I was raised a Braves fan. I grew up with Chipper, Bobby and Smoltz. I grew up in Turner Field.

That being said, I’ve been slacking recently on my fandom with the Braves. I haven’t been following them as closely as I used to and can hardly name any players on the team anymore.

Thursday night I went up to Atlanta – scratch that, I went up to Cobb County – to see a Braves game for the first time in the new stadium. It’s definitely nothing like Turner Field, that’s for sure.

Getting there was a hassle. I left work early, fought through traffic, passed by the beautiful downtown stadium that has been taken over by Georgia State University and made my way to Interstate 75.

Traffic. Traffic. Traffic.

Finally, I got off the exit and I was still lost. Excuse me, where can I find the Braves?

Traffic. Traffic. Traffic.

I parked, got out of my car and walked to a restaurant. I will say that was nice. Turner Field was surrounded by parking lots. SunTrust Park is surrounded by shops and dining. While I’m a big fan of tailgating, it was nice to be able to just stop in somewhere on a Thursday night to grab a meal instead of trying to pack something ahead of time.

The game started at 7:35 p.m. and about 30 minutes prior, my family and I were ready to go in. I think we might have been the only ones there wanting to rush to our seats to see the baseball game, because the stands were pretty empty once we got in. While it was a Thursday night game, and definitely not a sold out crowd, I spent the first couple innings distracted by everyone around me trying to get to their seats. Maybe they were distracted by everything going on outside the stadium, but I was there to see a game.

It was a great game. The Braves won and that’s always a good thing in my book, but it was different.

I will be the first to admit that I do not like change. I am a go with the flow type of girl, so it might take me a while to get used to this new stadium and all of its amenities.

Until then, I’ll still be cheering on the Braves!