Brewers vs. Nationals in Washington D.C.

We met Jackie at the first game of this series when she invited us to sit in her section. We hung out with her for all 3 games, but it wasn't until today's game that we got our picture taken with her. She's the best usher in the world, and Kevin and I promised to stop back and visit her again some day. Words cannot express how much we love her.

I don't ask for a whole much when I stay at a hotel. But the one thing that I always want is a pool. Despite looking very unattractive in a bathing suit, I love to go swimming. And even though it was April here on the East Coast, I was determined to swim until I saw this sorry excuse for a pool. I love to go swimming, but I don't love it that much.

After being shut out 8-0 yesterday, I jokingly told Kevin that the Brewers were going to score like 10 runs in the 1st inning and whoop up the Nationals. And thanks to an unlikely Grand Slam by the big slugger Craig Counsell, the Brewers did score 10 runs in the 1st inning. I wish that I always could be spot on with my predictions.

The game didn't go as smoothly as I said it would. Even though the Brewers went up 10-0, they weren't able to cruise to victory because Doug Davis was on the mound. Remember how we brought him back in 2010 to be a steady innings eater? He was none of that today, as he gave up 6 earned runs and failed to make it out of the 4th inning, giving up 5 earned runs. Starting pitchers have to go at least 5 innings to qualify for the win, and he couldn't even do that with a 10 run cushion. What a loser. And the Brewers almost blew it, but settled for a 11-7 victory to avoid the sweep.

The last thing that I wanted to check out in D.C. before we high tailed it out of town was the September 11th Memorial at The Pentagon. When I was in New York City in March of 2005, the site of the World Trade Center was just a big hole in the ground. 5 years later (as I've seen from pictures) it's not too much different. I don't know what's taking so long, but there must be some problem with retail space versus memorial space and the fact that it's smack dab in the middle of Manhattan. Here at the Pentagon they don't have that problem. This memorial was built in the parking lot in the giant stretch of land surrounding the building. The memorial itself is very minimal, which helps it to achieve the effect. There is one bench-like structure for every person who was killed in the Pentagon attack be it on the plane or on the ground. To me this memorial created a very hollow and open feeling, which allows someone like me who didn't have any personal attachment to the victims to feel the pain and sadness that exists because these people had their lives taken away from them. You never like to go to places like this, but I think that everyone should because September 11, 2001 was a day that affected everyone in this Country (and quite possibly the World) and as time goes by, we can not and should not forget about the people whose lives were lost that day. Let's just pray that we don't have to erect any more memorials on US soil.

There were a few Brewers fans there, but the majority of the crowd was obviously compromised of Nationals fans. So while we loved the Brewers offensive outburst, they felt the exact opposite. But we kept on asking for more, like we did when Ryan Braun came to bat and we held up our sombreros as a target for him to hit at for a home run.

There a signs everywhere around the Pentagon warning you not to take any pictures in the area because doing so is a Federal offense or something. Unlike the other tourist shit in this town, this building houses some of the most vital secrets of our country. So snooping around and taking pictures constitutes as photo reconnaissance for terrorist activities. But I took a picture anyway because I'm not a terrorist. I love the USA. But we didn't stick around there long because there isn't much to see there besides the memorial, so we went back underground to take the train back home.

Today was another very long day, even though we did a whole lot less today than we did yesterday. But for whatever reason I was feeling really worn out. We sat in the subway station for what seemed like forever (maybe the trains run less frequently on Sundays) then our train finally pulled into the station. Once again the ride back to the car was an eternity, but at least we had something to look forward to. Originally we were supposed to leave and drive straight back home (we both took off work Monday) but Kevin suggested that since we were out on the East Coast, we should stop by Punxsutaweny and see Phil the Groundhog. So I made it happen. And it ended up being one of the greatest ideas of all time.