I spent a recent spring Sunday afternoon at the Banner Island ball park watching the minor league…read moreteam Stockton Ports. They are affiliated with the Oakland As. The weather was great, the stadium is modern, staff was helpful, and the vibe and crowd is family friendly. Just a classic day at the ball park. Memory making day. The Ports had a winning day against the Rancho Cucamonga (RC) Quakes. The RC Quakes are affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers. To think that these players may one day play in the Majors, that is pretty cool. Actually there have been many Ports ball players that moved on into the MLB. There is a stadium wall listing the players that achieved that feat. The ball park was built in 2005. Modern design, beautiful minor ball park. It is next to the arena (where the Stockton Kings basketball team plays), the marina is right next to both. The ball park seats 5,000. There are box suites and a connected VIP bar seating that is not open to the general public. All but two concessions closed by the top of the 5th inning. But those two followed suit by bottom of the 7th. The good BBQ was in the VIP section, and that section is locked down. The burgers, dogs, and pretzels at the concession tasted like Costco food court. The stadium is cashless. Tickets range $8- 22 with weekend pricing starting at $16. Parking is $10-15. There is a multistory parking lot between the two stadiums. In addition there were two additional lots, those were surface lots. The mascot, Splash, was present and super eager to take photos with everyone and anyone. He might photobomb your shot. I learned on Sundays, the Ports home game celebrate the Copa de La Diversion identity and they transform into the Stockton Cheladas. What does that mean? They wear a different uniform and colors in partnership with major league soccer to celebrate and connect teams to the local Latino/Hispanic communities. Did you know Stockton is one of the most racially and ethnically diverse large city in the U.S.? It is! 45% of its population identify as Latino.

First time coming to lower level ball park to watch a game. And by lower I just mean not the MLB or…read morethe big leagues. I'm not big on baseball so I'm not sure technically what you'd call them. D league? G league? The Minors? In any case it's my first time at a ball park of that level. It's pretty small compared to the MLB ones I've been to. But that's to be expected. Keeping that in mind, they still had a fair number of food stalls open considering how not packed it was. They had everything from dogs, nacho and tacos to the usual pizza and beer. They had a cute little team shop at one end of the park as well. I can't believe the prices at the team shop though. They were comparable to that of the MLB teams. That was just wild to me. But maybe they don't control the pricing and it's more of a supplier issue? Anyways I liked that that had a bunch of fun little activities and stuff in between innings like races and such. Safety seems to be good priority for them as well. When a foul ball came over into our section someone immediately came over to make sure no one got hit or was hurt. That was definitely a nice touch. One down side was that it was pickleball paddle giveaway night and from what we could tell it didn't look like 1000 people had shown up before us but somehow they ran out. There were supposed to be 1000 from what we were told. Not a huge deal just kind of disappointed for my friend who really wanted one. So this is a benefit of the doubt kind of review as I haven't been to other ball parks of this level for a game. Maybe others are better and some are worse. But to me this wasn't a bad park at all. Maybe didn't blow my mind sure but it defied wasn't bad by my standing.

What a cool stadium, nice field and awesome lights. You def have to walk a lot to get around but…read morethings are paved and plenty of handicap access. The best spot to park is out front. We were here for a high school soccer game

My husband plays soccer here in Wednesday nights and the stands, field & bathrooms are alwaaaaays…read moreclean! :) I just wish there was more shade for when I take my baby.

Came here for wedding and it was simply beautiful. The staff was extremely attentive and helpful…read more There is plenty of parking. You can see the San Joaquin river and the occasional boat. I don't know much about golf but for an event this is a great place

Went here for a celebration of life dinner. The food was on point! They had a Mediterranean…read moreinspired menu and I looked every part of it. The views of the water were great and the staff was courteous and attentive. 10/10.

Stockton has been my home for live hockey for a long time now. They are home to a minor league…read morehockey team currently known as the Stockton Heat Hockey Club, although I remember them often as the Stockton Thunder. They play their games at the Stockton Arena in downtown with a large parking garage attached to the arena for easy access. This place is just fun. I am a hockey fan, so I enjoy the action on the ice. You can get really close to the action at a fairly low price here, although I prefer sitting a bit higher to see the whole rink. Tickets are fairly reasonable here, especially if you get packages. I can often walk up to the window right before a game and get good seats. Fan experiences here are really great. They have many theme nights including the famous Teddy Bear Toss and other fun promotions. The place is family friendly with lots of children in attendance and a good atmosphere, although fights on the ice are common and encouraged by the fans. Concessions can get a little pricy though. The Stockton Heat manage to create a great product year after year independent of the team's ability. I have seen them in bad years and in good, and minor league teams always suffer since the good players move up fast. Fortunately, I nearly always have a great time, and even a loss is somehow a win.

I loved watching games at Stockton Arena when the Thunder played in the building, but I love the…read moreHeat even more! I live closer to San Jose and should be a Barracuda fan, but I've already become attached to this team! This is fantastic hockey at a fantastic price. If I lived closer to Stockton I'd get season tickets. Every fan, vendor, player, and arena staff that I've met is friendly and interested in the team and the sport. These guys are moving up and down from the NHL, so this is legit hockey. There's so much talent and so many opportunities to see some of the great hockey players of today and tomorrow. There are lots of activities throughout the season, and lots of player interaction with the fans! P.S. try the hot chocolate at the stand by aisle E

We came here looking for the Japanese Garden. Before we reached the garden, we stumbled in this…read morearea. A huge space where you can picnic and walk around. The set up is like an outdoor mall, there are different small building for their collections. Had a good time walking around, looking at their collections and learning about the San Joaquin.

I had found this museum when looking up holiday events around Lodi. They host an annual Festival of…read moreTrees, so my review reflects a visit during a special event. It's located in Micke Grove Park, which has a $6 parking fee on the weekends. Not sure about regular admission but Festival of Trees was $15 per person. The grounds have a museum and then several outer buildings that have old farm equipment and other artifacts of the San Joaquin valley and Delta area. For the holidays, everything was festively decorated and there were food and craft vendors. It was a fun little event that harkened back to a simpler time. Nicely kept grounds and a well run event. Interesting to see and read about the history of the area, as well. Not sure if it's worth going on a non-event day, but if you're interested in the history of the area, then check it out. I had a pleasant afternoon checking out their holiday event.

Located on the N/W corner of Center and Fremont street, inside the Civic Auditorium building. This…read morePost is tiny in comparison to the other Post I've visited. But size is unimportant when it comes to matters of the heart. The bar is filled with Veterans playing the dice game liars while they sip on their favorite librations. The interior is dimly lit. The only light source is by way of the sunlight shining through the huge windows which overlook downtown Stockton. The kitchen is small. The hall is not separated by any walls or panels from the bar area and, you have to leave through the secure front door to visit the public restrooms outside in the hallway. But again. All the faults and dislikes of this Post don't mean a thing when you understand why it's here and what it's all about. Speaking for myself. The VFW's have been a church like sanctuary for me. A place where I can talk, socialize and interact with other Veterans because they're the only ones who get it. The ones who understand what it feels like to live and walk on a giant cuisinart each and every waking day.

Was here for Lodi comic con…read more The restrooms aside from the one in the front building are old and smelly. The air conditioning does not work most of the day There needs to be update. Trees or something? It makes absolutely no sense to have metal tables in the direction sunlight when it's beyond 90 degrees. Absolutely no sense. Whether it is the actual grounds responsibility or the event organizer. It was not a good look.

I visited this past weekend for Beer Fest, upon the suggestion of a friend affiliated with River…read moreRock Brewery out of Galt, of which I am a big fan. My friend and fellow yelper, with the patient assistance from our DD, came through to taste of the wares for a couple hours on a Saturday afternoon. Tickets were $30 a pop for all you can reasonably drink/taste. Thankfully, the weather was kind, and it was not too hot out. There were also plenty of choices inside the main air-conditioned building, and underneath tents and shade outside too. Direct sunlight was easily avoided for me. Win! Having never been to a beer festival of any kind, I had zero idea what to expect. Line management to get in was kinda eh, but once we had our IDs checked, our wrists banded, our DD settled in, and were corralled into the pen we had ourselves quite a time sampling and re sampling. There was free water everywhere, which was great! BBQ Championship foods were also available, and we tried some nachos and ribs that were excellent. Breweries near and far came, so it wasn't just immediately local beer. We had Oregon and Colorado repping, along with California choices from all up and down the coast and valley. Each brewery booth had anywhere from 3-6 choices. Idol, Five Window, Lodi Beer Co., High Water (where us Campfire Stout fans had pre-gamed beforehand), and Dancing Fox were the ones I tasted from Lodi that I can remember off the top of my head. There were also a few cider (Hemly!) and hard seltzerish (White Claw!) booths. The cover band was pretty good, too. I didn't find the line situation too bad once inside. I never had to wait longer than five minutes per taste. One could go nuts if they wanted, but I like to think I tried to behave myself lol. The indoor plumbing situation was a hot mess, but in a way was nostalgic, reminding me both of the county fair of my youth and also the overflowing Oakland Coliseum bathrooms. Although there were multiple bathroom areas inside, functional plumbing at the time of need was not guaranteed. Closed-toe shoes would have been a good idea, as a mental note to myself for next time. Porta Potties were also available outside, but I did not use these. There was not anything of substance that we could locate for vegans to eat other than beer and stray chips uncovered by meat or dairy. I would come here again for Beer Fest, or perhaps to try out the Grape Festival. Parking was ??? gravel lot and side streets maybe, maybe bring someone from Lodi like we did.

Shoutout to Stockton, CA…read more Stockton is home to one of the oldest universities in the United States, the University of the Pacific (UOP) . The baseball team plays in the NCAA Division I, West Coast Conference. Klein Family Field is UOP's baseball stadium. The stadium is less than 8 minute drive off Interstate 5, West Alpine. The games are open to the public to attend. I try to attend a game or two each season. Other schools in their conference includes Gonzaga, Saint Mary's, and CSU Sacramento. Occasionally they play demo games against the Pac 12 schools such as UC Berkeley and Stanford. The Klein Family Field is a 2500 seat baseball stadium. The stadium has foldable individual seats which surprisingly are comfy. The admission is all general admission, first come first serve seating. Tickets can be bought online or at the box office on game day. Ticket pricing increased from last year by a third. Children (ages 5-12) is $10, seniors (60+ years) /staff/faculty $13, and adults $15. Parking on the weekends is free. But check before you go, as things may change. The field is beautifully maintained. Natural grass, looks full and green. But by golly, they do have to do more to maintain the entire infrastructure. The public women's restroom was in bad state from the start of the game. The toilets smelled of stale urine. The floors and stalls were dirty, and two of the three sinks automated water dispensers were broken. Hubs stated the men's restroom also smelled awful like backed up sewage.

1st trip to this little gem tucked in on the southwest corner of the University of the Pacific…read morecampus. Went last night to watch Lincoln and St Mary's in a sectional playoff game, it is oriented similar to Banner Island Ballpark, with excellent field views, and parking right across the street. Only drawback was the fact that the only concessions open were in the Spanos center, about 2 minutes walk. A warm early summer evening, a fun crowd (packed with parents and kids. a great place to watch a ballgame.