Baseball: Toronto Blue Jays vs Philadelphia Phillies

We attended a game of the Toronto Blue Jays vs Philadelphia Phillies, playing at the Blue Jay’s ballpark, Rogers Centre, the only MLB team in Canada.

Jenn’s game summary:

Our first domed stadium. They can open the roof, but it was closed due to drizzle and maybe wildfire smoke. A lovely park with excellent food and a vibrant atmosphere. The Blue Jays came out for four runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings each to make total cream cheese of the Phillies, who only scraped together one run. Bassitt recorded his 1100th career strikeout, and Bo Bichette hit his 8th home run of the year. It was a fun game with a bit of local color—they sang a song called “OK Blue Jays” before “Take Me Out To the Ballgame,” and everyone knew the words and gestures, creating a great community vibe.

An interactive map of the ballpark environs:

This ballpark was a little more difficult to get to, as we had to cross an international border into Canada:

Welcome to Canada

Toronto:

Toronto

CN Tower:

CN Tower

CN Tower

Toronto Blue Jays:

Toronto Blue Jays

Toronto Blue Jays

Team store:

Team store

Mary Brown’s Chicken:

Mary Brown's Chicken

Poutine (of course) and chicken tenders:

Poutine and chicken tenders

Selfie from our seats in Section 119, Row 12, Seats 13 & 14:

Selfie from our seats

Closed dome:

Closed dome

Ace, the Blue Jays mascot:

Ace, the Blue Jays mascot

Cheerleaders:

Cheerleaders

Play ball:

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Hotel rooms overlooking the field:

Hotel rooms overlooking the field

A run scores:

Run scores

Two more runs:

Run scores

The mascot “helping” the grounds crew:

Mascot helping grounds crew

Exploring the ballpark:

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Chungchun rice hot dogs:

Chungchun rice hot dogs

Gamsung hot dog covered in potato, and half mozzarella hot dog:

Chungchun rice hot dogs

Cheerleader:

Cheerleader

Blue Jays win:

Blue Jays win

Ballpark

Niagara Falls: Maid of the Mist

We had a boat ride below Niagara Falls on Maid of the Mist, which goes up close to both the American and Horseshoe falls.

Boarding the boat via the floating loading platform:

Boarding boat

A viewing platform tower, included as part of the package, which also serves as an elevator down to the boat:

Viewing tower

A view of the Rainbow Bridge to Canada from the top deck of the boat:

View of Rainbow Bridge from boat

The American Falls:

Falls

Selfie

American Falls

American Falls

Cave of the Winds platforms:

Cave of the Winds platforms

Ponchos

Horseshoe Falls:

Horseshoe Falls

Horseshoe Falls

Horseshoe Falls

Horseshoe Falls

Horseshoe Falls

Horseshoe Falls

Horseshoe Falls

Horseshoe Falls

Horseshoe Falls

Horseshoe Falls

Horseshoe Falls

Canadian boat:

Canadian boat

Canadian boat

Back to the American Falls:

American Falls

Tower and falls

A super fun (and damp!) experience.

Baseball: Cleveland Guardians vs Los Angeles Angels

We attended a game of the Cleveland Guardians vs the Los Angeles Angels, playing at the Guardians’ ballpark, Progressive Field.

Jenn’s game summary:

A fun game with some interesting scoring stuff I’d never seen before, including a single that was also an E7 and then an “OAD 3-6-5” with the batter thrown out at third. Also, a delayed HBP call on a final out, so guys were back in the dugout and had to get back out to continue. The Angels struck first with back-to-back homers in the third (just after the above wacky play). Mike Trout got a couple singles and an RBI double, but the Guardians got three homers of their own (José Ramirez, Steven Kwan, and Carlos Santana) with some other hits mixed in to eventually win it 7-5. The food was pretty terrible (dogs were both soggy & burnt?!) but really good nachos and ice cream saved the day.

An interactive map of the ballpark:

Progressive Field:

Progressive Field

Progressive Field

Long line for the team store:

Long line for the team store

Team store

Pretzel, gross hot dog, soda, and water:

Pretzel, gross hot dog, soda, and water

More edible mozzarella sticks and tots:

More edible mozzarella sticks and tots

Angels vs Guardians:

Angels vs Guardians

Cheerleader:

Cheerleader

Seat selfie:

Seat selfie

The view from our seats in Section 136, Row Y, Seats 1 & 2:

View from our seats

Play ball:

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

This guy a few seats down from us caught a foul ball:

This guy a few seats down from us caught a foul ball

Heritage park:

Heritage park

Heritage park

Heritage park

Heritage park

Bullpens:

Bullpens

Exploring the ballpark:

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Nice nachos:

Nachos

Nachos

Home run:

Home run

Perry’s ice cream:

Perry's ice cream

Churro sundae:

Churro sundae

Play under review:

Play under review

Baseball

Scores:

Scores

Guardians win:

Guardians win

Mangia! Mangia!

We had dinner at Mangia! Mangia!, self-described as “A Really Good Italian Restaurant”… and we have to admit, they weren’t lying.

The large parking lot was packed, but we managed to snag one of a couple empty spots. We were worried that they’d be too busy, but were seated straight away.

The menu:

Menu

Menu

Menu

Jenn’s veal parmigana & noodles:

Veal parmigana & noodles

My lasagna:

Lasagna

I also had a baked spud side:

Also baked spud side

Dessert menu:

Dessert menu

We shared a cannoli:

Cannoli

Everything was delicious. We can see why it’s a popular place.