July 24, 2006

Today I went to my first White Sox game at the new park (I know it's not that NEW but it is to me) thanks to one of my students who purchased two tickets for me as an end-of-the-school-year gift.

The day was VERY HOT and the evening wasn't much better but there was a breeze, especially from our little White Sox fans! We got to the park without a problem (drove I-55), parked without a problem, even tailgated without a problem! Walking into the park was a lot of fun, I saw so many interesting sights. I felt like a tourist the way I was gawking at everything. Geri was a fantastic tour guide.

We sat in Section 101 - very entertaining! We picked up food before we found our seats and I must say I could have enjoyed the food vendors more if it hadn't been sooooo hot but I did enjoy the Beer vendor. I also could have eaten a little more if I didn't have to babysit my two ton tote bag! Everytime we got up I lugged the tote and navigated my fanny pack! But the bag did have the essentials - radio with earplug, camera with stuff, two water bottles, glasses, a game program - so it was a necessity.

Geri had many surprises for me throughout the game:

1. watching the opening ceremony on the Jumbotron
2. taking my picture with the ballpark "statues"
3. showing me the WS store
4. showing me the WS museum (oops, closed till next year)
5. pointing out the downtown view as we walked into the park and up the ramps
6. taking me to the upper deck so I could take some great pictures
7. getting me connected to one of my "old" first grade students (The girl works with Geri and happened to mention that she was going to the game on the same night we were, the rest is history!) I recognized Lori right away and started screaming when I saw her. I couldn't believe that she was excited to see me too! And what was one of her best memories of first grade? The Cinnamon Bear!
8. and last but not least, taking me to The Grandstand after the game! I bought a few things, mostly for my first grade classroom.

The magical evening ended with free coffee at Dunkin Donuts because the WS scored in the 4th!

Here are some game highlights:

1. Watching the game in the park is very different from TV.
2. There is so much to watch at the park that you can forget to "watch" the action on the field.
   
3. Anderson scored his first in-the-park so I got to see the fireworks.
4. Gload was so close we could almost touch him.
5. The team rallied but then lost the game. It was okay, they tried really hard to win!

I had an awesome night! I later made a DVD of the whole WS experience and now I force people to watch it whenever I can! LOL