Tropicana Field

Our first stop on our trip to Florida was a Tropicana Field to catch a Tampa Bay Rays game on Friday night. I'm not a great photographer, but the stadium looks crooked because it IS crooked and the roof is slanted in one direction. So odd...

But before any baseball game, you must have some warm-up drinks. Here's Brad & Stephanie, who made the trip up from Sarasota to pick us up. It was so good to see them! It had been almost a year since I'd seen Stephanie when she came to visit Houston last summer.

So happy to be on vacation!

Heading into the game- palm trees galore! It was also neat they had the lineup & the food special of the night was $1 hot dogs!

The entry rotunda was nice, and supposedly a replica of Dodger Stadium.

I thought the painted baseball diamond on the ground was rather cute.

I didn't realize the stadium sat empty for 10 years after being completed in 1986 before it finally had a full time team. It felt so weird to be sitting inside at a game- guess I don't really remember many Astro's games at the Astrodome in Houston.

We had some really great seats, watched a rather boring game, but had lots of yummy food. This was probably the most variety I've ever seen at a stadium- even an Outback, 2 types of ice cream and more!

This is their mascot, but I mostly just found it creepy!

I was fully prepared for a hot, outdoor game in the afternoon Florida sun. I was really cold sitting in the blasting AC watching the game.

It appears they are going to be building a new stadium too. According to the wiki article for the field, they have dropped a boat load of money into renovations in just the last few years. This new park does look pretty swell though- right on the water. Hopefully we'll be back in 2012 to a new stadium with a net-retractable roof.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Birthday party for H's mom tonight at Cadillac Bar.