Washington Nationals Game
On our way to Shenandoah, we drove down to DC to catch the Friday night game between the Washington Nationals and the Baltimore Orioles. The sky and weather were gorgeous all weekend for both baseball and hiking. We were pretty fortunate with traffic, but you could see major backups in the opposite direction. All weekend long we saw hundreds of motorcycles, most of which were veterans coming to DC for Memorial Weekend.
Before the game, we walked from our hotel to the Capital Hill neighborhood for dinner. We walked by the Marine Barracks where Memorial Day weekend festivities were going on. We ate at a terrific Belgian restaurant called Belga Cafe. They have an extensive list of every style of Belgian ale and menu that contains both traditional Belgian dishes as well modern interpretations and fusions.
While the game was an interleague matchup between two of the worst teams this year, it did hold local appeal with the two teams being located so close to each other. There were plenty of Orioles fans to make it interesting in the stands. Collecting baseball stadiums is a long time hobby of Mark's. This was #39 for him and just #14 for me. We had both to a Nationals game together before at RFK, but now was our chance to see the beautiful Nationals Park. Located right on the Capitol Waterfront adjacent to the Naval Yards, the area is still developing so it is currently fairly quiet and light in traffic. The park has an open, airy feel and reminds me very much of Philadelphia's Citizen Bank Park.
Nolan Reimold hit a home run for the Orioles and Ryan Zimmerman hit one for the Nationals early to tie it up 2-2 in the 4th. It would remain that score until the top of the 12th when the O's got an unlikely 2 out hit from reliever Danys Baez followed by doubles by Brian Roberts and Adam Jones. Fireworks were launched from the water after the game that we could see standing in front of our hotel.
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