Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Tropicana Field (St. Petersburg, Florida)

It's been a long time between visits to a baseball park, and as luck would have it, baseball season opened earlier than usual this year, giving us the opportunity to catch a game at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg before leaving the Central Florida area. The game we watched was between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Baltimore Orioles, and sadly (since we were adopted Florida fans for the day), the Orioles won this one with a final score of Orioles 5, Rays 1. Nevertheless, it was a fun day. Anytime I can sit in a stadium, eat peanuts, and drink beer, I'm having a good time!

Tropicana Field has a fixed permanent dome, necessary due to the area's hot, humid summers and frequent thunderstorms. The day we were there would have been perfect weather for sitting outside, but as it turned out the climate controlled setting was also quite comfortable, if somewhat artificial. Just over the right-center field fence is the Rays Touch Tank. This 35-foot, 10,000 gallon tank is filled with cow nose rays that were taken from Tampa Bay waters. Admission to the tank area is free for all fans attending home games, limited to 50 people in the area at any given time.










Hopefully we'll catch a few more games on the East Coast before this season is over.

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