( This is number five in the Things I Love About Saint Louis Series. Click here to read more.)
There is nothing more Saint Louis and summertime than Saint Louis Cardinals baseball. I've been listening to, watching, and going to the games for all of my life. I know there are plenty of people who live here who don't feel the same way as I do about our team and some others who are even bigger die hard fans than me. I think if I moved somewhere else, I would still be a Cardinals fan.
There is just something about going down to watch a baseball game with 40, 000+ of your closest friends, you are dressed alike, and you are ready to cheer on your team no matter what. I am so proud that we are known as some of the best fans around. Most of us are not fair weather. We think they are going to win the World Series every year. And as they did last year , it was magic.
Busch Stadium, home of the redbirds , is a great place to bring the family. There is a whole range of ticket prices from nose bleeds ( which are really nice ) to down on the field, almost.
Around the stadium are statues of great cardinal players : Lou Brock, Ozzie Smith, ad Stan Musial to name a few. When they built the new Stadium, they allowed fans to buy bricks and have names and things engraved on them. It's really fun to walk around and look at them. I wish I would have done that when we were getting married. It would have been fun to go and show the kids.
Getting There and Parking
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| Her legs "were tired" as soon as we got there...hmmm |
There are a few ways to get to the game. You can drive or take the MetroLink . There are always buses and taxis too but I've never done those so I can't say how well they work. Parking is between $20- $10and less depending on how far away from the stadium you park. There are garages and lots. We parked as close as we could so K wouldn't have to walk as far.
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| Watching the Metro Link train pull up right next to the stadium |
The Metro Link is also great. She would have loved to ride the metro train but you need to factor in all the stops it makes and we didn't ,so not this time. It is a great way to not have to drive all the way downtown with stops throughout parts of the city ( not all)
Tickets and Promotional Items
There are always a bunch of great promotional days every year. This day happened to be Kids T shirt day (15 and under) and North Star Ice Cream Sundays. I would totally recommend coming on one of these days. Why not get a cool freebie with your ticket? K got a Fredbird ( mascot ) t shirt and we went over to Ford Family Plaza got an free ice cream and got our pictures taken with the world series trophy for free. There is also the Family Pavilion on the first level with some family things you can do like a batting cage.
The tickets we got for this game were a special discounted price that also came with a hot dog and a soda with the price of the ticket. As soon as we got up to our level we got our free dogs and drinks. Remember when I talked about saving money buy bringing food to places when you can? I'm not sure how other stadiums operate but it is OK for you to bring small soft coolers/ cooler bags full of water and food if you want to cut down on costs. How great is that? We saved so much money. We brought a cooler bag with 6 bottles of water, cheese sticks, and goldfish crackers. I love the food there and there are some things that just taste better at a baseball game. My hubby says beer is one of those things. But it all adds up fast.
Souvenirs/Gifts
There a tons of places to buy Cardinal stuff including a Build a bear Store on site where you can build Clydesdales and Fredbirds. You can't build them anywhere else in the city. You can find anything Cardinal and baseball you can think of. They even have the pressed pennies, one of K's favorite things.
Kids and Baseball Games
We happened to go with some friends and family of ours so K had a whole group of people to talk to and play with. You're probably noticing that S is not with us. She doesn't sit well for more than 10 minutes at a time. And with it being her nap time, she sat this one out. We hope she'll be able to go next year. You'll see kids of all ages from weeks old on up. It's all up to you and your kids. There are plenty of rams so you can bring your strollers in if you need to. She spent alot of the game looking for Fredbird, the mascot. He does walk around the stadium the whole game. He will even sometimes come and joke around with fans like put his beak over your head. It's pretty darn funny.
She really didn't watch the game too much but she loved the atmosphere,clapping along to the organ music and when we scored. It was an exciting game. They won in the very bottom of the 9th inning. There was such a roar that you could feel it. And they always set off fireworks when we win so that adds to it.
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| Cutest Cardinal Fan Ever |
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| Go CARDS! |
After the Games
There is so much to do after the games as well . Downtown has places to eat, carriage rides to enjoy, and if you are without kids, casinos and awesome bars. Or you could always go to my all time favorite frozen custard place, Ted Drewes. It;s just a shirt drive down highway 44. Well worth it.
