The Great American Ballpark Tour: Yankee Stadium

This summer on our suicidal road trip we were able to take in 3 great ballparks! First stop...Yankee Stadium!

Now, I'll be honest, I was very prepared to hate this place. Because I hate the Yankees. Sorry. I know, someone that loves baseball as much as I do should respect this storied franchise. And I do, respect them, but I don't like them.

But when my sweet nephew Vasilis asked me to slap on a Yankees cap for our trip to the ballpark, I sucked it up. For him. And I went with an open mind. And was wowed. I said it. This park was AMAZING!

Even though it was new Yankee Stadium right across the street from old Yankee Stadium, you couldn't help but feel the history as soon as you got there. Which was late since there is NO parking in the Bronx. But we found a sketchy lot under the elevated and just prayed that the attendant was legit and our car would be there where we were ready to leave. It was, so no worries.

This place had everything! Any kind of food you wanted, you could have it. Well except ranch flavored popcorn, my staple at Minute Maid. But anything else you could have. And we did. From candy:



to sushi:




to noodle bowls in handy dandy take away containers:




to a fancy-schmancy sit down restaurant:



and even a Hard Rock Cafe!





Of course they had the standard ballpark fare as well.



And I was not so surprised at the 10 price tag on a cup of beer, it was NY after all.



We had fabulous seats thanks to my brother! They were even cushioned. So by far the most comfortable seats out of ANY park we've been to so far. And the views:

The JumboTron was quite cool, one of the neatest I've seen, especially when certain pictures flashed on:



Now some of the highlights of the park were the wall of retired numbers:



Loved how they brought some of the old to the new:



On an upper level there was a Yankees Museum, complete with memorabilia from years past. One of the coolest things was the wall of baseballs where you could see a signed ball from many greats, including these guys:

And Emma got a little cozy with Yogi:




The girls loved hanging out in the "locker room".



We strolled around and checked out center field:






There was no playground to keep the girls entertained but honestly there was so much to do, that we didn't miss it. Plenty of things to look at and lots of little shops on the concourse (of course):

We dressed in the gear...no way in hell I was buying a foam finger though.

It was truly an amazing experience and I can't believe that we were so lucky to actually see a game there. Even though Mother Nature threatened otherwise. But we came prepared:



And of course the Yanks WON! And at the end of the night was one of the best parts... a recording of Frank Sinatra singing New York, New York. Now THAT was cool.

But the best part of the night was definitely getting to see the game with one of my favorite guys:


No, not him...HIM!!



We've never gotten to take a BOY to a game before ;-) Too bad we don't have a son, Steven looks like he could get used to the idea.