Camden Yards

[jpenrod]

I will be making my first trip to Camden Yards April 8th to watch the O's take on the BoSox. As this is my first trip there I want to experience as much of the stadium as possible. What are some of the things the yard offers that I should make sure I check out?

[Baseball Guru]

Boog's BBQ is a great pace to eat there

Also, if you go a little early, right around the corner from Camden is the house that Babe Ruth was born in that you can check out...

That whole area of Baltimore is so nice...

[Riverdog]

I'd love to give you advice cause that would mean I've been there. Unfortunately, I haven't. Camden is on the dream list of parks I hope to go to one day. I've been to more than half a dozen parks but I'm dying to go to more.

[jpenrod]

...I'm dying to go to more.

That is going to make it rather difficult to make it to anymore isn't it?

[Mike D.]

I've been there a couple times...great ballpark. Get there early, check out the Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum if time permits, and there's a couple nice little pubs between the ballpark and the museum...great for a pre-game bite and beverage.

Once in the park, get up and walk around...it's a great ballpark for that...wide concourses, plenty to see, etc.

You'll see a LOT of Sox fans...I took a bus trip down there last August for a Sox/O's game, and at least half the fans there were in Boston garb!

[Sean O]

It'll be at least 2/3rds Sox fans, yeah. I'll actually be there myself in the bleachers to cheer on the Olde Towne Team; it should be a lot of fun.

Camden is absolutely gorgeous, and one of the few retro parks that deserves to stand for decades to come. The setting is perfect, the warehouse is perfect, and the atmosphere is perfect.

I personally suggest walking to the harbor and eating there, since there are a lot of nice places. We always eat at Chipotle for tremendous burritos, hearkening back to our time in Chicago, where chipotles grow like hotcakes.

[Brian McKenna]

there are two museums (well really just an expansion of the babe ruth museum) - one next to the stadium is the orioles museum - it has a lot of stuff and johnny unitas gave them much of his stuff - the other is a short walk away - it's babe ruth's birthplace - a row house - they purchased other adjacent house and made an exhibit of it - there are large pictures of baseballs on the sidewalk that take you from the birthplace to the ballpark - 5 minute walk

[bigworm_122]

i would HIGHLY suggest taking the camden yards ballpark tour...you can even go out on the field

http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/bal/ballpark/tours.jsp

check it out...it is only $7 per adult...it is great to do, say, on the morning you are leaving town.

to get to the babe ruth museum...just follow the baseballs painted on the sidewalk leading from the babe ruth statue on eutaw street.

i would also walk down to the inner harbor and check out the aquarium. last time i was there they were remodeling it.

but stay away from the hooter's restuaraunt. last time i was there the waitress stole my jersey, and was wearing it to and from the kitchen...if she would have got any food stains on it there would have been hell to pay... and after all that she got almost no tip from me.

[Captain Cold Nose]

I'm glad to see the Ruth museum is still there. I went over 20 years ago, and really enjoyed it. I'm thinking of driving down during my annual visit to Southern Pennsylvania.

[Erik Bedard]

Actually, in reference to the earlier posts about Sox fans, that was just last August, when most of the fans were so disgusted with the team (Palmeiro, Sosa, Javy Lopez, Tejada, Ponson, etc.) that they sold their tickets. In Baltimore, hope springs eternal in March and April, but goes away by late summer. Sometimes even earlier.

[1995hoo]

I haven't been up there since 2001 (went to see Cal Ripken play one last time before he retired). There's a road between the baseball and football stadiums that crosses over the light-rail tracks on an overpass, then goes under the highway, then passes through a really rotten neighborhood. If you follow that road to where it ends at a T-intersection and then turn right, you'll find some great bars to visit. (It's about a 10-minute walk and is reasonably safe despite the bad neighborhood.) Fells Point is also a nice area to go if you get there a few hours prior to the game; the easiest way to do this is to go down to the Inner Harbor and take the water taxi.

My recollection is that the best beer at Camden Yards is in the Eutaw Street alley out between right field and the warehouse. The crabcakes sold in the ballpark are also good, though pricey.

I just might have to go up to Baltimore when the Nationals play there in June; it would be nice to get a bunch of DC fans there to give Angelos the collective middle finger.

[redbuck]

Get there early. The right field walkway is a lot of fun before the game. Check out the Babe Ruth statue in center.

The concourses are all enclosed, which isn't too good but there are some nice restaurants.

The warehouse district and the light rail system are nice.

[Brian McKenna]

Actually, in reference to the earlier posts about Sox fans, that was just last August, when most of the fans were so disgusted with the team (Palmeiro, Sosa, Javy Lopez, Tejada, Ponson, etc.) that they sold their tickets. In Baltimore, hope springs eternal in March and April, but goes away by late summer. Sometimes even earlier.

isn't late summer about the time weak pitching begins to fade? - might be a correlation there, you think?

[Brian McKenna]

I'm glad to see the Ruth museum is still there. I went over 20 years ago, and really enjoyed it. I'm thinking of driving down during my annual visit to Southern Pennsylvania.

i used to volunteer there about 15-18 or so years ago - they had all the reels from the old colt games in a backroom - guess irsay left them behind