I couldn’t make my entire bucket list selfish.

So in the fall, I went to a three-day music festival with Sarah—very much her thing—and yesterday, I finally checked off my day with Jake: visiting a new MLB ballpark together.

With the baseball season winding down and my upcoming travels, it was pretty much this weekend or never. So on Friday, I planted the seed in Eric’s brain. By Sunday morning, he had grabbed some tickets, and the three of us were headed to Philly for the day to watch the Phillies take on the Braves.

Despite it being a holiday weekend, we made it there in just 2 hours and 15 minutes. (We were definitely not so lucky on the way home.)

Citizens Bank Park officially became Jake’s 11th MLB ballpark! Only 19 more to go!

So far, he’s made it to:

⚾ Yankee Stadium — Yankees
⚾ Nationals Park — Nationals
⚾ Camden Yards — Orioles
⚾ Fenway Park — Red Sox
⚾ Wrigley Field — Cubs
⚾ Rate Field — White Sox
⚾ Angel Stadium — Angels
⚾ Dodger Stadium — Dodgers
⚾ Tropicana Field — Rays
⚾ Oracle Park — Giants
⚾ Citizens Bank Park — Phillies

Of course, we took our usual pictures in front of the stadium and then grabbed some food before finding our seats.

Eric and Jake went straight for the Philly cheesesteaks. I passed because getting my first real Philly cheesesteak in Philly with Jill O. is actually on my bucket list, too, and I’m not cheating on that one! 😂

According to the guys, though, the ballpark cheesesteaks were damn good.

We had great seats between first base and right field—and, most importantly on a warm September afternoon, in the shade!

None of us really had an allegiance to either team playing (go Yankees!), but it was fun seeing three former Nats players out on the field.

And this game was FAST.

At one point, I leaned over to Jake and said, “Is this what happens when both teams are really good? It’s the bottom of the 7th and there’s still no score?”

Well, apparently I just needed to say something.

No sooner had the words come out of my mouth than Kyle Schwarber hit a home run to put the Phillies up 1–0.

And that was it.

Phillies win, 1–0. Game over in under two hours!

But there was something else pretty special about this game. For the first time ever, Jake and I got to see one pitcher throw an entire MLB game. Jesús Luzardo went all nine innings for the Phillies and finished with 12 strikeouts.

Complete games have become pretty rare in baseball, so it was really cool that Jake and I got to see one in person—especially at the same game where we were checking a brand-new ballpark off our list. Just another little thing that made this day one we’ll remember.

One of my favorite parts of the day was something we don’t really get at Nationals Park—a traditional mascot.

Yes, the Nats have the Racing Presidents, but they aren’t out entertaining the crowd for the entire game. The Philly Phanatic, on the other hand, was EVERYWHERE.

Driving around on an ATV. Dancing. Taunting the opposing team in the outfield. Messing with fans. Basically causing chaos wherever he went.

Absolutely hysterical.

I also love hearing what song each stadium plays at the end of a game. The Yankees have New York, New York. Fenway has Sweet Caroline. And after a Phillies win, we got to hear Frank Sinatra singing High Hopes.

There was something pretty perfect about that.

When I started this bucket list, I knew I wanted some of the things on it to be big adventures and challenges for myself. But I also wanted it to give me a reason to make memories with the people I love.

This one was for Jake.

A spontaneous road trip. A new ballpark. A complete-game pitching performance. A ridiculously fast baseball game. Lots of laughs. And another stadium added to his list.

It was a beautiful day at the ballpark and a pretty great way to spend a holiday.

Bucket List #21: New MLB Ballpark with Jake — CHECK. ✅⚾️

And Jake?

11 down. 19 to go. ❤️