Today was our first
spring training game at the SF Giants spring training site, Scottsdale Stadium.
The game didn't start until 7:05 pm this evening, so we decided to go into
Phoenix and visit the state capitol beforehand. We have visited state capitols
in New Mexico and Texas on previous trips and found them to be interesting
places to visit. Our trip to the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix was no
exception.
Construction of the
Capitol began in 1898 and it began operation in 1901. It formerly housed the
Territorial and State Legislatures as
well as various executive offices. These offices have now been relocated to adjacent separate
buildings, one housing the Senate and the other, the House of Representatives. The
Governor’s office and executive staff are located in a building behind and
connected to the original capitol building which is now maintained as the
Arizona Capitol Museum. The old capitol
has many interesting displays and recreations of the original legislative
chambers and offices. There are
additional information and displays about Arizona History as well as a very interesting
exhibit about the USS Arizona, the battleship sunk during the Japanese attack
on Pearl Harbor in 1941. There is too
much history in and about the museum to recount here, but if you are
interested, here is the link to Wikipedia for additional information:
As we were entering the Museum
(Old Capitol Building), we passed Governor Jan Brewer surrounded by a lot of “suits”
coming out of the building. We had
noticed a fairly large crowd on the lawn adjacent to the Senate building and discovered
the Governor and several others were going to speak to the crowd. It was essentially a media event explaining
the Governor’s change of heart regarding Arizona opting into the Federal
Medicaid expansion under Obamacare. She originally
opposed participation by the State and now supports partnering with the Federal
Government in this program. The State
Senate and House of Representatives both have Republican majorities and since
legislation will be required for State participation, the outcome of Arizona’s
role in the Medicaid expansion under Obamacare looks to be uncertain at the moment.
We listened for a few minutes then went on a tour of the museum after
lunch in the cafeteria in the office building housing the executive offices.
After our visit, we
headed over to Scottsdale for the spring training game between the San
Francisco Giants and the San Diego Padres.
The gates opened at 5:00 pm so we had some time to look around the park
and have some overpriced ballpark food for dinner. We didn’t have great seats (down the right
field line), but the people in the adjoining seats were very nice despite my
wearing a Phillies hat. As you might
expect, almost everyone there was tricked-out in Giants gear. Interestingly, the couple next to us, dressed
in Giants colors were Giants fans who live near Philadelphia (both PA natives). Another couple from Mountain View, CA sitting
in front of us had a good chuckle about a couple from Philadelphia who are Giants
fans sitting next to a couple from California who are Phillies fans. The game itself was not too exciting (the
Giants were losing in the 8th inning when we left) and the stadium
is OK, but nothing like Brighthouse Field in Clearwater.
We are meeting friends
from Nevada City tomorrow for another baseball game and dinner afterwards. This one is between the LA Dodgers and the
San Diego Padres. The game is a day game
and the stadium is in Peoria, AZ on the NW side of Phoenix.
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