Spring Training 2020

Earlier this month, before the Corona Virus became such a big deal in the U.S. we left work on Friday and drove down to Bushnell, Florida. We stayed at the Roadway Inn. Rob had enough Choice Hotel Points that we could stay for free. Saturday we got up and grabbed some packaged breakfast novelties and drove 2 more hours down to North Port.

Since it was Alex’s birthday, he got to choose where to eat. We ended up at Bocca Lupos Pizza. They have one in the West Villages, which is just about mile from the new Braves Stadium where we were going for the game. However, it hasn’t opened yet. Still under construction. So we drove about 9 miles down the road to the North Port restaurant. Pizza was good and we made it to the stadium in plenty of time.

Atlanta Braves

Cool Today Park
18800 West Villages Parkway
Venice, FL 34293
Rays vs. Braves (Venice)
Home of the Braves since 2019
Game Time: 1:05pm
Opened: 2019
Capacity: 8,200
Parking: $10, which we reserved ahead of time online when we bought our tickets.

Top 3 pics are views you see from around the outside of the park. This stadium is boxy. When we entered there was a guy playing baseball songs on the Accordion, which added a nice touch. Rob went into the Team Store and got a new Braves hat. From there we walked around the park. Bottom left pic is the Chair of Honor to remember and thank our military.

Several food options some pictured below.

The Chicken Coop has Chicken Tender and Boneless Wings both of which come with fries for $9. You can get the Tenders or Boneless Wings with Fries for $9. They have Sharkfries (fries with seasoning.)

Right next door is Fish Camp, which offers fried fish with Kettle Chips for $9. They also have shrimp and conch fritters among other things

There’s also Salsa Supreme down the 1B line. They feature Kitchen Sink Nachos for $9 and a couple empanadas for $8. They serve tacos (2 for $9) and even soft-serve ice cream for $6.

The two Dawgs ‘n’ Burgers stands offers your every day stadium food:
– hot dog for $4
– corn dog for $8
– burger with fries for $10
– grilled chicken sandwich with fries for $10

In the outfield concourse are kiosks for Papa John’s Pizza and Landshark beer.

There’s the Tomahawk Tiki Bar where you can order burgers at the bar and of course beer and mixed drinks.

The Craft Beer Bar located behind 3B has local brews. Cups that hold 22 ounces are $7. I had a beer from there it was delish!

Here’s more pics from the game.

The Braves mascot Blooper is pretty cool, I’ve got to admit because we first came out a couple years ago I wasn’t impressed.

One of the relief pitchers was Grant Dayton who went to Auburn!

The game ended a 1-1 tie.

After that since it was Alex’s birthday he decided he wanted to go play basketball or as he says “hoopin’.”

He found Windmere Park online and mapped us there. I was proud to see him ask the other guys who were there playing if they wanted to play a pick up game. They did.

From there we drove over to the Sharky’s on the Pier and walked along the pier. We looked at dinner there, but it was a long wait.

After that we went over to Caspersen Beach and while this beach is supposed to be a great place to find shark teeth, all we found were a bunch of shells.

The Birthday Boy!

We ended up having dinner at Left Coast Seafood. Rob had the Seafood Casserole. I had the Blackened Grouper and Hush Puppies. The boys both got the Shrimp Platter and fries. Alex got a free Key Lime Pie.

That night we stayed at the Country Inn and Suites at Port Charlotte.

More pics from Day 1 here.

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The next morning it was of to do some shopping for Alex. After that we ran of time for lunch so we headed on to the game.

Tampa Bay Rays

Charlotte Sports Park
2300 El Jobean Road
Port Charlotte, FL 33948
Pirates vs Rays (Port Charlotte)
Spring Training home of the Rays since 2009
Game Time: 1:05pm
Opened: 1987
Renovated: 2009
Capacity: 6,823
Parking: There’s large grass field with gravel lanes behind the stadium. We parked at the Fair Grounds across the street. Both of these options are $10.

We walked all the way around the stadium before the game and got food. I think all of us ended up getting regular ball park food; burgers, nachos, sausage dog. I didn’t make note of all the food like I did for the Braves. You can check out this post for more info: Stadium Review Charlotte County Sports Park

We had great seats for this game. I really enjoyed that perspective as you can see from all my pics here.

Pirates vs Rays also ended in a tie; 2-2 .

After the game we made our way to Rob’s Gramma’s house where we cooked Poppy Seed Chicken. Rob took the boys to play basketball at Delta Woods Park. I stayed back to stretch and lay on the heating pad. In pain from right hip and down my leg.

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The next day we got up and drove to Dunedin for the Blue Jays game. We needed to grab lunch first. We ended up at Crown & Bull. We outside in the back, which was really nice. Drew and I had the Steak Sandwich.

Rob had the Grouper Bo’Poy and Alex had some Breakfast items À la carte. I highly recommend Crown & Bull if you’re ever in Dunedin! After getting really full, we made our way over to the stadium.

Toronto Blue Jays

TD Ballpark
373 Douglas Avenue
Dunedin, FL 34698
Rays v Blue Jays (Dunedin)
Spring Training home of the Blue Jays since 1977
1:05
Opened: 1930
Renovated: 1977, 1990, 2002, 2019
Capacity: 8,500

This stadium and the city of Dunedin is probably our favorite of all the Spring Training parks in Florida so we’ve repeated this park 2015 – 2016 – 2017. They did renovate after last season, so you can read about the change here.