Stadium Tour 2016: Busch Stadium

The hubby asked as he was getting ready to leave for football last Friday if the Cubs were in town on Wednesday. I check the schedule and discovered they were in St. Louis for a day game which is ONLY a 7 hour drive from here. He thought we should go to the game that way we can see Busch Stadium which happened to be in my top 5. I thought he was nuts since we’d have to leave at 4:00 AM. After serious contemplation, we decided to go to the game. It was crazy and not like us but hey we only live once and when can you possibly see the Cubs clinch the pennant in person.

We took the train from Rock Road to the stadium. In the future, I would park out a few stops to the west and pick up the train at North Hanley Station. The train, like Minneapolis, makes getting to the stadium easy. It drops you off right at the stadium and it was $10 for both of us to ride the train round trip ($2.50/person/Ride). Not bad at all. The all-day pass was like $7.50/person. We figured we didn’t need that as we weren’t planning on doing anything else in St. Louis besides the Arch which was within walking distance.

Busch stadium exceeded our expectations. Sure we had to wait in a line to enter the stadium but it moved and it was probably no more than 10 minutes to get through security. Busch Stadium is a very open stadium. There is an opening between the bleachers in the outfield (above the batter’s eye) that allows spectators to get a view of downtown and the Gateway Arch. The third deck has open air concession stands. I really liked the openness of the stadium. Even the Redbird club was bright and airy feeling.

The concourse behind our seats. Love the openness

After the hubby hemmed and hawed over which seats to buy, we ended up sitting in the 400 level directly behind home plate with no one in front of us. These were definitely great seats. Even though we were up high, it didn’t feel like it and we could see the entire field.

It was probably the best game we saw all year. The Cubs jumped ahead early and stayed ahead. There were two home runs. So I’ve seen a home run in all the parks I visited this summer. There was a replay situation where the Cardinals base runner was thrown out at 2nd base trying to steal. They reviewed and the call stood. From the replay, it looked he was clearly safe but later when we saw it back in the hotel, it clearly looked like he did over slide the bag.

Not sure where the Cubs weren't out there for the National Anthem

Of course the hubby needs a picture of the umpirs

Lester pitching

Great Seats

Home Ru 

Besides the food and drinks prices being ridiculous ($15 for nachos, $8.75 for a bottle of beer), Busch Stadium is great. They really cater to the fan experience. Clark Street between 8th and Broadway is blocked off before the game so they have their version of Yawkey Way. Across the street is Ballpark Village which has additional restaurants, the Fox Sports Studios, the Authentic Store, and the Cardinal Museum plus an outdoor area. We did go into the Authentic Store so the hubby could get a game ball.

This trip really surprised me. I really didn’t think we would get to another game this year and St. Louis at all. I was surprised when the hubby suggested but it turned out to be a nice little trip. We would definitely visit Busch Stadium again.