These pics are from our Wednesday night family trip to the ballpark last week. I am a little slow getting them posted. We had great outfield seats right above the Mets bullpen, and the Nats won the game 4-3. A huge rainstorm came through about an hour before the first pitch, taking (most of) the hot air with it, making it a great summer night to be out watching a game. It was originally supposed to be a belated father’s day present, but somehow turned into my early birthday celebration, haha, sorry Pop! Jill even brought us some delicious mini cupcakes in her purse to enjoy at the ballpark. Cupcakes + peanuts + stadium food = good birthday dinner.
Yesterday was a beautiful day at the ballpark! The Nats avoided being swept by the O’s, winning 9-3 in the third game of the series, and saving me the shame of having to watch my fellow O’s fans in attendance break out their brooms (and/or golf clubs, if you are Tommy). We enjoyed some NATchos and beers, got to watch Stasburg’s first career home run (following a homer by Flores, no less), and cheered for Teddy in the President’s Race, even though Teddy still didn’t win. JJ also made best buddies with 4-year old Avalon and her creepy monkey Claire, who were sitting in front of us. They owe us ice cream, a hot dog, and a Nats hat next time we see them at the game, and we won’t forget. YEAH Nats! Gotta love a sunny Sunday at the ball game.
What better way to celebrate this great country we live in than with some national pastime enjoyment on a sweltering, and I mean swelterrrring, summer day?! On Saturday we went with my pops to watch the Nats, his first time visiting the new stadium. The Nats made a major comeback to beat the Mets, scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the ninth inning off what looked like a walk-off grand slam by Dunn. After review, the umps called his centerfield near-homer as a double. But Rodriguez followed with an RBI single to score the winning run for the Nats. Take that Mets fans!
We went to the Nats game last night with Matt’s company tickets, and I will say it’s the first good game I’ve gone to, of about 5 or 6 attended so far, at the new stadium. The team held onto their lead to beat the Florida Marlins 5-4, apparently putting them on an 8-4 run in their last 12 games. Which is pretty good, for anyone who knows how dismal the Nats can be.
Highlight of the evening for me may have been watching the 3 men sitting in front of us – three generations of baseball fanatics, all with blazing red hair. Grandfather and father both wearing full Nats gear and earphones (undoubtedly listening to the radio broadcast of the game), and the 6 or 7-year-old son, wearing his little league uniform down to the cleats, Nats hat, and giant grey sunglasses that bordered on goggles. Dweeby but so cute! Only a picture of that lineup would do it justice, but I wasn’t that creepy. So you’ll just take my word for it that some of the best people watching is in the stands.
Nice weekend here in Washington, though it was punctuated with some rather hot weather and a pretty good thunderstorm Saturday night. We tried to pay a visit to the recently opened Eatonville restaurant on Friday night, but got there just after midnight and they were already in shut down mode (we blogged about the “interior decorating” before). The space looks amazing and I know they had a big competition to pick out a chef, so I am still very interested in giving it a try.
In other openings around town, the “The Bullpen” is now open for business at National’s Park. While it is billed as a “beer garden,” it amounts to not much more than a fenced-in parking lot with a tent, stage, some games, and picnic tables. The Bullpen is a welcomed addition and starts to fill in the huge “there is nothing to do before or after the National’s game” gap that will remain until the market loosens up and more construction on Half St. SE can begin. The Nat’s unfortunately lost to the Phillies, but it was a high scoring game and we were able to score seats in the 2nd row — directly behind home plate — so that helped to take the edge off.
The opening of Artomatic is a mere 12 days away. Lori and I went in on Sunday night, after our visit with the Wasilewski’s to the always popular Dumbarton Oaks, to work on my wall. It is ~95% done (sneak preview here) now all I have to do is actually hang my photos. I’m eager to get my work up on the wall and not have to think about it anymore. There were A LOT of blank walls, so I expect it will be a last minute crunch to get all the work done before the opening on the 29th. But alas the weekend has come to an end, one more day would be lovely, but it is not to be.
Today mark’s the first of many future posts discussing and promoting the 2009 Artomatic show. Artomatic was held last year in NoMa at the Capital Plaza building which was conviniently located across the street from my job site (which we posted about frequently last year). This year it is being held at Half Street’s 55 M St, SE in the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood. For those familiar with DC, it is the building that you come up underneath when you exit at the Navy Yard metro station for a Nat’s game.
For 2009 the AOM folks have over 1,000 artist of all mediums (from photography to fire dancing, and fine oil paints to tattoos) lined up and they are expecting ~70,000 people to attend. MAKE SURE YOU ARE ONE OF THEM! Artomatic will run from May 29 – July 5th so unless you are like some of those people over in France that take entire months off for vacation durring the summer you should be able to find some time. Oh, also…it is free to the public and they have multiple bars and bands on the weekends (just taking away excusses not to go left and right arn’t I?).
Last year I exhibited ~25 pictures but this year I am choosing to have a much more edited and themed exhibit (more in the realm of 6 – 8 pictures) with the working title of “White Wash”. It will focus on urban abstracts of white walls, fences, sheds, etc. and the effects of time, decay, exposure, and wear on the once crsip white veneer. We will post more details closer to 5/29 about specific events, opening times, etc. Half Street’s 55 M Street, S.E., in Washington, D.C.’s Capitol Riverfront neighborhood
STOP sign stickers are funny. It’s such a simple and illegal way to promote an idea. Matt caught this one outside the new Nationals ballpark, where I guess the advocate for not circumcising babies thought there would be lots of foot traffic to view the sticker.
The follow-up email from Jackie on yesterday’s post:
well i guess my letter to the man worked. i was contacted by the nationals organization today and a very polite young lady named gwen informed me that what we experienced on tuesday was completely abnormal. she was working that night and agreed that it was absurd. she said that there was a lack of communication and the issue was being resolved. as a consolation to my complaint she has offered me 2 free nationals tickets to any game. since you all had to listen to me bitch (and even posted my bitching) i am offering up the other ticket to whoever gets back to me first. it is for any game, so we’d have to figure that one out.
i guess my faith in the nationals organization has been restored and i thank traci for fishing my hat out of the trashcan at the navy yard metro station. i will wear it cocked to the side proudly again!
oh and there was still no resolution about the hot dogs or peanuts though. she said i’d just have to tough that one out……
There was also a response from Fenty’s people:
Dear Ms. Abraham:
Thank you for writing. This letter is in response to your email received on
May 22, 2008 regarding your negative experience purchasing tickets at the
Washington Nationals stadium. I apologize for any inconvenience this may
have caused you.
Unfortunately, the Washington Nationals does not fall under the purview of
the District Government. You would have to contact the Nationals directly
to lodge you complaint.
Write the Nationals:
Washington Nationals
Nationals Park
1500 South Capitol Street, SE
Washington, DC 20003
Call the Nationals:
202.675.NATS (6287)
Again thank you for writing. Please feel free to write again.
Guest Posting: Baseball Thoughts by Jackie
May 21st, 2008
It’s a sight she never got to see: the inside of the Nationals Stadium. My fellow Baltimorean friend Jackie trekked it down to DC yesterday to catch the Nats v. Phillies game… but never even got to buy a ticket. Here’s the letter that she sent to the Mayor today:
Dear Mayor,
I was so excited when major league baseball came back to DC. I applauded
when the former mayor Anthony WIlliams held up his new Nationals jersey
for all the country to see. I was delighted everytime I read about the
progress being made on the new stadium. But last night, I tried to go to
my first Nationals game against a city I hate- Philadelphia (boo eagles go
Skins!). Anyway, I got there about ten minutes before the game started
(7:15) expecting some sort of wait as the game was just starting. What I
encountered were lines everywhere, no one being able to purchase tickets
because every computer was running off of one server, and no one explaining
the situation to anybody! I waited in line for 45 minutes and moved maybe
4 people. I decided to just leave, as I was getting no where except more
and more aggravated. This left a horrible taste in my mouth for the whole
Nationals organization and I told numerous other people waiting in line
that it was fruitless and to just go home. I am no stranger to waiting in
line for things (I come from the era of MD basketball at Cole Field house),
but this ordeal was just horrendous. Also, there were no vendors anywhere
outside the stadium, as I think maybe a hotdog in line or a bag of peanuts
would have made my wait not seem quite so unbearable.
What is being done about this situation?
Thank you for your time,
Jackie, long time fan, first time quitter.
Has anyone else had this problem? We will keep you posted if she receives any sort of answer…
While we were not able to score tickets for tonights opener against the Braves we did take a stroll down to the new stadium to see what could be seen. The stadium looks great, especially considering the break-neck construction schedule that they had to adhere to. My hats off to HOK, Clark, and all the other designers and contractors that pulled it off. A few things (namely the glut of above grade parking, very short sited) leaves something to be desired but the over all design is cohesive, indigenous, and impressive. The neighborhood is coming up nicely as well. The Half Street and Yards developments look particularly encouraging.
Zimmerman coming off with the nail-biting bottom of the 9th win tonight should be good for the team. Hopefully this is a team that the city can continue to get behind and support.
…and oh my god the massive scoreboard looks amazing
