On June 8th, the King & I officially rejoined Club 122 if you will. We saw a baseball game at the Atlanta Braves new ballpark called SunTrust Park which is located in Marietta, a northern suburb in Cobb County. It's a 25 mile drive from the Atlanta Hartsfield Airport which is 10 miles south of downtown Atlanta where their old home, Turner Field was located. For whatever reason, the Braves decided not to renew their lease. With that being said, they decided to move out to the suburbs. Like anything else in life, some people like the move & others hate it. As a visitor, I'm indifferent. I loved Turner Field but now I have a new place to go if & when I'm in Atlanta again. In that regard, it works for me. If I lived & worked in downtown Atlanta, I wouldn't be too happy.
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| Inaugural Season Logo |
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| SunTrust Park sign by Third Base Gate |
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| Phil Niekro Statue by Third Base Gate |
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| Bobby Cox Statue by First Base Gate |
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| Atlanta Braves Sign in the Battery |
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| Chophouse Gate | |
As for SunTrust Park, the location is the biggest problem. If you don't drive, it's definitely going to be a nightmare. You can resort to taking public transportation but it will be a very time consuming proposition. As an alternative, I suggest that you take it as far as you can then arrange to get an Uber to take you the rest of the way. As for the King & I, I rented a car while we were there. However since we stayed at the Ramada Inn which was about 3 or 4 miles away, we decided to see how the public transportation was from there. We wound up walking almost a mile down Delk Road to get a bus on Bentley Road. After a short wait we got on the #10 bus which took us right to the ballpark. We each paid $2.50 to get on. After the the game, we decided to go to Steak N Shake which was a short walk from the ballpark. After we ate, we proceeded to walk another mile or so to Aker Mill Road off Cobb Parkway where we eventually picked up the #50 bus which would have took us right to our hotel but for some reason, I decided to get off the bus early. It turned out not to be a total loss. As a result, I noticed a restaurant called the
Delkwood Grill & Bar which was on the way back to the hotel. It wound up being beneficial because we ended up going there for a post game meal after the day night doubleheader Saturday night. It was a great alternative to staying in the Battery which is the entertainment district at the ballpark. It's still under construction. They have a number of bars & restaurants there with many more coming in the near future.
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| Ramada Inn in Marietta, Georgia |
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| Marta Bus Stop for 10A bus by Bentley Manor Apartment Homes |
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| Marta Bus Stop for 50 bus by Akers Mill |
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| The Crossings at Akers Mill | | | | | | |
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| Delkwood Grill and Bar |
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| Outside of Delkwood Grill and Bar |
Friday night I drove up to the ballpark, we wound up paying $15 to park & we still had to walk a mile or so to get to the game. Along the way, I saw a check cashing place which seemed odd because I personally thought the surrounding area look more on the upscale side. Mind you most ballparks & other sports venues are usually located in the less attractive parts of a city or suburbs. For the most part, SunTrust Park is surrounded by many different places including a variety of hotels, chain restaurants, gas stations as well the Battery itself. In other words, assuming you drive you have numerous options to choose from there. As for parking, I strongly suggest that you get a prepaid parking pass. That's what we did on Saturday & Sunday thanks to our pal Bryan Gilligan who joined us for the weekend. He got us a parking pass in lot 29 which is a tailgate lot. They have other lots as well as parking garages. For our needs, this lot worked out really well. Our other friends Michelle Ronis & Jeremy Bank wound up staying at a Courtyard by Marriott that was walking distance to the ballpark. Even though they rented a car they left it at the hotel.
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| View from Chophouse Seats |
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| My Official MLB Passport Book Stamp |
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| King & I in Section 324 row 7 |
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| View from section 324 row 7 |
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| Braves Vision |
As for the ballpark itself, I want to thank fellow Ballpark Chaser & Stampeder, Robert O'Neil who lives within walking distance of the ballpark. He has season tickets for the Braves. He has a pair of seats in section 324 row 7 which is just to the right of home plate. The King & I wound up buying these seats from him for our first game there when the Braves played the Phillies. It worked out really well for us. The usher there named Katherine was very friendly & she enjoyed our company. I went over to guest services & I told them what a great job she did. I'm not one to praise people who work at a ballpark quickly. She was a real sweetheart. If you go there, please stop by & tell her I said hello from New York. In addition, Robert also has a pair of seats in the Chophouse which is the party area in right field. As a season ticket holder, Robert has set up a Facebook group to help other people get tickets to see SunTrust Park. He was able to get my friends & I tickets for the rest of the weekend. We requested seats in section 426 & he was able to accommodate us. We were all grateful for his kindness. As I like to say, teamwork makes the dream work.
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| King, me & Robert O'Neil |
On Sunday, I got to meet & greet some new people I talk to online from time to time. I'm referring to Jay Carlton who goes by Carlton Jay on Facebook. He drove over from his home which is 32 miles southeast of Nashville, Tennessee along with his lovely wife Anna & their adorable daughter, Jordin. It was so nice to meet these wonderful people.
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| Jay Carlton & I |
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| King, me & Jay Carlton in Section 426 |
In addition, I got to see another young lady named Karrie Weddle who I met at Yankee Stadium last September. She had run a 5K race that Sunday morning she said & they gave her a ticket for the game. It was her first one there. She also lives a few miles from the ballpark. It was so nice to catch up with her again.
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| Karrie Weddle & I |
As for the games we saw, the Braves won the first two & the Mets won the last three so it turned out to be a very fun time at the new home of the Braves. I plan to return again in September to see the Mets again as well as the Georgia Bulldogs & the Falcons in their new downtown home, Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Thank you for reading & following along.
Yours truly,
Gary Herman
