Half the Price and Twice as Nice

We share season tickets to the Nats with a group of our neighbors, and today was our first game of the year. The group chose new seats this season, so we were anxious to check them out. Last year we were down the third-base line and maybe 8 rows back, and this year we were over in a corner at the end of the first-base line and just 5 seats from the field. 

It was a beautiful day here, sunny and breezy, and Heidi was wise enough to make us stop for sunscreen on our way to the park. We took our time walking through the concourse, checking out the concessions, and finally slipping into our seats in the middle of the second inning. They were amazing, but it was hot on the field with very little of the breeze reaching us down there. After the presidents raced by, so close that we could almost reach out and touch them, I found my eye drawn to the upper deck across from us. It was nearly empty up there and shady; plus they had a much better view of the jumbotron and scoreboard.

At the end of the fourth, I suggested to Heidi that we check out the nosebleeds, especially since we had never been to that part of the stadium. It was still crowded on the concourse; the fans meandering and lining up for ice cream, hot dogs, and beer. The crowd was mostly families; it was Father's Day, after all. We finally found our way around to the escalators and took them all the way to the top. 

Up there it was quiet; there were no lines at the concessions, and a cool breeze blew gently over the sparsely populated sections. We found a couple of open seats in the shade with a great view of the entire field, both bullpens, the hometeam dugout, and the scoreboard, and there we pleasantly passed the remaining innings of the game in complete comfort.