that airport security had been ramped up a lot since that awful day and that we would probably have an Air Marshall on our flight. Maybe a slight stretch, but it made him and me feel better to believe that!
Look at this delicious little lunch I picked up in the airport. That carrot salad had horseradish sauce on it and it was fantastic! I took a picture so I would remember to hit this place up again!
My book club book was great reading for the trip. I started and finished it on the first leg of the trip. Light read. In letter format (which I love). Baseball. Entertaining.
Chip took over my iPad and was doing all kinds of crazy drawing and playing games. Our first leg was to Chicago and we had hoped we could meet up with Hubby who was also connecting through Chicago, but he was in an international terminal so that did not work out. We would have to wait to see him in Philly.
Chip and I were delayed for about 40 minutes leaving Chicago, but eventually landed in Philly about 11:00 p.m. where Hubby and Harry were waiting for us.
Whew - we made it.
We had to walk down some ladder stairs to get off the plane and onto the tarmac to retrieve our luggage. Then haul it back up some stairs to get into the airport. It was a weird set up.
Chip had a bit of a bathroom situation once we landed, so the big boys went and picked up the rental car and met us at the curb. The whole family back together again! The best!
We jetted off to the hotel to rest up for the night.
The next morning it was a bit overcast. Rain was definitely in the forecast. Boo!
We stayed within a short walking distance of the baseball park and directly across the street was the Philadelphia Eagles stadium and also the Wells Fargo Arena, home of the 76rs and Flyers. Very cool set up if you are a sports fan.
This was a big restaurant right in the middle of the action.
We planned a 10:30 tour of Citizens Bank Park to kick off the day.
A cool wall of baseballs.
The broadcast booth. Always a favorite with a Sports Journalist in the family.
The view from the press box. Not bad. Not bad at all.
Look at that view of downtown Philadelphia. Very nice. Please also note the clouds rolling in.
Harry and Chip dreaming of baseball.
Hubby taking photo after photo after photo after photo. He takes tons of pictures.
Then the best part. On the field.
And in the dugout.
Giant scoreboard.
Brotherly love.
Brotherly fighting. Sadly, this is not that unusual.
My guys.
They are monkeys.
Chip in the corner pretending to be a pitcher with a no hitter going.
Off to finish the tour. This is the Diamond Level seating. Fancy.
The media room. Harry was trading Chip.
We loved the tour. Hubby won the trivia competition. Although there really wasn't a competition. But he sure had an answer for every single baseball trivia question the guide threw out. It was impressive.
We grabbed lunch at the Bullies place outside the stadium where there was a statue unveiling going on. It was a statue of Boxer Legend Joe Frazier. Joe's family and friends were all over the place! It was crazy busy, but we had a nice meal.
Next up, headed downtown to take in some historic sites. This is city hall.
Cool buildings.
More cool buildings.
The Liberty Bell.
Independence Hall.
Please note the clouds. Still rolling in.
Ben Franklin was there giving a tour.
Taking a break. Time to admit that we are not history buffs. Should be thrilled to be in the heart of all this American history, but honestly we had more fun throwing leaves into the blustery winds to see who's would fly the farthest without hitting the ground. Lame.
It was almost game time so we headed back to the hotel to get our tickets. Hubby and Harry walked over super early and called us to let us know that our tickets were in the Diamond Club section! What? Had no idea there were such sweet seats right behind home plate. Nice birthday gift!
The Diamond Club had two viewing areas where you could watch the teams taking BP. Haven't ever seen that before.
We didn't really know how all the fancy food stations worked, so we went in search of a local favorite. The Philly Cheesesteak.
Tony and Luke's did not disappoint.
While we were eating, the rain moved in. Are you kidding me?
Tarp was covering the field.
Of course, having Diamond Club tickets was absolutely fantastic with this development because we could sit in there and watch college football on one of a thousand TVs. So that is what we did.
Eventually, the rain passed and they started rolling up the tarp!
It looks like we are going to get to Play Ball! Woo Hoo!
The Philly Fanatic was out and about causing havoc through the game.
It was a GREAT game! The Phillies were down 1-0 and then this big guy (who's name I can't recall or read on the back of his shirt!) came up as a designated hitter and roped a double.
He was a fan favorite and it spurred the Phillies to a 5-1 lead.
Well, the Cubs were having none of that and tied it up 5-5 in the 8th (I think).
The Cubs went down 1-2-3 in the top of the 9th and the Philly's just needed one run to win!
Well, this guy who I also don't remember his name (my boys are going to kill me if they ever read this!) smashed a game winning walk off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning.
The place went nuts!
The whole team spilled out of the dugout to meet him at home plate with high fives of all kinds.
Then, in baseball tradition, he got a nice big Gatorade bath from his teammates.
And then a pie in the face.
I mean, who wouldn't want that as their reward for winning the game?
Baseball players are weird.
It was a great baseball game in a beautiful ballpark in a very cool city.
Then Sunday came and it was time for our flights home. Goodbyes are so super sucky.
We all returned to our home bases with great memories of the weekend.
Hubby has two stadiums to visit to get them all. Chicago White Sox and the Minnesota Twins.
Fun times marking items off of his bucket list.
Hope your weekend was fabulous!
