July 4th in Cincinnati! This was the first year that Angela and I have spent away from family during the July 4th holiday. So we set out for Cincinnati to see the Reds take on the Washington Nationals. The stadium sits right on the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati. I will say it was a great experience. In Chattanooga, you could always find free parking downtown for any event, but in Cincinnati unless you want to walk 3 miles one way, you pay for parking.
So we parked about 5 blocks from the stadium and started walking. On the way, there were many street vendors that sold peanuts, water, chips, and cokes (or up here, pop). We found out, you can take all of these items into the ball park if they were un-opened. So instead of paying $4 in the park for a water, we paid $1 out on the street!! So for anyone thinking about going to a major league game, support your street vendors!
We then found our seats in the upper decks and waited. This kid that looked 13 years old came out with an electric guitar and played a Jimmy Hendrix version of The Star Spangled Banner and it rocked. At the same time, some zoo came in and let loose several bald eagles in the park. It was a great opening for a 4th of July game.
To summarize, Cincinnati was down most of the game and came back to win! Ken Griffy Jr. came up to bat 4 times and every time struck out. That was a little disappointing. As most people know, watching baseball on TV is pretty boring, but when you go to a game, you really get into it. It rained towards the end of the game, but Angela brought along our trusty umbrella and we kept dry until it finished.
After the game, they had a 25 minute fireworks display that wasn't as good as Chattanooga, but was very entertaining. We then took off to the car, got in and got on the freeway to home in about 10 minutes. In the end, we spent longer trying to get out of Chattanooga for a Lookouts game.
