Game Time…

Since leaving Baltimore, MD, there are only a few things that I miss…First thing is the seafood..Second thing is Kids & Grandkids…Third thing is Baltimore Ravens Training Camp…After leaving Maryland, it always seemed that no matter what town we have been in, the Ravens were always playing at home…For example, we live for some time in the Davenport area and Tampa isn’t that far away but during the season, the Ravens have played the Buccaneers in Baltimore…This is how it goes…Fortunately, this time Richard noticed that the Ravens were playing the St. Louis Rams in a pre-season game which is close enough for me…

The pre-season game is being played at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, MO…We are about 2 1/2 hours northwest of St. Louis…A while ago, I noticed that the Ravens were going to be in St. Louis but forgot about it…My sweetie, Richard, was looking at the Ravens schedule and noticed that they were playing in St. Louis…He brought it up to me and we discussed getting tickets…He asked me why I didn’t bring it up and I said “cause I remember when you said that you don’t really like going to a game…That you would rather watch the game on tv” so I didn’t bring it up…We went online and went to Stubhub.com to find tickets…Great prices for our seats…Total for the 2 seats, Lower Concourse, Section 142, Row B, Seats 22 & 23 for about $120…and Visitors Side…August 30, 2012 at 6pm CST…

Our first stop was Red Lobster in Chesterfield, MO..We have never been disappointed with our food at this restaurant in all the places we have been in…Cheddar Biscuits are awesome as long as they are warm…I always get my normal and Richard got the All You Can Eat Shrimp…

After a great meal, we finished our drive down to St. Louis…Just follow the signs to a parking garage called Broadway & Locust that are in Blue background & Yellow lettering between Locust St. and Washington Ave…Well, we saw the one garage and knew it had to be it but we had to go around the block one more time cause we went pass it…An online site called Parkwhiz.com was awesome…Paid $15 for a spot that was guaranteed…Awesome!  This is part of the America Center that is near the Dome…America’s Center is on Washington Street…

  

The truck was parked, grabbed our cameras-pillow-homemade sign, and off to the Dome that was only a block away…We saw a few Ravens fans walking to the Dome…At the entrance, we got scanned and bags got checked…Walking around the Dome to find our section was very easy…Section 141-142…

 

We got to the game around 5pm…It was awesome to watch some of the pre-game activities between both teams…What one didn’t realize was that most of the regular players weren’t fully dressed to play…Maybe for a little practice but not for the game…Most of the main players didn’t have their black knee socks on, just socks and shoes…Dead giveaway… but what the heck…It was going to be fun…

   

It was great to see our awesome Head Coach, John Harbaugh, on the field…There were moments when he was pissed at the Side Judges and was giving them hell…

  

Our awesome seats…There was only one more row of seats in front of us…For a little while, there were no bodies to block the view…

Three quarters went by with our guys getting their butt kicked…The Rams had some of the main players playing for at least half of the game while we had mostly 2nd & 3rd stringers in…Some tipped balls to the Rams didn’t help the score or the non-scoring on the Ravens end…Justin Tucker did an awesome job and Koch, as normal, did his job very well…Pierce, Rookie RB, did a great job…I wasn’t too keen on how Tyrod Taylor played and I thought Curtis Painter did a better job than Taylor…

A little Ray Rice action on the side line was great…I got a thumbs up from Matt Birk when I yelled his name…I wish I had a players chart with their faces on it so I could tell the rest of players apart whom all were all dressed alike in all black outfits…We had a rough time trying to find Ray Lewis but after a while, we found him next to Ed Reed chit chatting…Ray Lewis does like to hide…lol

There were 3 young guys who moved down from where they were sitting to be down by the railing…They kept yelling for Ed Reed to throw them the football…When the game was over, Ed Reed walked over to the TV interviewer, who was set up not far from us, talked to the interviewer and then slapped the hands of the guys…There was a table in our way where we were sitting and by the time I could have gotten to where he was, Ed Reed was heading back to the center of the football field to congratulate the Rams on their win…

Our 2012 Draft Rookies…

One of our new TE’s is Billy Bajema…With a little work, he could be a very good TE for Flacco to throw to..

After the game, on our drive back home, we decided to find a place to grab a bite to eat…Ah, a Hardees sign along with a few other restaurants…We got off of the highway and was trying to find the Hardees…No Hardees was in sight…We decided to eat at a new place, the Steak’nShake…Pretty interesting, to say the least…

Has anyone ever heard of a “Steak Frank”?  or Guacamole in the center of your “steak frank”?  But Richard said the Steak Burger was good…He also got a Chocolate Malt which was very good…It always seems that when I sit in a booth bench, I feel that I always need a booster seat…I tried to have a sip of the malt and found myself not quite reaching the top of the straw…and bending it wouldn’t help either…

What a great day with my sweetie…Thanks for suggesting going to the game…I had a blast…Just seeing our Baltimore Ravens in person was awesome…Spending the time with you was more than awesome…