What do you get when you combine, baseball, $1 hot dogs, and fireworks? An awesome July 4!

While it was very tempting to stay in my cave for the holiday, I met up with friends at PGE Park to watch the Portland Beavers vs. Tacoma Rainiers game. In fact, nearly 16,000 others had the same idea, which added to the fun.

The game started off a bit disappointing for Beavers fans with the Rainiers getting the lone run for a few innings, but then in the bottom of the fifth, Will Venable (no relation) got a home run and that seemed to spark a fire in the team. The Beavers rallied back to score seven runs in the eighth inning to the crowd’s delight. The final score: Beavers 8, Rainiers 3.

As a bonus, it was also “Family Feast Friday,” which meant $1 hot dogs, $1 bottled water, and $1 ice cream sandwiches. Granted, the hot dogs were small, it was a dollar, so no big loss out of my wallet. Though, I opted not to buy beer at the game because at $8, that would have seriously violated my wallet. (I waited until after the game to grab a $4 pint across the street.)

Following the game, it was time for the fireworks. They were…nice. Far off in the distance, we could see the fireworks happening at the Waterfront Blues Festival and they seemed as if they were a bit nicer. But, did they have thousands of fans doing the wave or the ZOOperstars? Nope.

If you haven’t been to a game, go. Granted, I grew up living and breathing baseball thanks to my grandfather, it’s fun for everyone regardless of your level of exposure to the game.