Fantasizing at PetCo Park in San Diego, California
Taking a young boy on a tour of a facility like PetCo Park is a surreal adventure. Held daily at 10:30am during the San Diego Padres off-season, the journey through this baseball fantasyland elicits so many wide-eyed wows from my 12-year-old, I have to look at him occasionally to make sure he is the same (“you can’t impress me”) child I knew. Highlights include being served a coke in the exclusive premium lounge, feeling what it's like to watch a game in a private luxury suite, going onto the playing field, striding along the warning track and surveying the bullpen. But the capper was standing on the pitcher’s mound and delivering his best Little League fastball to his dad.
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True, it's not uncommon to have enjoy a beautiful sunny San Diego day. But combine this with an afternoon at Petco Park with some peanuts, a hot dog, a beer (read: perhaps a few beers) and it's easy to soak in how lucky you are. Petco Park is one of the cleanest, most accessible baseball parks I have ever been to. Actually, it quite reflects San Diego's downtown itself.
If you could take just one photo:
integrated old factory building
Walking into the stadium there's a little league field and outdoor park for kids. It's got to be exciting for them to play practically inside a professional stadium, and it's completely endearing to see how the professional diamond dwarfs their own. Inside the stadium, the sandstone walls make it warmer and more welcoming than the typical steel and concrete you would see elsewhere. You can really get the feel for San Diego once inside too, from the stands you can see the city skyline, as well as the Bay and Balboa park. In left field, there's even an old brick factory building integrated right into the park. Watching the Padres in the sun with the rest of the fans, with the city so present, you can really bask in San Diego at Petco Park.
No matter where you are in the stands, keep your head up and your glove on. Foul balls can land anywhere. They're still traveling pretty fast when they come down, too. With the other hand free to grub, Petco's $5 specials are a great plus for the economic traveler (hot dog, stale popcorn, peanuts, chocolate chip cookie and drink). It's a $10 upgrade to substitute the soft drink for a beer. It is a baseball game, after all. For the food guru who travels just for the food, try the garlic fries, but the topic of whether it's taste worthy remains an ongoing debate among Padres fans.
Taking a young boy on a tour of a facility like PetCo Park is a surreal adventure. Held daily at 10:30am during the San Diego Padres off-season, the journey through this baseball fantasyland elicits so many wide-eyed wows from my 12-year-old, I have to look at him occasionally to make sure he is the same (“you can’t impress me”) child I knew. Highlights include being served a coke in the exclusive premium lounge, feeling what it's like to watch a game in a private luxury suite, going onto the playing field, striding along the warning track and surveying the bullpen. But the capper was standing on the pitcher’s mound and delivering his best Little League fastball to his dad.
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