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Florida Spring Training: Your Guide To Touring The Grapefruit League |
The thing people seem to remember most about Fort Lauderdale Stadium is the leg room in the box seats. In this day and age of stadiums designed to cram in as many seats as possible, Fort Lauderdale is an anomaly. There’s enough room between the box seats for even the burliest beer vendor to pass seated fans without the fans having to move.
The stadium’s site is another story. Fort Lauderdale Stadium is one of the oldest in the Grapefruit League, and it appears there wasn’t a lot of planning on where to place it. Or perhaps the surrounding area has simply changed a good deal in the forty years since it went up. Whatever the explanation, you drive through an industrial park to get to the stadium. There’s nothing around it but warehouses and a corporate airport. Throughout a game at this antique stadium, the crack of the bat is drowned out by the sound of Gulfstream jets taking off and landing at the airport behind the ballpark. First-time visitors are likely to find Fort Lauderdale Stadium confusing. It has three entrance gates, each leading to a particular part of the stadium (grandstands, left bleachers, and right bleachers). Once inside, you can’t walk from one area to another; so be sure to check your seating location before you leave for the park and park accordingly. If you park by the wrong gate, you’ll have a long walk to your seats. Inside, Fort Lauderdale Stadium is a fairly traditional Spring Training park, if not one of the best designed. In the main seating bowl (the box and reserved grandstand seats), there is only one area with restrooms, concessions, and souvenirs. (The right and left field bleachers have their own concession areas, two for the right field and one for the left.) If you want anything to eat or drink, buy it when you first get in; unlike in most Spring Training sites, there is nothing available near the seats. Once you’ve picked up these essentials, you’ll walk up a ramp into the bowl and then to your seats. Large tropical plants (varieties you’ll find only in this region of the state) line the walkway. They give you the feeling that you’re going through a jungle as you make your way to your seat. Didn't find what you were looking for? Try a Google search.
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