Yesterday, since Ryan had the day off, we wanted to do something fun, and a little crazy. So, we decided to go to the Cards game. I know, doesn’t sound too crazy, right? But the Cardinals weren’t at home yesterday…they were in Kansas City! So, we decided to go on a little road trip to see our team play!

We entered the stadium at the right field gate, which was almost directly on the opposite side of the field from our seats. Some people might find this annoying, but I enjoyed the opportunity this gave us to walk all the way around the ballpark before the day was over!

Kauffman Stadium is an interesting place, because it shares a complex with the Kansas City football stadium:

We were a little worried when we got there, because some very heavy rain had just gone through. But, it was clearing up, and we saw them rolling up the tarp as we were walking around. There was a delay of an hour, but that just gave us more time to enjoy being at the stadium!

There are so many fun things about visiting different ballparks. I love seeing who the key players were for the other team:

I also enjoy seeing all of the different food kiosks, some of which are very obviously local:

I’m always happy to see the Leinie Lodge!

I love seeing the local corporate sponsorship, as well, especially when it’s companies we don’t have around here:

One thing that I found very interesting was the children’s area at Kauffman Stadium. We didn’t get to use it before the game, because they were still trying to dry it off from all of the morning’s rain, but we looked around. They had a playground:

Mini-golf:

And a carousel! That was certainly unique!

Turkey really liked the spiral ramps they had leading to the upper levels:

The Royals did a lot of cool things to remember Memorial Day and celebrate the Armed Forces. In addition to a gun salute (which took the children by surprise!), and special uniforms worn by the teams, there was also a huge flag:

And two separate moments of silence:

With the way the wind was blowing, the flags in the outfield were very visible throughout the whole game:

Our seats were in section 411, and we had a pretty good view:

The children (and I!), especially loved the fountains:

Some fans had brought a beach ball, and it was fun to watch it makes its way around the park:

At one point, I saw a guy in our area wearing this jersey:

And I knew that the mascot must be close behind. He was:

The thing that most amazed me, though, was how many Cardinals fans were there! The crowd led chants of “Let’s Go Cardinals!” and “Yadi! Yadi!” were far louder than any of the organ led chants for the Royals. And, in the ninth inning, just like we do at home, we all stood for the last out, and then cheered for a Cardinals win!

By the time we left, people were tailgating again (or maybe still), and the weather was much nicer for it!

It was an amazingly fun way to spend a day off!