Nationals Park

Winston-Salem, NC -- The recap of my first visit to Nationals Park is short, but it goes something like this:

The plush green Kentucky grass blends in perfectly with the park's building materials; a sandstone backdrop behind home place and marble walls for the exterior. The jumbrotron (the world's second largest HDTV (to Atlanta's Turner Field's)) is simply amazing. You could see a player's hair pixel in the screen. The curly "W" clock is a nice touch as well.

The knocks against the park are shown in the picture below. If you check out the "Presidential Suites," they are empty! Who wants to pay $300 per game to sit behind home plate for a team only winning 25% (5-15) of their games? The area makes the ambiance look dead. Also, I didn't take a photo of the area outside of the ballpark behind left field. Under contruction, there is a 10-story luxury apartment building that is blocking the view of the Capitol Dome. Why would the DC Government allow a project of this size to take place when the District itself ponied up $611M for this beautiful facility? Similar to the beautiful retro parks -- Camden Yards, Progressive Field (The Jake), Busch Stadium, Coors Field -- I was hoping that the ballpark would "open up" to the city skyline. Having the city's skyscrapers (in DC's case, the monuments) in the backdrop, it directly links the ballpark atmosphere to the city itself. As a fan, you feel like you're getting a full tablespoon of the city's charm while taking in a game; win or lose. I'd take that ideal setting over the hundreds of exclusive DC restaurant food stands that are currently littered around the concourses.