Disclosure: Fairfield Inn in Lake City gave our family accommodations however, the opinions are our own.
A family baseball road trip to meet Cesar Ramos, Relief Pitcher of the Tampa Bay Rays, comprised leg 4 of our vacation adventure. Our family has the tradition of visiting several major league baseball parks every summer with the goal of hitting every park in America. While the goal may take our whole lives, we want to achieve the exciting adventure together. So far we have traveled to 20 of the 30 parks. At each park, we have experienced a different slice of America from the local culinary favorites to kiddie friendly baseball training to adventure playgrounds. Our family documents every trip with photos and souvenir baseballs from each park. Our daughter discovered with delight that most teams offer a ball in pink. Meanwhile, the boys now have baseballs in every color of the rainbow.
Family Baseball Road Trip Memories
Each summer, we try to hit at least one to two stadiums as part of our family vacations. This year, when we road tripped from Houston TX along the Gulf coast to Disney World, we hit the Tampa Bay Rays. Attending the mid-day game was the perfect event for Father’s Day. The stadium staff warmly welcomed everyone with father’s day greetings and the children received free headphones in the color of their choice (perfect for our road trip!). Modeled after Ebbets field, Tropicana Stadium is one of the nicest and cleanest stadiums we have seen and even has a “Rays Touch Tank” over center field. The 35-foot 10,000 gallon tank is filled with cownose rays borrowed from Tampa Bay waters. The tank creates awareness of the Florida Aquarium and is often used for special events to raise money for various charities.
We arrived an hour early because we wanted to see the “Rays Tank” and gather autographs before the game. Going early to games helps you visit the special events and children’s areas, but also allows you to navigate without crowds. While waiting to meet the players, the children enjoyed watching the warm up from the row behind the bullpen.
Family Baseball Road Trip to The Tampa Bay Rays
When the boys started yelling for the Wolverine, we have to say that we were a bit disappointed when Hugh Jackman did not appear, but the view was not so bad. The children had Luke Scott sign their Under Armour hats as well as their souvenir baseballs.
Meeting #theWolverine: Luke Scott of the Tampa Bay Rays
Next, we had the pleasure of a special introduction to Relief Pitcher Cesar Ramos who could not have been nicer. He chatted with our children about visiting sick children at the local hospital that weekend. Our children were very impressed and as we have acknowledged in past posts we are always on the look out for great sports role models. Cesar makes the list for doing such a good job engaging our children about the importance of helping others.
Tampa Bay Rays Relief Pitcher Cesar Ramos with our children
Cesar’s signature now has a special place on our tween’s shelf. We really appreciate his inspiring our children with key life lessons.
Cesar Ramos Tampa Bay Rays Relief Pitcher Is A Role Model
After the excitement of mingling with the players, we grabbed some lunch before heading to our seats. While buying the lunch, our daughter got sick and would you believe the General Manger of Tropicana Field Joe Cipher himself helped us and bought her a soda~that is really taking care of the fans! The game vs. the Kansas City Royals was quite exciting. We had terrific seats but too bad the Rays lost the Game!
The Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Lakeland/Plant City A Great Lay-Over On The Way To Disney World
After the game we road tripped to Lakeland/Plant City Florida and spent a restful night at the Fairfield Inn. The hotel featured hip and inviting decor in the lobby. We really enjoyed the fitness area and the outdoor spa and pool. Our children found the hotel very inviting as you can see below.
Our Tween Relaxes At the Fairfield Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Lakeland/Plant City
Thomas P. Cancellare, Director of Sales, checked us into our room and made sure he covered our every need. We stayed in a mini suite complete with a refrigerator and microwave making it easy to serve an inexpensive family dinner-in so we could watch the NBA finals (also on Father’s Day)!
The Comfortable Bed At the Fairfield Inn & Suites, Lakeland/Plant City
The next morning we enjoyed a delicious and healthy complimentary breakfast of eggs, bacon, oatmeal and fruit before we took off to celebrate our 20th anniversary and the children’s birthday’s at Disney!
Celebrating at the Norway Pavilion at Disney World’s Epcot
In closing, a special shout-out to our friends at Playmaker Nutrition who make gummy vitamins for teens and kids inspired by major athletes. They arranged the introduction to Tampa Bay Rays Relief Pitcher Cesar Ramos, a true major league sports role model. We highly recommend taking a family baseball road trip to meet Cesar Ramos of the Tampa Bay Rays!
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Baseball was, is and will always be the greatest game in the world!
Babe Ruth
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