MLB Parks Tour #12 – Turner Field, Atlanta, GA – 2011
Working through these as quickly as I can preparing for the trip in June!
Our trip to Atlanta was a pretty exciting one. While many people would consider a drive from Fort Worth to the Georgia capital pretty uninspiring, for us it was to be the last road trip we ever took as a family of two. We found out in October that we were going to be pregnant with our first child (which we’d have just two months later), and decided to take a little “babymoon” trip to Georgia and Pensacola, Florida. We had such a great time, staying in the Atlantic Station area, visiting Stone Mountain, and eating at Hotlanta staples, Ted’s Montana Grill and The Vortex. And when we got out of Atlanta after the game, we got to visit some new friends we met while in Europe, Mark & Tammy Tamayo. And on that note, I should mention we got to eat at the greatness that is Peg Leg Pete’s, the restaurant that Mark manages.
The trip was eventful, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the baseball park and game we attended (especially considering the title of this post). I was actually quite excited to visit Turner Field, less for the park itself and more for the history that surrounds the Braves franchise. Well, that and the chance to participate in an authentic Tomahawk Chop. Turner Field, or “The Ted”, was completed in 1996 as Centennial Olympic Stadium, and was the the centerpiece of the Olympics being held in Atlanta that year. The next year it was converted to a baseball stadium, and just in time too, as the Braves would dominate the National League for nearly a decade following. Some of its features include the giant Coke bottle and Chick-Fil-A cow (who does the famous chop when the Braves hit homeruns) in the outfield, as well as the once Guiness World Record holding HD video board in center field. And you can’t help but notice all those pennants!