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Lest week we drove down to the SE DC waterfront, most recently known as Yards Park. When we first moved to Capitol Hill fifteen years ago, none of this existed. Today it is a construction zone that never stops with high rises and glass everywhere. One of the first things to be built was the Nationals Stadium. Neither one of us is impressed by the area because it definitely lacks the old charm of our old neighborhood. It is supposed to be one of the most densely populated areas in DC when all is said and done. Before we moved to northern Virginia almost two years ago we considered renting an apartment there before we decided to buy, but luckily we didn’t. So aside from our morning walk I was also in search of images for the 52Frames photo challenge - “details.” I had taken a few photos in the park by our house just in case nothing else came around, but I always try to get something in town. I didn’t have anything particular in mind, so we just wandered around in our old footsteps - first through the underpass with the graffiti rocks, towards the Anacostia River park, then along the foot path and the blue and green DC water department building Then we reached the stadium and the bronze statues in front of the entrance caught my eye. I liked the close up of the shoe, that happens to be Frank Howard “Hondo” - who not only wore glasses, but had 49 home runs for three straight seasons with the Senators 1968-70. Then there was the reflection of the condo building in the baseball that was hanging high above; and another condo building with interesting balconies. I have a difficult time deciding which image should be submitted so lately I have been posting them on my Facebook business page and Instagram to see which one gets the most hits. This week it looks like the baseball shoe is the clear winner, but the condo building with the interesting balconies and the baseball with the reflection were close behind. This week the challenge is “negative space.” I’m sure something will fit the bill by the end of the week.

Yards Park in SE DC

This week we drove over to our old Capitol Hill neighborhood. It was difficult to actually get in to our usual parking place by our old house because the barricaded Capitol also cuts you off from Independence Avenue. After another twenty minutes or more we finally figured a route. This time we wanted to take a morning walk along the Anacostia River, Nationals stadium, and Yards Park. When we first moved to Capitol Hill fifteen years ago, none of this massive building boom existed. Now it looks like another arm of downtown filled with high rises, metal, glass and NOISE. The construction has hardly stopped and makes for a very loud environment. I was also trying to get images for the 52Frames photo challenge this week - “details.” Ever since we moved to northern Virginia almost two years ago we are less impressed with the old neighborhood. It might be that the pandemic has definitely changed things, but the barricaded blocks with barbed wired fencing takes away from the whole vibe. We thought about renting an apartment in the Yards area before we bought our condo and I’m glad we decided not to. I think we have outgrown the hassle of living in a busy place without the benefits. It was nice while it lasted especially when I was working. Now it’s close enough to visit and that’s good enough. Driving home along the GW Parkway was an unexpected sight - 3 park police on horseback. We oftentimes see them in the city, but never along a busy road way. 

Nationals Stadium

Since the Nationals season opener was yesterday, we decided to take a ride down to the Nationals Stadium today after our morning walk to see how things look in the neighborhood. We used to live just a few blocks from there when we lived in Capitol Hill. None of that even existed when we moved to DC in 2006. We have been experiencing extreme weather lately - breaking heat records and heavy rain. Of course, the rain ruined the game last night too. The place looks very different from when we lived there. The contrast between it and where we live now in northern Virginia is stark. Of course, nothing really looks the same with the pandemic all around us. A lot of it is probably psychological. All the streets around Nats Park are under construction; the high rises continue to “rise,” and the streets are still pretty empty. More people are wearing masks as it is required in the district. One of our favorite restaurants Tortilla Coast closed. Everything looks so dreary! One bright spot was seeing the toddlers walking together with their day care “class” across the street. That looked a bit normal.  The weeds are taking over and the old neighborhood looked ragged. Driving in to town isn’t what I ever imagined it could be these days. 

Nationals World Series Champs Parade

We usually hang out across the street from the archives on constitution avenue. But yesterday we walked to the rally area by the Capitol building and then to the Washington monument where the nats parade would start. It was a lovely fall day, but cold enough to wear winter jackets and hats. I dug out the red nationals cap for my husband. Since we no longer live on Capitol Hill we decided to drive in in from northern Virginia ten miles away, park in the old neighborhood, and go from there. We arrived at 1100 and had three hours to kill. It’s getting harder and harder to walk and stand around for several hours and we felt it when we got home. It ended up being five miles! But we couldn’t let the day go by without showing up for this very exciting day. After all, we went to the hockey team championship parade and had little to do with them. Baseball is in the family and it was with nostalgia that we went - for my dad, my brother, memories, and finally a festive event that everyone was excited about. I took a lot of photos and videos and sent them to my grandson who grew up with the nationals since he was a baby. It’s been an unbelievable last few weeks. I think it all made baseball history books.