Take Me Out to the Ball Game...

As many of you know, we love to make travel to-do lists for ourselves and we have traveled extensively in our quest to check places off of said lists.

Our completed lists have included visiting all fifty states, staying at every Disney World and Disneyland resort hotel, seeing a game in all 30 NHL arenas, and seeing a game in all 30 MLB stadiums.

We finished the baseball stadiums list back in 2005, with a San Francisco Giants game being the 30th team.

Technically, though, it was our 31st stadium, because we saw a game in both the old and new stadiums in Milwaukee when we were living in Illinois.

There was no rhyme or reason to the fact that our 30th team was San Francisco, unlike when we visited all of the the hockey arenas and purposely saved Toronto (hosting Montreal, no less!) for our #30.  For those of you wondering, our beloved Maple Leafs won (apologies to my Canadiens-loving brother)!  We did the NHL arenas from 2008-2010, in only two-and-a-half seasons.  One thing is certain:  tickets to baseball games are much more affordable than tickets to hockey games!

It’s now 2013, and the baseball team closest to us is the Washington Nationals.  Notice I didn’t write "home team," because our home team is the Toronto Blue Jays.  Nonetheless, both the Nationals and the Baltimore Orioles are close enough that going to games is relatively easy.

So why is it that it took until August 14, 2013 for us to see a game in the new Nationals stadium that opened at the beginning of the 2008 baseball season?!?

Maybe it’s because we are devoted fans of the American League.  Maybe it’s because we love Camden Yards so much that we don’t want another stadium in the area competing for our affection.  Maybe we’ve just been really busy (see previous comment about 30 hockey areas in two-and-a-half seasons!).  All three are distinct possibilities.

Regardless, we finally made it to Nationals Park.  And it was fantastic.

However, before I discuss the game, I have to mention where we went for dinner because I cannot say enough good things about it:  Gordon Biersch.  There are two locations in DC, as well as many around the country.  It is a brewery and a restaurant, and they make the best thing I have ever eaten.  No joke. EVER.  It is called the Artisanal Grilled Cheese sandwich and it is Gruyere cheese and avocado mayo on sourdough bread.  (The menu description also includes bacon, but being a vegetarian, I obviously order it without the bacon.)  It comes with the restaurant's signature garlic fries, and I am telling you:  it is the best meal I have ever had.  It is the only thing I order whenever we go there - lunch, dinner, whenever!  I can't speak to anything else on the menu - although everyone I know who has eaten there has enjoyed their meal immensely - but if you are at all a fan of grilled cheese sandwiches, you must try this one.  You will not be disappointed!

That's enough about the food...now on to the game!

The stadium is just beautiful, and having visited all the MLB cities, that is saying something because we have certainly seen our share of updated and impressive structures, as well as old, run-down parks (although I won't mention any names).  The fans were also great - another area where I feel a small sense of expertise because between all of the baseball and hockey games across the country, we have dealt with a lot of fans - sometimes when we were cheering for the home team and sometimes when we were cheering for the visiting team - and believe me, we have our opinions about rude fan behavior in certain venues.

The fans at the Nationals game really were outstanding - very respectful during the national anthem, which should be expected, but is not the case at all sporting events.  Yelling and talking during the anthem are HUGE pet peeves of mine because of our backgrounds, with this amazing country welcoming us as its citizens; any type of disrespect during the anthem is absolutely inexcusable in my opinion.  The reverence paid by the fans in the stadium during the singing of the anthem was just wonderful.

As you can see from this photo, our seats were fabulous and the game itself was pretty exciting, with the Nationals beating the Giants 6-5.  The weather was also unbelievable:  sunny and 79 degrees with a slight breeze.  Heaven!  And so unusual for this area in mid-August!  I wish the entire summer had weather like this!

Perhaps the thing we were most looking forward to was the seventh inning stretch, because some of the stadiums around the league have awesome, unique traditions and we love being part of them - Toronto ("OK, Blue Jays"), Houston ("Deep in the Heart of Texas"), and St. Louis ("Meet Me in St. Louis") immediately come to mind.  After "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," the a-ha song "Take on Me" was played and everyone in the stadium sang along.  I am not sure if this was a one-time deal or if this is something they do at every home game, but it was really entertaining.

So even though it took us so long to get to our first game there, we will definitely be back to Nationals Park!  The stadium, the fans, and the team all made it an experience we won't soon forget.

Eight more new stadiums to go!

Happy Tails to you!