| Zephyr Field (now known as Shrine on Airline) is a perfectly fine AAA venue, but lacks any sense of place and is mostly nondescript. Therefore after attending a game there, there's not much memorable to recall. Though the team has a “New Orleans” moniker, the ballpark is actually located northwest of the city in Metairie. It is set along a busy road (Airline Drive), therefore when you look out beyond the outfield wall, you see nothing to remind you where you are. The structure of the ballpark is built up meaning fans must walk up a set of stairs to get to the main concourse. This concourse is quite spacious and is completely open to the field allowing fans to roam around during the game and still keep their eye on the action. Seating consists of all green fold down chairs. The sections are a bit large however (most rows have 20+ seats) and there is not much legroom. Both the lower level and upper deck seats provide nice views of the field since there is a steep pitch to the seating bowls. Other seating options here include a large grassy berm behind the right-center field fence (known as the “Levee”), a bar area in the right field corner (at field level), and a picnic area with a swimming pool also located behind the right field fence. Though there is seating in the outfield, it is not possible to completely circle the park. Here's hoping someday that make this possible since this is one feature of new ballparks that I really appreciate. Concessions at Zephyr Field are definitely a highlight. They include many regional offerings besides the normal ballpark fare. Catfish, muffuletta, PoBoy sandwiches, jumbalaya, and pigskin nachos are a few of the interesting food options. I sampled a PoBoy and it was delicious ! Prices are about average for a AAA park. The only negative about the concessions is that not all the stands were open on the night I attended. Yes, there wasn't a big crowd, but having stands that are shuttered gives the ballpark a rather depressing feel. The atmosphere here is quite laid back – some music is played, but there are no sound effects. A few between inning games were played such a Race the Mascot and the skillet toss (sponsored by Hamburger Helper), but even these were kept to a minimum. Mostly the focus is on baseball at Zephyr Field. The team does have a mascot, Boudreaux, who is a nutria. One other nice thing about the atmosphere – the presence of ushers was almost non-existent. Most ballparks have too many ushers these days which don't seem to do anything. The Zephyrs have a team store located along the concourse (not accessible from outside the ballpark), but it is tiny, especially for a AAA team. Not sure why a bigger store wasn't put into the design of Zephyr Field. One other small complaint I have about the park is that the left field corner looks a bit shabby. The teams stores all its grounds crew equipment here. Usually this is kept out of sight from the fans, but here it is kept in an open space. It seems like they could make better use of this empty space, maybe by adding another picnic area. But overall I have no major complaints about Zephyr Field. It is a nice, clean ballpark with a good baseball atmosphere and tasty concessions. But there is nothing that makes you go “Wow !” The lack of a "wow" factor combine with poor attendance led to the franchise moving to Wichita for the 2020 season. It is unclear when another team will return to the New Orleans area.
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