This morning we embarked on a road trip to Atlanta. Over the next eight days we will be making stops to see different branches of our families and hitting six baseball games along the way. Each night I will be writing a quick post of our journey and the highlights of the stadium we visited. Whether a baseball fan, parent, both (or neither) I hope you enjoy!
Day 1 (8/12/21)
NY ---> Washington DC
Game: San Diego Padres @ Washington Nationals
Town Thoughts…
We took off at 8 AM and had an event free drive down to our nation’s capital. With time before our hotel check in we hit a few of the historical sites of DC. Luckily there is a great concentration of monuments in a few different spots so by parking down by the Potomac we were able to visit the MLK, Korean War and Lincoln Memorial with a 45-minute walk. MLK and the Korean War were impressive but the Lincoln Memorial stands alone in scale, scope and head long view down the Mall.
After grabbing a bite to eat we left Kate at the hotel for a much-deserved quiet night and the boys and I hit the ball park.
Ballpark Thoughts….
Having never been to Nationals Park before, overall I was impressed by the stadium. Walking in through the centerfield gate we collected our promotional fanny pack and were on our way
The Good
-A live 80’s cover band complete with dancing presidential mascots set a great atmosphere as soon we entered the stadium
-Lots of great concession options, including Kids Eat Free which got the boys a hot dog, bottle of water and apple sauce each. Throw in the $5 tickets and it was a super affordable night. These are the fan benefits of going to see a last place team who just traded away their franchise player
-Good sight lines everywhere even up in the top of the stadium where our $5 tickets put us
-Two roof top gardens in the outfield concourse that are used to grow fruits and vegetables that are donated to local charities. Well done Nationals.
-A bullpen cart! Grant it, no relievers on the Nationals used it but it was cool to see a legit functioning version of one of the many unique things that make baseball awesome.
80's style TR
Eoin enjoying his free kids meal while wearing his fanny pack as a hat
The Bad
-The Washington Nationals franchise. Sure, I’m a Mets fans who is a little bitter that their magical run ended in a World Series title while ours didn’t, but I’ve never considered the Nationals to be a real franchise. Can you imagine having Juan Soto, Trea Turner and Max Scherzer all on your team and trading them away? I’ll give a pass on letting Bryce Harper walk but that’s just a joke look for a franchise.
-The worst thing I can say about the stadium is the actual structure. I don’t like that parts of it are separate (see down the right field line) and the center field concourse is too set back from the field.
The Ugly
-There was a Lady Gaga concert at the stadium on Monday and the outfield was absolutely wrecked. This is a major league field and stadium: treat it as such. Just because you’ve given up with the team on the field doesn’t mean you should give up on the field itself.
Brutal field quality
Tomorrow: Durham, NC
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