You know that scene in Knocked Up when Paul Rudd and Seth Rogan are sitting in the park watching Rudd’s two young daughters play and Rogan comments about how much the kids love bubbles. Rudd replies: “Oh, they go ape-shit over bubbles. I wish I liked anything as much as my kids love bubbles.” I think we have all experienced how children can get so excited over things that seem so lame to older people. The reason for this, I think, is that as we grow older new experiences tend to become less frequent. Days become repetitive and we lose the excitement that first experiences bring. Do you ever wish you could go back in time and relive the excitement of blowing bubbles? Or, for something a little less gay, experience going to your first baseball game again?

I got to relive that precious experience slightly on Monday night. I will remember that night forever as the first time I watched the Mets play in Citi Field. The entire day I couldn’t concentrate at work, I just stared at the clock waiting for 5:30 to hit (literally the most productive thing I did was go down the street to Subway for lunch). Promptly at 5:30, I got up from my desk, threw on my Mets Subway World Series commemoration jersey, and hopped on the 7 train with two of my buddies. In about 15 minutes the stadium came into view and I began to feel something that I haven’t felt in a long, long time; I think the best way to describe it is “unbridled excitement.”

As I walked into the Jackie Robinson Rotunda my knees were literally shaking. We got to the stadium about a half an hour before the first pitch, so we were able to walk around. If you haven’t been to Citi yet, make sure you get there at least 30 minutes before game time. The stadium is truly beautiful. There are two great areas, both in center field, where fans can eat outside and enjoy the ball game. There are plenty of shops to buy all the Mets gear you would ever want (if you don’t mind paying an arm and a leg for it). But, I think the coolest thing about Citi is that no matter where you go, there’s a view of the field. The entire stadium is open, so whether you’re in line for the bathroom, grabbing a Premio sausage with peppers (still the best food fair in the stadium), or just walking around the Promenade you always have an unobstructed view of the field.

Team/Player Photos: New York Mets Team / Player Photos on Aug 28, 2010

As I’m sure you have already heard, Citi does have less seats than Shea, but the stands are right on top of the field and that place will get very loud come September. The only thing that bothered me about the stadium (and it will annoy many fans) is that the Mets sold out every single inch of ad space around the field. Honestly, though, that is a small price to pay for such a grand replacement. (All of my Yankee-fan friends used to joke that if you brought a bag of garbage to Shea, you got in for free. They won’t be able to make jokes like that again for quite a while.)

So even with the Mets unimpressive 9-11 start, the struggles of David Wright and Oliver Perez, and the bullpen already heavily overworked; I was able to forget all of that and enjoy a baseball game like I haven’t since my dad first took me to Shea fifteen years ago. And, hey, the Mets even won on my first trip to Citi Field. Yeah, after one trip, I guess you can say I’m pretty ape-shit about the Mets new digs.