BallParkWatch - Veterans Memorial Stadium / Cedar Rapids Kernels

Year Built	2002
Capacity	5,300
Dimensions	315L, 407LC, 403C, 398RC, 325R
Next Visit	Summer 2003
Last Visit	August 2002
Web Site	www.kernels.com
Online Broadcasts	Yes
Online Ticket Sales	Yes
Phone	319/363-3887
League	Midwest League
Affiliation	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Level	Class A
Ticket Prices	Premier (the eight rows closest to the field), $7; Club (the rest of the grandstand), $6; everything else, $5
Parking	Ample in an adjoining parking lot. There is also adjacent street parking.
Address/Directions	950 Rockford Rd. SW., Cedar Rapids. Veterans Memorial Stadium is in the midst of a residential area and there is not really a direct route there from the major thoroughfares. If you're unfamiliar with Cedar Rapids, I'd recommend taking the 1st Avenue exit from I-380 and head west until you get to 15th Street, where you'll hand a left, and then take another left when you see the stadium area. There are signs pointing out this route, but they are not very conspicuous.
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One reason why I particularly like Veterans Memorial Stadium is that it was designed for pure baseball fans, under the premise that no matter where one is in the ballpark you'll want to know exactly what's going on on the field. This premise isn't always found in newer minor-league ballparks, where the bells and whistles overshadow the game of baseball. Yes, I know that selling those bells and whistles are essential to the economics of minor-league baseball, and I too get a kick out of watching kids swirl around a baseball bat and lurch drunkenly toward an intern, but sometimes all you want to do is sit back and watch a baseball game. You can do this at Veterans Memorial Stadium, either from your seat in the grandstand or sitting in the berm area down the third-base line. (One nice thing about the bleachers: they jut outward as they pass the dugout so that you're facing the pitcher's mound and not center field.) When you head for the concessions for a beer and a dog, you can watch the action from the concourse area. If your view of the field is blocked, you can watch the action on one of the seven televisions hanging in the concourse or on the giant scoreboard in center field. About the only places in the stadium where you can't see all the action are the bathrooms; even the souvenir stand on the concourse has plenty of windows for viewing the game.

That's not to say that the distractions aren't there. There's the Randy Kuehl Honfidence Pavilion, located in the left-field corner, which is a set of decks that can hold 450 people and contains the obligatory hot tub. There's a mezzanine level down the first-base line designed for groups as well. The luxury boxes have both a glassed interior and a set of seats in the front. A smallish roof covers the grandstand area, providing some sorely needed shade in the early evening during those hot Iowa summer days. The large scoreboard in center field features live game action. If you're truly bored, you can head into the Bimm Ridder Diamond Store on the concourse and peruse the Kernels Hall of Fame, featuring photos, newspaper articles and items concerning baseball in Cedar Rapids, some of which date back to 1890.

When Cedar Rapids first fielded a team in the Midwest League in 1962, it was known as the Red Raiders, but quickly the team took on the monikers of parent teams: Cedar Rapids Cardinals (1965-1972), Cedar Rapids Astros (1973-1974), Cedar Rapids Giants (1975-1979), and Cedar Rapids Reds (1980-1992). In 1993 the team followed the lead of many other minor-league teams and took on their own distinctive nickname.

Most of these teams played in the original Veterans Memorial Stadium, built in 1949 in the same location as the current park.

This is pork country, after all; in Iowa, pork is the white meat, not the other white meat. So it's no surprise that the concession stands feature some pork products. If your taste buds are running toward the sandwich part of the snack spectrum, there are pork-chop sandwiches, as well as steakburgers, southern-fried-chicken sandwiches, and subs. Also served in a bun are standard ballpark favorites like hot dogs, burgers and cheeseburgers, and brats; other foods include corn dogs, and the ever-present Papa John's pizza

The beer selection is more varied than your average minor-league ballpark, but still somewhat limited: on draft you can find various Miller (MGD, Lite, Leinie, Leinie Honey Weiss), Bud (Bud, Bud Light, Michelob, Michelob Amber Bock), and Coors (Coors Light, Killian's Red) offerings, as well as Goose Island and Heineken beers. A jumbo runs you $4.25, while a premium beer (i.e., Goose Island and Heineken) costs $4.75.

For those with a sweet tooth there's an ice-cream stand with soft serve and a wide variety of candies.

All in all, there's nothing really remarkable and noteworthy about the concessions at Veterans Memorial Stadium -- there's a good selection and the prices are reasonable, but that's about it.

Today, the Amana Colonies are on the National Register of Historic Places. Many of the communal spaces, such as worship areas and communal kitches, have been converted to museums, while other buildings have been converted to businesses. The Amana Colonies were always known for their high level of craftsmanship, and today you can find well-made furniture, food, and clothing. (Yes, Amana appliances did originate in the Amana Colonies, and there is still a plant there.)

If you go, stop for a bite at Bill Zuber's Restaurant in the Homestead Village. Like most of the restaurants in the Amana Colonies, Zuber's features German food served family-style. Bill Zuber was somewhat of a rebel when growing up in Amana: sports were forbidden by the church, so he never took up baseball until he was a teenager. He played 17 years in pro baseball, managing to eke out a 43-42 record during stints with the Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, New York Yankees, and Boston Red Sox between 1936 and 1947. He came back and bought the restaurant in Homestead (which originally was a communal area built in 1862), and he and his family owned the place for 40 years.

Although there are seven Amana villages, truth be known only two of them are really essential visits: Homestead and Amana.

Other stores and restaurants worth checking out in Amana: the Ronneburg Restaurant, the Ox Yoke Inn, the breakfasts at the Colony Restaurant, the Amana Meat Shop and Smokehouse, and the Millstream Brewing Company, where you can find a good selection of German-style beers and root beers. There are also a host of wineries in the area, but before you get all excited about visiting Iowa's version of Napa Valley, note that grapes are not exactly plentiful in central Iowa and that the original members of the Amana Colonies used pretty much anything available -- honey, peach, black raspberry, rhubarb, dandelion, apricot -- to create wine.