Opening Day 2019

Opening Day at National Park has been something I've wanted to experience ever since I went to that fateful game in May of 2015 and the baseball bug bit me. I mean - the first Nationals game I went to was in July of 2011 but I was only visiting my parents at the time and while I decided then and there I'd be a Nationals fan, the idea of going to Opening Day...or baseball games in general was not at the front of my mind. I was just enjoying the game.

Fast forward to 2015 and I was living in Northern Virginia - we went to watch the Nationals take on the Braves and I was totally and completely hooked. I knew from that moment on that I wanted to attend the Opening Day festivities one day...and each year since, I've looked into it. Whether it be work or life or whatever... this was the first year that it was a go - so I bought tickets and I was counting down the days until March 28th! 

Among my people - exiting the Metro!

I'm loving this new banner - loving it!

I found exactly what I was looking for...after a short hunt!

Traffic getting to the Metro was sort of ridiculous - all the road work and "improvements" really slow down traffic - blah! Once we finally got on the Metro, it was pretty smooth sailing and soon enough, we were pouring out onto the street with tons of other Nationals fans and walking up the street toward Nationals Park. A street performer was playing "Bustin Loose", the sky was blue, all the fans were feeling excited and I could not have been more excited! I rocked back and forth while waiting in line, trying to contain all my excitement! 

When we were ushered through the metal detectors, I passed under the new banner for 2019 and picked up my free shirt that has the home season on the back and just breathed in the joy of another season of baseball in the nation's capital! I do think Nationals Park is (for me) one of the happiest places on Earth! We pretty quickly made our way into the Team Store and I searched around until I found my hat - the hats that were debuted during Spring Training that I knew immediately I wanted one of!

  

Opening Day Line-Up - Angle One

Opening Day Line-Up - Angle Two

*sigh*

I have to say - I have never seen Nationals Park so crowded! There were people absolutely everywhere and every single spot to buy food was at least ten people deep - way more in most cases!  The line in the Team Store wrapped around the entire store and so my Mom and I took turns standing in line while the other looked at all the new Nationals gear. I found my awesome hat and that was my only purchase of the day - but it was enough on it's own, ha-ha! 

New hat selfie with the field in the background!

Nationals swag!

Cheesing alongside the Curly W balloon wall!

The Pitching Powerhouse - Strasburg, Scherzer & Corbin!

Baseball Besties - Rendon & Turner!

We made our way to our seats via the bottom concourse to see if we could spy any new food options along the way - and while I won't be interested in the fried shrimp and lobster rolls, I was glad to see that See You Tater wasn't gone completely but had just been moved on to the concourse. Listen - tater tots with all kinds of delicious toppings - that's a great food option! 

Our seats were in a section I've never sat in before and while the view was good, it was much more breezy than I'd originally thought it was going to be so I was extremely thankful for my jacket!

The view from the top!

  

  

  

As this was my first time attending Opening Day, I had no clue about all the pageantry that went along with it - but it was all so fun! The entire staff and the whole 40 man roster were introduced and when the line up for the game was announced, each player had fireworks shoot skyward when their name was announced - so fun! The american flag was escorted on to the field by two Clydesdale's, carried by members of the US Navy and there was even a flyover of three F-16's at the conclusion of the anthem!

The players lining up on the base lines. 

Such an amazing American flag!

She was freezing... ha-ha! And to think, she almost left the house without a coat!

The game swung into gear right on time at 1.05 and Max Scherzer pitched a pretty excellent game - he tallied up 12 strikeouts through his eight and 2/3 innings but a solo home run in the first inning was the only run the other team needed because the Nationals just couldn't get their bats going. 

Play Ball!

Change of view while making the lunch run....

Just being a little artsy with my new hat & the Park. 

The stare of Mad Max.

We made our way down the concourse and to the standing area behind the outfield to watch the final inning of the game - and alas, my Nationals didn't win the day. However, I absolutely loved being able to attend Opening Day - it was the most wonderful thing to experience and it's another bug that's bit me - because now I think I'd like to experience Opening Day every year! Only time will well if that play out, but it would be awesome to make it a tradition!

The moon - mounted on the new condos. 

As we left the Park, I noticed that the moon that had been mounted on a crane for the past few seasons has now been mounted on top of the new condos built right outside the ball park - which I thought was a fun touch. While the Nationals didn't win the day, there are still 161 games to play on the season and I'm excited to see it unfold.