The New Stadium
Posted on March 30, 2008 by andrew
Walking in from the Metro station, it was absolutely breathtaking. You walk directly from the entrance into the promenade behind the outfield, so the field itself is directly in front of you with the stadium rising all around. My first thought was, “This looks perfect.” I think the adjective I really need to use here is “imposing”. We’re talking about a city whose most prominent landmark is a giant white phallus, and the stadium doesn’t back down from that approach.
Of course, Washington is also “open” despite the grandeur, and the stadium meets that requirement just as well. From within the seating bowl, you feel surrounded by the whole city, including its parks just as much as the taller office buildings that appear on the skyline. Glimpses of the Capitol, Cathedral, and other landmarks are available depending on your seats and whether you choose to look for them. (Speaking of the huge phallus again, the Washington Monument is not only the most easily seen monument from my seats in Section 228, but one that lines up almost perfectly with the left field foul pole from the same vantage. That doesn’t really mean anything, but it was a bit cool to realize.)
As far as amenities go, it wouldn’t have taken much to beat RFK, but the new park obviously well exceeds this minimum standard. Within a short distance of my seats were a Five Guys hamburger concession, a normal “hot dogs and pretzels”-type concession with a few added items such as a Ben’s half-smoke, a gelato cart with a fairly extensive flavor selection, 3-5 beer vendors with a wide variety of brands between them, a coffee cart, and some sort of New Orleans-themes concession. The restaurant/bar in Center Field looks to be worth trying, and I wish I had $350 to blow on Presidents Club seats just once.
I was really worried around 4:00 this afternoon that Nationals Park couldn’t possibly meet my expectations following three years of anxiously following every City Council debate, every webcam update of the construction, and ever minor detail the team released to the press. Right now, I’m absolutely ecstatic that my stadium is finally here and that I felt so absolutely satisfied from the moment I got out of the train until the moment I got back on to go home. (Also, I wish I owned a camera so I could post some pictures here.) Welcome home, indeed.
Sphere: Related Content» Filed Under DC, Nationals Park, Washington Nationals
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