One of the great things about being a college and pro athlete is getting to travel and see across the nation while competing for the team.
Extra Inning Softball correspondent Jessi Warren was an All-American third baseman for the National Championship-winning Florida State Seminoles (2018) and a professional player with the USSSA Pride and in Athletes Unlimited,
She said of her time with her ACC program:
“When you get to the next level, you’re excited to be on a journey not many get the opportunity to experience. The opportunity to play in college is amazing and, as part of the experience on the field, comes traveling all over the United State to play different teams in various locations while also being able to enjoy what each trip brings.”
Here is a list of the Top 10 places Jessi says were her favorites while visiting on the road playing softball!
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10. PNC Park for a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game
A wonderful place to see a baseball game, PNC Park is on the North Shore of Pittsburgh and opened in 2001 for the National League team which previously had played at Three Rivers Stadium.
9. Truist Park for an Atlanta Braves baseball game
The stadium that holds 41,000 people opened in 2017 at the cost of $622 million and replaced Turner Field that opened in 1997.
8. Louisville Slugger Museum in Louisville, Kentucky
The famous museum in Louisville, Kentucky located in the city’s downtown area which tells the story of the Louisville Slugger bats and the company’s great history in baseball going back about 170 years in United States history. Today, the company makes bats and other equipment for fastpitch and slow pitch softball as well.
7. Fenway Park to see the Boston Red Sox vs. the New York Yankees
Is there any current rivalry (or even past one!) that’s been bigger and more heated in baseball over that last century than these two American League teams? Fenway Park, which has been the home of the Red Sox since 1912 (by my math, that’s 110 years!), is an intimate and exciting place to watch these two great teams battle.
6. The Old North Church in Boston, Massachusetts
On the evening of April 18, 1775, Robert Newman and John Pulling quietly entered Old North and carefully climbed to the top of the church’s bell tower. They briefly hung two lanterns near the windows and made their escape. This signal, from the tallest structure in the town of Boston, served as an early warning that a detachment of the British Army was crossing the Charles River and heading West towards the towns of Lexington and Concord. By the end of the next night, the American Revolutionary War had begun.
5. Destiny USA Mall in Syracuse, New York
A great place to visit for Go Karting and Laser Tag, the Destiny Mall is a six-story complex on the shore of Onondaga Lake in the city of Syracuse and is less than three miles from the ACC school.
4. Monterey Bay (Calif.) Aquarium
The aquarium in Finding Dory! It’s located in Monterey, California between Southern California (Los Angeles) and Northern California (San Francisco) and is due West of Fresno. Such beautiful creatures located in the Pacific Coast that make the museum a marvelous place to enjoy the sea creatures pulled in from not far away.
3. Seminole Reservation in Hollywood, Florida
On October 22, 2016, Florida State took a trip to the Seminole reservation at Osceola Park in Hollywood, Florida and played an exhibition game against Florida International. The game marked the first time Florida State has played on a Seminole reservation and was a thrill for athletes and sports fans alike.
2. Nike Factory Tour in Eugene, Oregon
The famous Nike HQ factory and store located near the University of Oregon, which is also located in Eugene. It’s an amazing place to look around for all things with the “Swoosh!”
1. Alcatraz Prison in San Francisco, California
A somber place to visit and a historic one that is located on Alcatraz Island, about 1 ¼ miles off the shore from San Francisco. Built in the mid-1800’s, the prison officially closed in 1963 but is a fascinating place to visit by ferry from Pier 33. The island also houses the oldest operating lighthouse on the West Coast but it’s the prison, which has been featured in movies such as Escape from Alcatraz (1979) and TV series such as Alcatraz (2012), that have made it such a fascinating place in United States due to its history and location. Because of the choppy currents and cold Bay waters, it was all but impossible to escape the prison, but that doesn’t mean many didn’t try!
— Jessi Warren, Extra Inning Softball Correspondent
