We live in central New Jersey which is a great place to be if you love Baseball.  Between New York and Philly we have a lot of options to see some great games.  Not to mention all the minor league teams that are also fantastic and I highly recommend you check them out.  The tickets are cheap, games are competitive and it’s always nice to support your local team.

My parents are huge New York Mets fans and they usually make the trek into Flushing, NY a few times a year to catch some games.  Since we are actually closer to Philly it does make a nice afternoon to head over to Citizens Bank Park and check out a Phillies game every so often.  We had taken our daughter Hanna to a Mets game when she was less than one year old, but she was now almost two and thought it would be fun to see a game with the entire family.

We headed into the stadium early to try and get some lunch prior to the game.  We got a table at a place called Harry the K’s Broadcast Bar & Grille.  This is a very popular spot to eat so we were lucky to get a table with such a large group.  As soon as the menu came I noticed something that only appears once in a while especially down in the states.  We are originally from Canada and this dish is served up almost everywhere (even McDonald’s).  Poutine, for those of you that don’t know it is a French-Canadian dish that basically is french fries, coverage with a rich brown gravy and cheese curds.  Basically a heart attach waiting to happen but damn is it good.  Harry The K’s had their own version available which had the usually ingredients but was also topped with crumbled bacon pieces.  How could I resist.

We finished our meals which consisted of cheese steaks (hey we’re in Philly), and burgers.  By this time the crowd was starting to pile into the stadium so we headed to our seats.  It was a beautiful day for a game and the Phillies were playing the Los Angeles Dodgers.

I had found out a few years ago that many baseball stadiums have penny machines.  Some stadiums really do a great job of having new designs each year which are updated with new players, or even recent milestones.  I had gone to a Phillies game in 2013 and got the penny designs then but was going to use this opportunity to see if there were new designs for 2014.  Never wanting to seem to anxious I wanted until about the 3rd inning before heading out to look around.  The machines are almost always inside or near the main gift shop.  By the time I made it to the store I had to squeeze my way through a massive number of people trying on jerseys and hats.  Finally by the checkout area I found the penny machine which was in the exact same spot as last year.  I was disappointed to see that the designs hadn’t change.  But being the glutton for pressed pennies that I am I pressed a new set anyways (never hurts to have extras).

All four designs pressed very nicely and looked great on the shiny pennies I had brought.  I liked these designs and think they are pretty creative:  Fightin’ Phils, Catch the Phillies Phever, #1 Fan and the Philly Phanatic.

The game was great, not so much for the Phillies but the L.A. Dodgers starting pitcher Josh Beckett ended up throwing a no-hitter which was amazing to watch.  I don’t think Hanna was overly excited by the game but she loved the Crab Fries (Thin crinkle cut fries with Old Bay Seasoning).

We’ll be back next year and hopefully there will be some new pennies to add to the collection.