DC's new baseball stadium

Baseball returned to our Nation’s capitol a few years back and this year marked the opening of the Washington Nationals new stadium.

With an evening free of sightseeing activities I decided to hop on the Metro Washington DC’s public underground transportation and catch a game. From the Harrington Hotel I walked a few blocks over to the Galley Place/Chinatown Metro station and caught the Green Line to the Navy Yard exit. Roundtrip fare for a Friday evening was $3.30 and travel time was only 7 minutes. Exit at the Navy Yard Metro station then hang a left and you have about a 500 meter stroll to Nationals Stadium.

I arrived about an hour before game time and walked right up a purchased an $18.00 ticket. My seat was located in the upper deck almost right behind home plate. OK I was out of foul ball range but the site lines were excellent.

On game days you can walk up purchase $5.00 grandstand tickets that place you in the upper deck down the left field line. I strolled over to this section and found that it’s not a bad place to watch the game from too.

As far as the interior of the stadium it really did not do anything special for me. It didn’t seem to have the charm of Baltimore’s Camden Yard or Cleveland’s Jacobs-Progressive Field. It has plenty of specialties food courts but be sure to bring plenty of money. A hot dog costs $4.00 while a 16 once Bud in an aluminum bottle runs $7.50. Curious about the actual cost I priced a 6 pack of 16 once Buds @ 5.99. Not a bad mark up!

An interested feature located in behind center field was a children’s play area and a large Play Station video game room.

The stadium is located in a distressed area of DC but I saw signs of life and redevelopment. Derelict building and warehouses were demolished to build the stadium and in a few years I expect this neighborhood to boast restaurants, clubs, shops, condos and lodging options.