Who wants to play hooky and go to Opening Day at Busch Stadium and watch the Twins play the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday? The Cards don't have Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina as attractions anymore, but former Twins ace Sonny Gray is set to start for the Redbirds.
It'll be fun, c'mon.
Let's take a look at what tickets cost, how much last-minute airfare is (if you're not OK for the 8-9 hour drive from the Twin Cities), the lodging situation in greater St. Louis, and a couple of good places to chow. St. Louis is a great eating town — just ignore the places that put provel instead of cheese on the pizza.
Weather
It's looking great for the 3:15 p.m. Thursday scheduled first pitch. NWS says as of Monday: 64 degrees and sunny. But with good weather, it could make the secondary ticket market tougher for bargains.
Tickets
They're widely available on Ticketmaster, though face-value standing room was wiped out as this post was being written. For $89.40 (including fees), you can sit in section 437 (upper deck), row 11, seat 20; between first base and the right-field pole. If you want to sit behind home plate in the lower deck, you're looking at $300 to start. A few all-inclusive options, with your food and beer prepaid, were available for $300-600.
It's pricey but not a bad option if you can spend it.
A cool experience with decent seats would be sitting next to the Twins bullpen in left field. Good chance for a ball, an autograph, player selfie, or a conversation with left-hander Danny Coulombe. At Tickets For Less, a resale company that charges no fees, those were going for $144-$162. Almost all of the seat inventory at TFL runs at least $100.
Airfare
It's not cheap — $339 one way, per person on Southwest. If you depart the day of, you'd have to leave early in the morning in order to get to St. Louis and avoid the stress of a delayed flight. It would be tough to fly down and back on the same day, because later return flights are lacking. (So, how 'bout that drive?)
Also keep in mind, there's no game scheduled for Friday, which is just a backup in case it's weathered out (unlikely).
Lodging
St. Louis is long on places to stay, but reserve somewhere near a stop along the MetroLink, a light rail that takes you to Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis. Either $2.50 per ride, or $5.00 for an all-day pass.
Eating
Ballpark Village, next door to Busch and where the previous ballpark stood, gives you pub-type variety before and after the game. Note: the "Pregame Party" on Opening Day is already sold out. Still available to reserve if you stay for Saturday. Some parts of downtown St. Louis can be strangely spartan, but Puckett's Pond recommends Sauce on the Side for calzones and salad. It's a 5-minute MetroLink ride from Busch or a 10-minute walk. If you are flexible with transportation, here are some top area options:
• Bogart's Smokehouse in the Soulard neighborhood, is the best bbq in town for lunch. A 25-30 minute walk pregame walk to Busch, but you might want to ride share.
• Pappy’s Smokehouse, another strong bbq joint, about 2 miles west from Busch, is/was owned in part by Adam Wainwright.
• Crown Candy Kitchen for lunch before the game is an old-school soda fountain. Quaint as all get out. Car or ride share is a 10-minute drive to Busch. Not great for public transportation.
• Pie Guy Pizza in University Village gets love from a guy whose (ongoing) mission it is to find the best pizza in St. Louis. It's a short hike to/from the Cortex Station on the MetroLink, or six minutes in the car from the ballpark.
• The Hill neighborhood was home to Yogi Berra, and it has some of the best Italian restaurants in the country. The best might be Anthonino's Taverna, which is about a 12-minute drive. Ride share.