By Taylor Walker
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. | This was never really something we intended to do, or had even talked about. It started 10 years ago when my wife and I were in California to see my sister in Lake Tahoe.
Walker
We stayed overnight in San Francisco. The Braves were in town. On a whim, we went to the Giants Stadium (Oracle Park). As we were walking in, someone hit a home run right over our heads into McCovey Cove where about a half dozen people in kayaks fought for the ball.
The next year my wife was in Toronto for work and the Braves were in for a weekend series. A ticket broker in Toronto got us tickets behind the visitor’s dugout. I flew up and we went to the game at Rogers Center on Saturday night.
After that we looked at each other: “Why not go to all of the stadiums!” So we started. (We are saving Truist Park for last, since it will be the easiest.)
Later that year we went to Seattle (T-Mobile Park) and the next year we flew to Los Angeles and were able to see the Braves play both at Dodger Stadium and later at Petco Park in San Diego. On the way back, we went to Angel Stadium in Anaheim for a game.
The next year was both Chicago teams at Guaranteed Rate Field and Wrigley. Just thinking about the 7th inning stretch at Wrigley Field still gives me goosebumps. That trip we also visited an American Family Field in Milwaukee. In following years were trips to Cleveland (Progressive Field), Cincinnati (Great American Ball Park), the Orioles (Camden Yards) and Nationals Park in D.C.
We’ve had occasional long weekend trips to St. Louis (Busch Stadium), Dallas (Globe Life Field), and Phoenix (Chase Field.) By the way, don’t buy any of that dry heat nonsense; 110 degrees is hot no matter the humidity.
We missed Oakland (Ring Central Coliseum) the first time out, so when visiting my sister again, we saw an Oakland game. We also have visited Yankee Stadium, PNC Park in Pittsburgh, and Houston (Minute Maid Park.)
My favorite stadium so far has been Petco Park; it is in a great location with tons of restaurants and bars outside, and very walkable and safe. Inside the park had great views of the city skyline.
The best food (full buffet with a prime rib) was at Yankee Stadium, but we had VIP treatment behind home plate.
What I call Miller Stadium in Milwaukee had the best fans: they tailgate for baseball almost like football games. We got to the game a little early, and people started coming up to us, offering us brats, hot dogs, chips, you name it. You can almost have more fun outside the stadium than inside.
It is hard to pick a least favorite since each is unique. But to pick one, it would be Dodger Stadium. Just getting to the stadium, we had to take the subway to a main hub, then a bus for about a 30 minute drive to be dropped off for what seemed like about a mile hike to the stadium.
Strangely enough, there were about as many Braves fans there as were Dodgers fans. The couple sitting next to us were from Lilburn!
Next month we are going to Philadelphia to watch the Braves hopefully win. That will be 20 stadiums visited out of 30. While in Philly, we are also going to a Monday night football game. That might be the kick-start of our NFL stadium tour!
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