On The Verge of Tears

Monika and I managed to score a pair of tickets to the Phillies game on Thursday.  Anyone who knows me can tell that I don’t really watch baseball.  I find it pretty boring and too slow for my taste.  Going to a live baseball game, on the other hand, is really exciting and I thoroughly enjoy the experience because it’s just that…an experience.

Of course, we couldn’t go to an authentic ball game without a little tailgating.  We wanted to go simple, though, because taking home a bunch of empty bottles of beer in the car afterward is out of the question, and leaving it in the parking lot is just not our style.  We hit up my favorite local liquor store and decided on two forties, white trash style.

We arrived in the third because there was ridiculous traffic and we still had to have a sip of beer in the lots.  Though I don’t go very often, I really do love the new park.  It is so much nicer than seeing a ball game at the Vet.  I’m really glad they chose, in the end, not to share a stadium with the Eagles.

smaller is better in the baseball world

Our seats were pretty damn fine for free

We enjoyed a beer inside the venue, but eventually we got bored (there were only two runs the entire game) and got hungry.  Philly has the best food for a pair of vegetarians in the entire country.  First, we tracked down the vegan hot dogs.  We found them without too much hunting, right along side of the regular hot dogs, but with a special “vegan” sticker stuck to the quintessential tin foil wrapped hot dogs.   Surprisingly, there was plenty to grab and they were freshly reheated.

The condiments center at the Park is pretty nice, too.  It was relatively clean, all the ketchup and mustard dispensers were full and not disgusting, and you have a choice to grab packets as well.  Also, they have these fresh cut onions dispenser that you crank with a handle and out plops bits of coarsely cut fresh white onions.  Pretty neat, actually.  I had two vegan dogs with onions and ketchup and they were every bit as delicious as I remember a hot dog being when I was a kid at he ball game with my dad.

we stopped back in our seats to watch the Phillies not winning

After we’d had enough, we went to look for the vegetarian cheese steaks that I knew were in here somewhere.  I knew it might take us all night going to every kiosk to find it, so I asked a pleasantly helpful cashier where I might find one, and she knew.  We headed to the first level concourse where Campo’s is located.  The lines weren’t too long at all, and I ordered one veggie american wit.

my mouth was watering...twice!

We grabbed another eyefuls of views of the game and ball park before heading back to the car to enjoy our victory sandwich.

the field after sunset, under the lights

...

there plenty to see even if you're just a casual baseball fan

Me and Monika are not sports nuts.  Well, that is to say, we are not huge fans of watching other people engage in sports, though we do like to play games ourselves.  But, if the opportunity affords you, I would highly recommend an outing to see the Phillies sometime.  Baseball still is our national past time and a fantastic summer ritual.  And, contrary to public perception (which is often true), Philly’s fans aren’t really some crude form of humans.  They just want to have a good time, see their team win, and hang out with other fans…as long as they’re dressed in red (or orange, or green).