Citizens Bank Park - Home of the Phillies

Saturday, May 30

Day 53

After a leisurely morning and Barb doing our laundry (do you believe such special treatment!?) we headed off to the Jersey shore to meet up with Deb and Larry who live in Philadelphia and weekend at the beach, in Ventnor. The drive was about 2 ½ hours. They asked us to bring some wine and after a great walk on the boardwalk, they served us a great BBQ chicken dinner with salad, and fruit and coconut cream pie. They are a fascinating couple who have traveled to 102 countries and have spent a lot of time out of this country. Their travels include scuba diving in Micronesia for a few months, various places in the Arctic and Antarctic, South America, Europe, Southeast Asia etc. Their homes have many treasures from their travel. It was a relaxing evening.

Sunday, May 31

Day 54

We headed out about 11 am towards Philadelphia. We followed them, as Larry was going to go to the game with us. Close to the stadium, Larry hopped in the car with us and we parked and walked over to Citizens Bank Park, home of the Phillies. 

In 1883, Phillies new owner, Alfred Reach christened the team with the name "Phillies".  "It tells people who we are  and where we're from," he said.  It is the longest running team nickname in major league baseball

 We walked around and visited the Phillies time line and monuments with Larry and around the 100 level which is something he had never done.

Larry and Jack

 We settled into our seats in the sun on the upper deck and enjoyed the game. The batter's eye is an ivy-covered wall in straightaway center field. This is something we have not seen in other parks yet. The outfield has unusual dimensions which make it very interesting. There are window boxes full of flowers over the bullpen, nice touch. 

Ivy batter's eye

Flower boxes - nice touch

Ashburn Alley

 The Phillies Phanatic “is the premier mascot in all of sports, rivaled only, by the Famous Chicken.” He is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and entertains the fans all game long. His costume weighs 35 pounds and was designed by the same company that designs Sesame Street characters.

Phanatic  in the National Hall of Fame at Cooperstown

Debbie had made us a lunch for the game. The generosity of the people we meet and our friends along the way continues to amaze us. The Phillies unfortunately lost to Colorado and are having a tough year. Somehow, it makes me feel right at home.

 We were going to stay in Philadelphia that night but everyone we have met along the way has told us we have to go to Cooperstown. After discussing this with Deb and Larry in the morning, we decided to take Larry home, see their spectacular view condo that looks over the art museum and head out toward Cooperstown. We drove a little over ½ way there and spent the night in a small little town with no restaurants open. Luckily we found a 24 hour 7-11 type store that was able to make us a sandwich. We had driven through a serious thunderstorm on the way so had a free car wash!