A Night Out

Last night I took my friend Ben Beachy (my cousin's son) to a ballgame as a gift for his 6th birthday--we had a great time and I wish all my "hot dates" were as fun and relaxed as this night was!

I took Ben on his first Metro Light Rail ride--it's much easier to park north of Chase Field (for free) and then take the Light Rail down to the stadium--even better, I happened to have two extra Light Rail tickets on hand that we could use. On the ride down to the stadium the Light Rail was filled with other baseball fans--an older gentleman sitting across from Ben asked who he wanted to win the game--"The Diamondbacks!" said Ben. Good answer!

The Light Rail dropped us off almost directly in front of the stadium--so easy! Ben wanted to hang out for awhile to watch the doors close--I think the Light Rail may have been a bigger hit than the game itself!

We arrived early enough at the ballpark that we had time to get a snack, check out our seats (right above the D'backs bullpen where we watched Hudson, their new pitcher, warm up), and spend some tim

e on the upper concourse, before settling down to watch the game. The upper concourse has all sorts of great things for kids--a playground area, batting practice, and the ballpark "concert-master." I'm not sure if that's his title, but the guy who plays all the organ music, etc. Both Ben and I were pretty impressed with the three different keyboards he was using.

In my opinion, a visit to the ballpark is not complete without a hot dog covered in ketchup and mustard. I had the hot dog, but Ben opted for the more nutritious options of popcorn, cotton candy and pop (don't worry--I made sure he ordered the caffeine-free variety). And although I was tempted, I held myself back from a stop at the Coldstone Creamery booth.

The game itself was, as most baseball games are, fairly uneventful, though we did see two home runs, and when we left, the D'backs were ahead--I'm not even sure who actually won the game, but we had a great time!