Thoughts on New Stadium
by CptChaosSidekick
on Apr 21, 2008 9:50 AM EDT
First off I'm new to Federal Baseball, so I'd like to say hi and N A T S NATS NATS NATS! I'm sure since the season started almost a month ago that this topic has been talked about a couple of times, but I wanted to add my 2 cents.
I attended many Nats games at RFK and never had a real problem with it. To me RFK had a very familiar comfortable feel to it, comparable to a grandparent’s house if that makes any sense. I always enjoyed my time there and will miss it. That being said the only other MLB park I'd ever been to was Camden Yards when I was younger so I really didn't know what I was missing by not having an elite/modern ballpark.
I choose the Thu, Apr 10 game against Florida to be my first visit to Nationals Park. I made sure to get there early so I could take my time and see all I could. My first impression upon exiting the metro was that it felt like a MLB ballpark atmosphere. Entering from the centerfield gate, I noticed all the main attractions, eateries, and even a playground for the little ones! Making most of my comparisons to RFK, the walkways are spacious, and escalators are a nice touch to the nosebleed fans like myself. The food selection is 162% better then RFK's was! The Park itself is gorgeous and the HD jumbo-supertron is second to none.
It will take some time before all the construction goes away and the surrounding area becomes livelier, but it should all come together. The biggest gripes I've seen have to do with parking, prices, & a few glitches in the park. Most of the people I know would rather take the metro anyway. Prices are going to be high because it's a Major League park people, shouldn’t be a surprise and if you really don't like it then pregame. Glitches are going to happen with a new park and will be ironed out so calm down.
There's a great website that breaks down all the stadiums in every league and is a very good read in my opinion. Well I'm very interested in everyone's thought on this and look forward to blogging with you great people.
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I started with the Stade Olympique in Montreal...
...which was pretty bad at the end, (though I loved Montreal), then “the Nationals” moved to RFK which was worse in some ways, (though I liked the field of play, Sorrym I did, it was fair…) and so I was completely overjoyed to take in Opening Night in Nationals Park and finally be able to have a stadium to be proud of…
The food selection was great, though I never did find the “vegetarian” stand…which I looked for for some time…couldn’t agree more about the field of play, and every seat or every section has a good view, (Trust me, I was there at 3:00 pm for an 8:00 PM start on Opening Night, so I checked out every inch of the Park…) ...except the vegetarian stand?...If I go there again I would probably take the Metro, though going back to RFK by bus was good for me personally as the RFK Parking Lot lets out right onto the highway I took home…
Nationals Park is gonna be a great place to watch games for years to come…can’t wait to see what they do with the surrounding area…
by e chigliak on
Apr 21, 2008 11:25 PM EDT
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actually...
one of the washington post’s nightlife writers was on the program metro connection on wamu last week or a couple weeks back sort of ragging on the lack of nightlife by the park at the moment. his main gripe being, “hey…it’s not like the park just sprang up out of nowhere,” even if you take into account the expedited consrtuction of nats park.
"Well, I've been to one world fair, a picnic, and a rodeo, and that's the stupidest thing I ever heard come over a set of earphones."
by j.q. higgins on
Apr 22, 2008 10:05 AM EDT
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There used to be nightlife there...
...but it was all condemned, torn down, and then had a stadium built on top of it. Granted, it was all rather, uh, non-family-oriented, let’s say. The closest spot with any real nightlife now is probably Barracks Row (8th ST SE between Penn and the freeway). It’s gotten really nice in the last couple of years, and the Eastern Market metro stop is right on its northern end. It’s an easy 20-25 minute walk to/from the park.
And if you’re looking for veggie options, the best I’ve been able to find are veggie burgers/dogs, although they seem to run out (or the workers are clueless) on the upper deck. The kosher stands sell potato/garlic knishes which are pretty tasty. There’s one on the left side 300 level over toward home plate, and at least one more on the lower deck near the CF plaza. I have a friend who claims there’s a place selling packaged salads somewhere on the 200 level, but I’ll be damned if I could find it. At least you can get a Ben’s half-smoke at all the non-Ben’s hot dog stands. And Five Guys still rules.
by Doghouse on
Apr 25, 2008 5:38 PM EDT
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