Oh What A Night!

Apologies to The Four Seasons and The Jersey Boys (great Broadway show) for the rip off in the post title. But it fits. Our experience last night didn't match The Opener, simply for what that was and for the way it ended.
It was our best night at the park since. How? Let me count the ways:

*The game itself. It was the type of game that good teams win. Only three hits, they all counted. Good pitching in difficult situations. Taking another team's mistake and kicking them in the crotch with it. Oh, have I mentioned on here yet how much I love Flores? My wife is on that train now, too. Sanches came in and threw strikes. There was a whole lot to like with this one.

I do find the contrasting headlines on Nationals.com and in the Washington Post interesting. Bats alive? Eh. Three hits. But I see the point. All three meant something. Do just enough to win? Eh. They won by four runs. But I see the point there, too.

*The trip. I'm not a patient person, a shocking revelation to those who know me. I hate traffic. Makes being up in the area interesting. Yesterday, we made it from my office in downtown Richmond to Lot T in 2 hours, 10 minutes. One brief delay on the bridge going into the district. We paid our money, had a drink at Starbucks and read for an hour and then strolled to the stadium. I will never go any other way now. I'm spoiled. Please do not tell Uncle Stan this but I would pay double for the parking. The convenience is incredible, particularly on nights like tonight when the United are (is?) home and Lot 8 is unavailable for Nats Express. An interesting tidbit - on the way back to the car, I saw something I had yet to see at the Nats Express stop. There was a line and no bus. Have they cut the number of buses?

*The park. Hardly anybody there. My section was just about empty. That's not good in the big picture but it is great for moving around, getting food quickly, etc. We kept to our word and tried something new. We had the crabcake platter at Cantina Marina or whatever it is called next to Five Guys. Expensive but good. Very good, I thought. My wife thought it was a bit too spicy, which was OK by me because I got half her sandwich. She had one of the $9 margaritas, which came out looking like a slurpee. She reported there was no skimping on the alcohol. Should've bought her two more. Heh heh heh. Tonight, I will probably go back to my Hard Rock wings. Or maybe a Frito Pie. Or maybe both. Or I may do Five Guys.

A little chilly. I used it as an excuse to splurge for a way-overpriced $38 long sleeve T that I ended up not wearing. We saw the fireworks as we walked back to the car.

We're back tonight, in section 313. Hoping for a night that's even 70 percent as good.

As an aside: Did I miss a story or something recently? Have there been complaints about service and smiles at the park? I ask because park workers seemed to go overboard last night being extremely nice. We hadn't had any problems with that previously but maybe someone did.

The ticket person couldn't get my ticket to scan. When she finally did, she said "thank you for coming and have a great night." So did the guy who checked our bag and the woman helping the ticket taker make her scanner work.
We heard it from the food people. We heard it from the usher who let us sit in his section and eat. By the way, Uncle Stan, how 'bout some tables in that huge area of wasted space up by Five Guys? Or some rails with spot to put your food down and stand and eat? Take a trip to Citizens Bank Park and check that feature out, OK? Put it on the Lerners tab.

We walked around that concourse, not realizing it ended at the suites where the Great Unwashed like us are not welcome. I asked the guy at the door how to get upstairs, since my wife's back and bad foot make walking a chore. "Right there, sir, is an escalator that lets you out right at your section." Wow, thanks. "Thank you, sir, for coming and have a great night at the park."
We got that at the top of the escalator AND in our section from the nice usher who showed us how to get to seats we've been in many times already.

On the way out, no less than 10 workers thanked us for coming and said they hoped we enjoyed ourselves.

We did. Very much, thanks. If more were like that, I'd have a much more rosy outlook on life in general.