Aug 07 2006 02:34 PM
We are back from our trip to St. Louis, and D-Dad and I are back up to having seen baseball in every current major league stadium. The New Busch is nice - somewhere in the middle of the pack of the new stadiums. The construction is reminiscent of Citizens Bank Ballpark, but the access to the upper levels is better than at the CB. OTOH, the CB has better and more diverse food selection - Busch's food offerings are nothing special, and the food is horribly overpriced.
We were there last Wednesday for the Cards' 16-8 loss to the Phillies. We started out in the Infield Terrace Boxes (i.e. - Ueker seats), but later in the game we moved around to check out other areas of the park. The ushers were very cool about that, especially in the late innings. The seats are nice and with good viewing angles, although not particularly wide or roomy. When the place is sold out, you feel kind of packed in. As with its predecessor, Busch has a downtown location that's pretty easy to access (we stayed at Laclede's Landing, and the local merchants provided shuttle vans to and from the stadium on game days).
The view from Busch is nice, with the Arch in the background, but it doesn't compare to the beauty of PNC or the character of the Great American Ballpark.
I will say this - the folks in St. Louis do love their Cardinals. They may or may not be knowledgable (I know that Greg feels their reputation in that regard is overrated), but we encountered people in Cardinals gear everywhere we went. The crowds at the park were pretty subdued, but that's going to happen when a team is in the midst of an 8-game losing streak.
Aside from baseball, there's a lot to do in St. Louis - we toured the brewery, visited the science museum, toured a house built by Frank Lloyd Wright, and checked out the Bowling HOF/Cardinals HOF (you get two HOFs for the price of one). It's a nice destination for a quick family getaway - the Diamond Knights (minus Impulse2, who is away at camp) had a very pleasant time there.
under the Arch
