Daytripping: Giants vs. Cubs @ AT&T Park

$18 each

We're in the home stretch of the school year, which means I figured it would be a perfect week to pull the boys out of school for a day and head to San Francisco to catch a Giants game. That's exactly what we did yesterday: we took the boys to their first major league baseball game.

Third base

Back in December, a FB friend had posted a link to the Giants' web site advertising early bird pricing for upcoming games. Since the price for attending a pro sporting event is exorbitant bordering on obscene (IMO), I decided to take advantage of this offer. Sure, they were bleacher seats, but we had a pretty good view of third base. Eighteen bucks per ticket plus thirty bucks for parking. Needless to say, the pricing for a weekend game was considerably higher than a weekday game, hence the reason why we went on a Monday. Taking your family to a major league game is not for the faint of wallet. And then there's the concession stand...or should I say multiple concessions. Holy Toledo, I am glad I bought the tickets back in December because if I had to drop that amount of money all at once, I would have needed my inhaler. We did manage to bring our own water in a soft-sided cooler. Really, though, if you go to AT&T park to catch a game, then you simply must get the garlic fries. Spare no expense.

Score board

My main concern for this outing was how the boys would tolerate the noise level. They actually did fantastic. My youngest son loved listening to the organ music and the fans clapping their hands. And when Queen's "We Will Rock You" came on the loudspeaker, he started laughing and squealing. The only problem we encountered (and it was minor) was the stairs. I had to take my youngest son to the restroom a couple of times and going up and down the stairs was difficult for him. If we do this again, I'll check and see if there is more accessible seating.

My oldest son actually paid attention to the game for the most part. He did bring his Nintendo DS just in case, but really there was so much auditory and visual stimulation that he hardly played it.

It wouldn't be a Giants game without a little bit of San Francisco overcast. It was a tad drizzly but only for about 15 minutes. And of course, it wouldn't be a Giants game without playing Journey's "When the Lights Go Down in the City". As an added bonus, the Giants beat the Cubs 3-2. Woo hoo!! All in all, a great day.