Personally I am a big fan of the new indoor/outdoor stadiums like Minute Maid Park in Houston. When it is raining outside the game still goes on. When the weather is foul the roof is closed and players and fans can enjoy the game in comfort. When the weather is sunny and fair the roof can be opened. At night the roof is usually opened during the late innings when the hundred degree summer temperatures have cooled off for the day.

The park in Houston has all of the amenities of Major League parks everywhere. Multiple food options. Multiple levels. Club seating and areas. Some levels even have waiters who visit you in the seats. There are various bars and shops and even a couple of nice restaurants within the facility. Ruggles has a patio just outside the right center field wall where the dining tables occasionally have a baseball drop into the diner's soup.

The parking is much improved but far more expensive. Instead of a large fenced in complex where everyone has long lines to wait in to escape after the game parking is now open. Various downtown Houston car lots surrounding the facility offer parking. Parking close to the stadium, of course, costs more than parking a few lots away. Willingness to walk can save you a great deal of money.

I spent a great deal of time in the Astrodome which was Minute Maid's predecessor in Houston. While that park also protected you from the elements it also held in all of the smoke from a night of people puffing away. Those days are over. Smoking in public buildings is virtually gone in Texas anyway. But the Dome was quite run down by the time the Astros moved to a new park. It gets very little use now.

Learn more about this author, Joseph Mohr.
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