I Love Baltimore!

Well, this past weekend was one of the best since I've been here. Friday was the day I had been looking forward to for the past five weeks. Baltimore was finally here! It was kinda crappy knowing that I couldn't get out early on Friday, the rush hour traffic on I-95 is messy. We left Eddie's place at about 4 30 and within 10 minutes, we were stopped in traffic. It was slow moving all the way to Wilmington, Delaware, and then things got worse. We hit 3 patches or really slow traffic as we drove through Delaware. Honestly, of the worst traffic we ran into, how could it be in Delaware?

We finally rolled into Baltimore at about 6: 30 and the traffic was congested around the stadium. We were slow moving for blocks, but this allowed for us to soak in the baseball atmosphere from inside the car. The street vendors were lined up down the sidewalks, and the smell of hot dogs and sausages could be smelled from the car. The street was a sea of orange and black, although there were quite a few red and blue clad Sox fans in the mix. We finally made it to the Radisson in downtown Baltimore, and after Eddie checked in, we parked the car and began our trek to the stadium.

Our hotel wasn’t too far from the stadium, maybe 5 or 6 blocks away. We didn’t mind walking because it was an absolutely perfect night for baseball. Temperatures were in the low 70s, a slight breeze and the sun was beginning to set. This could not be more perfect for a Friday night in April. The walk through downtown Baltimore was quite pleasant. I was very impressed with the buildings and the feel of the downtown core. As we got closer to the stadium, I could see the lights in the distance and feel a buzz in the air. My friends and I were greeted by many random Sox fans, as Eddie and I were decked out in our Sox gear. I was already having a blast and I had not even stepped foot inside Camden Yards. I could feel this was going to be a great night.

Once we got inside, I knew that Camden Yards was my new favourite ballpark. The energy inside was electric, and the stadium itself was beautiful. For those that don’t know, Camden Yards has a very unique feature about it. A massive warehouse sits behind the right field fence, and the space between is used as an open concourse for food and merchandise vendors. One of these food vendors includes a bbq pit that provided some of the greatest smells of food I’ve ever experienced at a ballpark. The steam from this pit can be seen from anywhere in the park. Unfortunately, with stadium prices the way they are, I had to walk past this glorious food stand and look for food that was more reasonably priced.

Our seats were along the right field foul line, closer to the corner of the outfield wall, right underneath the second deck. We were quite far from the field, but the view was good enough. Our section was filled with Red Sox fans, so we fit right in. The Red Sox were already up 4-0 by the time we got to our seats. Nothing exciting happened, the runs were scored off walks due to the Orioles pitcher’s control problems. We were settled into our seats and the feeling of excitement had not passed. After flagging down the beer man (this was the first game I could legally drink at) and the hot dog man, we sat back and watched as the Sox took control of the game right from the get-go. Katey found it hilarious that I could hang on every pitch of a baseball game. My friends only cared when there was a hit, but as usual, I followed every pitch and every move on the field.

I have never been to Fenway Park (the Sox home field) but I can only imagine how great it must be based on how things were at Camden Yards. As I said earlier, our section had a ton of Sox fans in it, and people would stand, cheer and high-five each other after every Red Sox hit or strikeout by a Sox pitcher. By the 4th inning, the Sox had the game in hand. The score was either 10 or 11-0 at the time. I took this opportunity to wander the stadium, checking out the scenery from every angle. Camden Yards was one of the first stadiums of its kind, one with an open backdrop to gaze out and see the city.

We left the game in the 8th inning with the score 14-4 in the Red Sox favor. The wind was picking up and the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance made us begin our walk to the hotel earlier than we planned. Once we got to the hotel, Eddie, Katey and Marissa went to get ready for the night out, but I decided to stay and mingle with the dozens of Sox fans enjoying themselves in the hotel lobby. After about 45 minutes, Eddie had to come pull me away from a random, middle-aged couple from Virginia that were there cheering for the Sox. Eddie warned me not to go to a game in Boston, as some family would probably kidnap me and bring me home with them (that doesn’t sound all that bad, does it?)

After the hotel it, we finally left for Inner harbor at 11. Katey had been to Baltimore before, so she knew how to get there. Our hotel was only a 10 minute walk to Inner Harbor, and since it was still nice out, we felt it was easy enough to walk. The walk down the road to the area was amazing....the entire sky is lit up from all the lights, you can hear music from the bars....there is an ESPNZone down there (sports themed restaurant...kinda like Hard Rock and Planet Hollywood). We went to a section called Power Plant Live, which is this little street packed with about 10 bars and clubs. The first bar we went to was called The Lodge, and it was packed! We just hung around near the bar. Eddie, Katey and Marissa took off at just after 1 to go to another bar across the street, but I was talkin to a bunch of girls from New York (they like the Yankees though...boo!) So I decided to meet up with Eddie and the rest later on. We finally met up at around 1 40 and by then most of the places were about to close, so we went back to the hotel. We were tired when we got back to the hotel (after all, we all worked all day on Friday) But we weren't done partying, so we finished off the cans of beer that we brought. I think it was close to 4 by the time I went to sleep. This is getting quite long, so I will talk about my Saturday in the next post.