Colts/Ravens game in Baltimore!

Being in Baltimore for the game was so exciting!  We crated the dogs and left our hotel about an hour before kickoff to take the light rail over to the stadium.  Parking there is all reserved for season ticket holders... everyone else has to either park downtown or take public transportation.  The light rail was clean, fast and fun, although we had to ride facing backwards, which was disorienting!

At one of the stops along the way we saw this guy -- he ended up being shown on the big screen later on during the game!

 

Purple cape, tights and mask!  

 

As we neared the stadium we were amazed at the number of tailgaters... they went on for what seemed like a mile.

Our first views of the stadium:

On our way to our seats waaaaaay up in the nosebleeds, there were some great views of Balitimore

 

We were seated up at the very top of the stadium, one row from the highest you could possibly get.

The guy to our left was one of those highly gifted individuals who can whistle loud enough to shatter eardrums.  That added so much joy to the experience, let me tell ya.  The people on our right sounded like they were from Eastern Europe.  Whenever the big screen did the "WHO WILL PRO-TECT THIS HOOUUSE?"  They'd shout;

"Wee Weeel!  Wee Weeel!"

 

 

The players were very tiny but we could still see the ball!

I was so happy to see Peyton Manning in person!  It was great fun to be the only ones in our area screaming "YEAH!" whenever the Colts made a first down, and all the purple people would turn around and frown at us.  Haha.

One group of guys had made up a rhyming ditty about how Peyton Manning sucked.  It had some colorful language in it, but the kids thought it was funny.  They stopped their spirited chanting as the game wore on and the Ravens proved unable to perform in the red zone.  The colorful language increased, though!

In case you didn't know, the Ravens are the only NFL team with their own marching band.  I couldn't decide if this was a good thing or a bad thing. 

Sorry we don't have many photos of the actual game play... we were all watching the game and screaming and didn't remember to take pictures very often!

We had a super time there although it was chillier than we'd planned on, being in the shade and with the wind.  I had to take Jackie down to buy a Ravens shirt at halftime so she'd have another layer to wear.  We got ribbed by some Ravens fans for our Colts attire, but for the most part they were all pretty tame.  I think they were expecting to lose.  I'm happy the Colts could oblige them!

We left about a minute before the game ended, right when Baltimore lost the ball and we fell on it.  The game was over at that point and we took off in a mad rush to beat the crowd to the train.  Someone at the hotel had said it would end up being a two or three hour wait unless you got there before the game ended.  Thankfully, we made it onto the second train that arrived, and as we pulled out the line behind us was insanely long already.  All those sad Ravens fans.  It was such a good feeling.  :)

The dogs were ecstatic upon our arrival back at the hotel, and we ran them around the parking lot for a while before loading everybody up in the van. Our drive out of Baltimore was as dark as the drive in, so unfortunately we didn't get to see much in the way of scenery. This was the result of my attempt at photographing D.C. in the dark, at 65 mph:

 

 

Yes, I suck.  

Anyway, traffic was lighter heading south, and we were back home at the beach in four safe, uneventful hours.

Our first NFL game was a blast, and we learned that it IS worth it to pay more and sit lower to the ground.  Who knows when the Colts will be back in this area again.  I'm so glad we were able to go!