Fri: Nationals 5 - Reds 2 Sat: D.C.

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I noticed that because I always post these blogs after midnight... the dates are always one day after. So now that we're on our own and not traveling all over the place and going to games everynight, I'll be posting earlier. So to make up for the dates being off I'll just post the last two days together.

Yesterday we left at around 10:00 from our New Jersey hotel. It took about 2 and a half hours (just enough time to catch up on sleep) to get to D.C. We got in, had some lunch, then had about a 2 or 3 hour bus/walking tour of the city. Our guide was very informative and first took us to the Capital. Mom was ecstatic. As soon as we could see any identifying monument that we were in D.C. she just kept saying "Wow! Look! Oh my gosh! Look!" The tour was short because we had to be at the stadium by 5:30, but we got to get a look around at all the the key monuments and places and got to decide where we wanted to go later.

We got to get out and look at the Capital Building, The White House, The Korean War Memorial, and The WWII Memorial.
The WWII Memorial was really very moving and beautiful. We drove by just about everything else there is too see as well.

We then got to the new Nationals Park just open this year. It's too bad the Nationals aren't very good because they sure do have a nice place to play in. The park is really nice. And like all of these new parks has plenty of room. Like Philly, they have a big open area with a bar and restaurant in left field, along with a playground for kids. They also have huge walkways between the food stands and the field bleachers. Everything in this town has to do with... well government. The stadium is no exception. It is home to Congress Coffee, Senator Sausages and so on...

Another favorite is the President mascots. Presidents (Roosevelt, Lincoln, Washington, and Jefferson) can be seen easily walking around the park. Their heads easily are about 3 feet tall. During the middle of the 4th or 5th inning they have a race from the center field wall to first base. It was pretty funny.

We were pretty tired for this game, between the Reds and Nationals, the only recognizable player on either team is Griffey. And go figure he got traded to the White Sox the day before. Oh well.

Well our baseball tour ends here in Washington. We'll do a recap about our favorite fans, stadiums, food, cities etc. tomorrow hopefully.

Today however we woke up with the rest of our tour group in Virginia, and after we all parted seperate ways, we came back to D.C. We are lucky enough to be able to spend 3 days here. And in a real hotel too! We are staying right on Pennsylvania Ave. at the J.W. Marriot. We checked in around noon, and since we are so close to everything, just started walking. We went to the Natural History Museum first. How awesome. Everything from mammals, to crystal skulls, to Easter Island figures, to the Hope Diamond were there. The gem section was probably our favorite. Thousands of different minerals, jewels, and different settings of jewelry lined the halls. Awesome.

Next we crossed the Mall and went to the Air and Space Museum. Even cooler. The Wright Brothers' plane, The Spirit of St. Louis, WWI and II planes were just a few of the originals to see. The Space stuff was my favorite. Models of the Hubble Space Telescope, Lunar Landing Module, Mars Rovers, Iridium Satelites were really cool to see.

We walked back to our hotel and have only left for dinner so far. We're so excited to be here. Our baseball tour was amazing, but very very exhausting. We are excited now to have time on our own to see everything at our own pace. We havent decided on what exactly we'll do tomorrow, but we're pretty sure it involves sleeping, room service, and a monument, museum or two. We're having a great time!!

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