Waking up early and psyching myself up for the familiarity of being back in the Nitro, I hit the road headed South to Philadelphia for game 24/30 to see the Philadelphia Phillies take on the visiting San Diego Padres all the way from the West Coast.
The drive itself was an interesting one, with the contrasting green and space of Connecticut moving quickly into the Bronx of New York City, old industry within the state of New Jersey, some suburban greenery and then finally the skyline of Philadelphia emerging as I moved back in Pennsylvania (you can hit play on the song below as you read further).
Given this game had by far the earliest start time (12:00pm) due to a Double Header as the Saturday game was postponed, I didn’t have the time to check into my hotel or shower on arrival so decided to go direct to the game and change in the parking lot (getting changed here would also mean I’d fit in better with the local Phillies fans as they also root for the NFL’s Eagles – shout out Slammin).
Arriving at the stadium I was instantly greeted by one of the biggest parking areas I’ve seen that seemed to sprawl across multiple lots. I quickly realised there was good reason for this, as Philadelphia has condensed all of their sporting stadiums & arenas (NFL’s Eagles, NBA’s 7ers, NHL’s Flyers, MLB’s Phillies) in the one part of town, as well as a GIANT sports bar complex called “Xfinity Live” (basically a one stop shop for all post/pre gaming you could do at any Philadelphia sports event) – given I was driving, I unfortunately had to give this a miss today.
I did however have a closer look at where the NFL’s Eagles play – Lincoln Financial Field – affectionately known as “The Linc” by locals. It felt like a pretty intimidating place for visiting teams, with two steep grandstands that would echo a shitload of noise, and I can only imagine what it’d be like on a cold Philadelphia Sunday in December – although still not what I would call a home of champions (but I digress) 😉
The main attraction and what I was here to see was the Phillies ballpark “Citizens Bank Park” which was another awesome place to watch a game (noticing a pattern here) that had a unique scoreboard that was stacked high, a “Liberty Bell” that went off when (if) the Phillies scored a Home Run, an area called “The Yard” where kids (or young adults like me) could swing the bat on a mini field and finally of course, a “Tony Luke’s” where you could get your mits on the classic “Philly Cheesesteak” (steak and melted cheese on a sub roll).
This might not please any Philly locals, but my red-hot take is that Philly Cheesesteaks are somewhat overrated – cue the hate! (I still gave it a 6.1/10 however because it was better than your average ballpark fare).
Other unique features included “stacked bullpens” (where pitchers warm-up), and the best mascot in baseball “The Philly Phanatic”, who entertained all day and drove around the field on an ATV (check the video below for some of his previous highlights).
The game was a tough one from the get-go for the hometown Phillies who were looking to keep their standing as their number 1 team in the NL East, with the Padres scoring 3 quick runs in the top of the first although Philly was able to claw one back to only be down 3-1 heading into the second.
Both teams would exchange runs with the Padres scoring in the third and the Phillies in the fifth to still have a shot only being down 4-2 with plenty of baseball remaining. The visitors though would blast 3 runs in the sixth, followed by another 3 in the ninth to ultimately run away with a big lead of 10-2 that the Phillies could not answer for (however Philadelphia would win the second game that afternoon 5-0).
Given the game was over quickly, I decided not to stick around and get back to my hotel and use the ample time I had in the afternoon to check out the historical sites around Philadelphia.
I got downtown to my hotel relatively quickly (given most stuck around), checked in, showered and hit the pavement.
The first stop was Independence Hall, which had a guided tour explaining the importance of the building where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted.
It was a really interesting site and despite a lot of the interior being reconstructed, it was still cool to be in a place of such history where pioneers decided that it was ridiculous that a small island across the sea was ruling over an entire continent (take note Australia).
Following this, I went over to what is perhaps Philadelphia’s most famous landmark the “Liberty Bell”.
Basically, the story goes that the Liberty Bell was rung by an old bellringer on July 4 1776 upon hearing of Congress’ vote for independence (later to be proved as false as no bells were rung that day). Despite this, it has become an iconic symbol of American Independence and freedom, and has a notable “crack” down the front that appeared the very first time it was rung in Philadelphia.
Other cool places of note in the city that I saw over my days in Philly included, Philadelphia City Hall, China Town, Franklin Square, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Franklin Institute, a whole bunch of squares & parks I cannot remember and of course the most exciting landmark of the all – the Statue of Rocky!
Philadelphia is truly a fantastic city who sure do love themselves a bit of freedom. I’d highly recommend anyone who is visiting the East Coast to either drive or take the train down and give it a couple days (assuming you’re in New York City / Boston).
Lastly, I had heard a ton of stuff online and through friends about the local Philadelphia deli chain “Wawa”. I was sceptical at first, but upon trying one sandwich there, I ended up having it THREE more times – blows the cheesesteaks out of the water and it’s not even close.
Below is the roast beef with all the trimmings (including horseradish – absolute game changer)
I’ve got a few days to rest and recover and then I’ll be meeting up with Dave again at his family’s beach house in Delaware. Then, it’s onto a ballpark I’m very excited for in Baltimore for game 25 at Camden Yards.
Stay tuned for that write up and more!
Thirty before 30 