Day 5 - Some Downtime in Minnesota, Kind Of. #17 - Target Field

After we left the Field of Dreams, we headed north, bound for Minneapolis, Minnesota.  When planning for the trip, I reached out to my good friend, Nelson Neale for advice on where to stay and how best to get around Minneapolis.  Nelson and his lovely wife, Rose invited us to have dinner at his house upon arriving in Minnesota that evening.  And I must say, after 4 days of fast food restaurants and hotel breakfasts, it was a welcome treat to have a sit-down meal and good conversation with an old friend who I had not seen in a while.  We all had a great time catching up as well as being entertained by their 4-year-old daughter, Grayson.

After a very relaxing evening, we returned to our hotel and were looking forward to some downtime the next day before the Twins game later that night.  Or so we thought.  After a leisurely morning of resting and catching up on some laundry, we decided to visit the Mall of America.

Whoa!  What an impressive place.  Every shopper's dream place.  I don't know how many stores and restaurants are there, but if you can think of any name of a retail store, chances are it is there.  And the food choices were too many to count.  But to top it all, there are amusement park rides inside the mall.  It was incredible and a must visit place for anyone who comes to Minneapolis.

Amusement Park inside the Mall of America

Tate on the Log Ride

So after walking around the mall for several hours, we returned to our hotel to get ready for the game.  Once again, our friends, Nelson and Rose really took care of us.  They hooked us up with some great tickets for the game that night between the Twins and the Tampa Bay Rays.  We headed out to Target Field.

The Ball Park was very nice, as were the people there.  It is a great place to see a game.  The weather was perfect with temperatures in the mid 70s.

Target Field from section 109

We did arrive early enough for Batting Practice, the first time on this trip and if you've been reading this blog, you would know that is important for the boys.  Unfortunately, we did not get any baseballs this time, but a lot of BP home runs were hit.

The game looked to be a pretty good matchup between two different teams both at the top of their divisions.  The game turned out to be kind of lopsided as the Twins jumped all over the Rays 9-4.  The Twins' explosive offense already had double-figure hits by the 4th inning.

A Big Thanks to Nelson, Rose, and Grayson for a great time at Target Field

The food at the stadium was pretty good.  We had fried cheese curds for the first time, which were quite tasty.  The boys were excited to see a lot of hits including 3 home runs.  Our time at the Twins game was very enjoyable and once again, we thank the Neales for their generous hospitality and especially to Grayson for the in-game entertainment.

As an added bonus, we were also joined by our friend Ryan Feltis, a pilot with United, who had just flown in that afternoon and decided to take in the Twins game.  He, too, is trying to see all 30 Major League Stadiums and this was number 29 for him (one more to go, Fenway!).

So, after a "restful" time in Minneapolis, we would head to Milwaukee the next day.  17 Stadiums down, 13 to go.  We really had a great time in Minnesota.

Tate and Trey at Target Field

 

Target Field was a very nice park and the Minnesotans really like to cheer on their Twins.  The fans in the Midwest really have a lot of pride for their teams.  I guess that is why is referred to as America's Past time.  Every region in America comes out to support their teams especially in the Midwest in my opinion.