Denver: The Rockies Game

We went to our first Colorado Rockies' MLB game while we were in Denver last week. We've been to a few ballparks before, and always love a good game.

Coors Field, home of the Rockies is located downtown Denver and is an easy walk from most of the hotels.

It's a great stadium, which holds about 50,000 fans and was opened in 1995.

There isn't a bad seat in the house. We opted for Club Seating so that we could get the view we wanted. I positioned us strategically on the first base side, after reading that you get the best view of the mountain sunset from this area. It was indeed beautiful!

We took a good walk around the stadium. There were so many unique concessions to see games to play. It's a fabulous, family evening out.

We got lucky and there were several foul balls hit into the stands nearby. We had our ball gloves with us. (I definitely recommend taking your glove. You might catch a ball, but in the meantime, you can use it to hold your footlong hotdog.)

While I didn't catch a ball, it was really close. A gentleman just two rows back caught one. He was very kind and generous giving that ball to my son. It's a souvenir CJ will treasure!

The home team won this game. There was even a grand slam homerun! An evening to remember for certain.

Home of the Braves

Some of my best travel stories have come from detours and wrong turns. Like the night we ended up in Atlanta, at the Braves game.

We were on a flight from Minot, North Dakota thru to Nassau, Bahamas, via Atlanta airport. That's when and where we were delayed and bumped overnight to the next flight. Delta Airlines set us up with a nearby hotel and meals (plus future flight credits) for the inconvenience.

With a free evening in Atlanta, I looked up and found a Major League Baseball (MLB) game starting in 2 hours. We rushed to the stadium only to find out it was a sold out game. Turns out this October night was the one-game playoff to determine which team got the wildcard into the playoffs.  It was the Atlanta Braves vs the St. Louis Cardinals.

The automated ticket kiosks only offered standing room tickets to this big game. I passed. Next up, the scalpers. "C'mon kids, mom's going to make some new friends." But all they had to offer were single seats.

As a last resort, I went to the on site Box Office.  "Don't suppose you have 4 tickets for the game? We're Canadian and my kids have never seen a live MLB game...."  I didn't even have to finish the sentence before the clerk said she had great seats right behind home plate. The visitors (Cardinals) just released their team seats. We could sit right behind the Anthem Singer and special guests. Tickets were $40 each and we were in!

A quick stop at the souvenir booth for a couple of Braves' shirts and hats, and we were cheering for the home team!

It was a heck of a game! But better than that it was an EXPERIENCE. Since then, each of my kids has gone to 2 other stadiums to see 2 more games. Our spontaneous detour in Atlanta helped to ignite a passion for the live game.  A MLB game, with a cold lemonade and an Oscar Mayer hot dog... well, it's hard to beat. One of those must-do events when you travel through America with your kids.