I call it "Subtlety"

In rare agreement with my dad, DC is one of my favorite cities to visit (a close second to Chicago).  This would be my 4th or 5th visit to the District, and I may try and get back there for the summer after my 1L year.  Being a huge nerd, Washington DC is incredibly exciting.  Everytime I go there I find myself excited because “everything is something.”  This may seem self-obvious and describes literally everywhere ever, but in DC its more true than anywhere else.  On every street corner is some pivotal or significant building or monument from America’s past and present.  On one corner may be the head office of a national organization and then turn and there’s the Capitol.  Awesome.  It doesn’t hurt that it’s a beautiful city.

One of the thing that has been described to me, and is a potential draw for future residencey consideration, is that it’s such a diverse city.  In other words, the city is such a big draw for employment, being the capitol and all, that the people my age come from all across the nation.  Being a big fan of diversity, that could be very cool.

Huh?

After we settled into our sweet, comped suite 3 blocks from the White House, we relaxed and showered off the dirt of Baltimore in preparation for a big day.  Having a full free day in DC was great, as there is so much to see there.  We spent the day walking around the major monuments, the National Gallery of Art (another thing my dad and I have in common – no understanding of modern art), and Capitol building.  I had been on a tour before, but it was so long ago all I remember was the vague memory of seeing the House in session.  During this tour, we stopped by the Hall of Statues which had statues of famous people from various US states.  Notable here, for my Northwestern friends, was Illinois’s Francis Willard, the biatch that led the Evanston-based temperance movement.  After a quick dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and some father-son bonding over stories we probably didn’t need to share we called it a night.

BOOOOO

Before the evening game, we headed to Chantilly, Virginia to see the annex of the Smithsonian’s Air and Space museum.  My dad covered the details, but it was pretty awesome.  Seeing the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb and killed tens of thousands was particularly weird confrontation with destruction.  I quickly got over it.  Before the game we stopped by the Capitol City Brewery for some local beer.  Unfortunately, those that we tried were pretty mediocre, as were the appetizers.  Off to the stadium in good ole DC traffic…

Boring...

This was my second trip to the new Nationals stadium, and it rates very highly…on the inside.  One thing I didn’t really notice last time is that the outside of it is extremely boring.  There doesn’t seem to be a clearly defined entrance like most stadiums have, or even distinctive architecture to make it identifiable.  Maybe it was at a different part of the stadium, but we came from the main location where the train station is and walked around most of the stadium.   Nothing.

The inside, however, is very pretty.  Part of it is the fact that it is brand new, and has only been open a few months, but the seat layout and food options are well designed.  Because we continue to be lucky as hell, our seats were behind home plate, in the VIP area which you accessed through an air-conditioned bar, and had padded seats and waitresses.  It’s a rough life.  We were a few rows behind Nats Manager Manny Acta’s family (made obvious by the on-screen announcement of his daughter’s birthday and the intense amount of cheering that followed) and also in our section was professional wrestler Batista, who I first just thought was a ridiculous case study in the evils of steroids.

I really enjoyed the 4th inning President’s Race, in which live people with giant heads of Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt and Jefferson race from center field to first base.  Roosevelt has never won, which always leads to a good time cheering (his losing streak has been chronicled in blog form).  The one thing that annoys me about the park was ESPN’s rantings about the amazing view of the Capitol during the home opener this season.  Yes, you can see the Capitol…only in the right field seats, and narrowly between two parking structures/buildings-in-construction.

The game was a good time (as I got to see my favorite player Chase Utley knock a 2 run dinger).  The Phillies won 2-0, and our home losing curse was back!  It was sad to leave DC for the sinkhole that is New York City (home of salsa), where I prayed the curse would rear its beautiful head again.