The Washington D.C. Checklist: Baseball

The last stop on our Washinton D.C. checklist was baseball. The home team, the Washington Nationals, were on a road trip of their own, so we drove 30 miles north to Baltimore to watch the Orioles take on the Toronto Blue Jays. We had heard great things about Camden Yards from fellow baseball fans and Jordan, so it was at the top of our stadium list.

As we approached the stadium, the thrill of being in a new ballpark trumped our lingering hangovers from the prior two nights.



Jordan had purchased tickets for the four of us, so we quickly drank a PBR in the parking lot and headed straight in.



Before we headed to our seats, we toured the section beyond the right field wall. Camden Yards celebrates the mammoth homeruns hit at the ballpark by placing a baseball plaque where the home runs landed. There are several on the walkway, but only one on the warehouse wall...

Ken Griffey Jr. hit the wall 465 feet away. Wow.

Catching our third ketchup and mustard race.

With Chris Davis (the current major league leader in home runs) on deck, we stayed here hoping he'd hit one our way. He hit his 37th home run, but it was to the opposite field. Unbelievable.

A panoramic shot of the stadium from the right field wall.

We passed a statue of Orioles great Frank Robinson on our way to our actual seats. The stadium has a picnic area beyond center field. It was an amazing park.

The view from our purchased seats. To the left of this picture is where we started watching the game. Also, the warehouse in the background is what Ken Griffey Jr. hit.

Our favorite picture of our time at the game. Located in the concourse outside of our seats in left field was this little beverage cart. We splurged for some $8 Miller Lites. It was a hot day, so the two bartenders handed us some napkins dipped in ice water. They were amazing. Our overwhelming gratitude led to a conversation, which led to them hooking us up with the Camden Deal. They said, "When you need a refill, just come back and put $3 in the tip jar and we will fill you up. They can count the cups but they can't count the beeeeeeeer." We laughed, grabbed another ice napkin and headed back to our seats.

The Orioles won 7-4 thanks to two home runs and some good pitching. We headed back to D.C., with Sam now driving as we talked baseball the entire drive back. She was great. Our trip wouldn't have been as fun without Sam. The mother of a friend of Jordan's from Lake Oswego, Oregon was coming to town and taking the two of them to dinner, so we parted ways momentarily. We were getting hungry so wanted to find a good spot to eat. We didn't, but we found Johnny's. 

Heeeeeeeeere's Johnny's. They specialize in Chinese food, seafood, subs, and chicken, but they also have the world's best cheesesteak. Featured on the menu inside is their sweet potato pies. Basically, think of some sort of food item, and it's on Johnny's menu.

Johnny's words of wisdom...

In honor of Babe Ruth playing his first year's in Baltimore, and Chris Davis' pursuit of the single season home run record, here's Bill Slaybeck's "Move Over Babe, Here Come's Henry!"