Day 3, Sunday May 26th:

Waking up at 5:30am to a rarely quite Hoboken, Max and Jeremy left towards Delaware to pick up our next companion - Adam.  With only five hours of sleep the night before we decided to stop for coffee, which was Jeremy’s first.  Jeremy quickly slurped up the Mocha (5 syllable) sugar filled caffeine boost and we jumped back on the roads.  High hopes were set for picking up Philly Cheese Steaks at Carmen’s Deli on the way at 8am.  Unfortunately upon arrival we were informed that they were closed for the holiday weekend.  We improvised and found ourselves at a small wooden shack, with a sign that read ‘Philly Pretzel Factory’.  Upon walking in we were quickly enticed by the pretzel wrapped sausage.  Moments before going through with our decision, a fresh batch of pretzel wrapped cheese steaks came out of the oven.  So it seems, it was meant to be.  Soon after breakfast, we picked up Adam at his sister’s apartment at the University of Delaware.  Congratulations to her on her graduation from college. 

Now the three of us together we were off to DC.  Arriving at 11am we met up with Adam’s friend Johnny who we will be spending the next few nights with. As soon as we introduced ourselves and dropped off our bags we immediately set out to catch the metro to go out to Nationals Park for the 1:30pm game against the Phillies.  $5 tickets were available but only if all people were visible from the ticket window.  Our problem was that we were still waiting on 4 others.  We scoured the crowed for 4 individuals who would be willing to stand and wave from a distance as we bought tickets.  All the Phillies fans were more than happy to help us, although some of the locals seemed to be a little less willing.  Eventually we gathered enough people and got back in line.  Unfortunately by the time we got to the front there was only one $5 ticket left. After an unsuccessful, yet thrilling, attempt at scalping tickets for eight consecutive seats, we discovered we could wait until the game was sold out and then buy standing room only tickets.  

We didn’t have to venture too far to kill time as there is an old shipyard across the street that was remodeled into an outdoor area with a live band, vendors serving food and drink, and games of cornhole.  In the middle of a remolded shipyard, we found the tailgater’s paradise.  

After getting standing room only tickets, we went in to watch the game which was a pitching duel between Stephen Strasburg and Cole Hamels.  After both pitchers had retired the side in the first inning, we migrated over to the Ben’s Chilli Bowl Stand and ate their ‘Half-Smoked All the Way’ chili dog.  The perfectly cooked sausage was topped with cheese, sauerkraut, and spicy chili.  The well worth it ballpark snack gave us the energy we needed to scour for empty seats.   We were able to find seats in the last row of the upperdeck and watched the rest of the game from there.

We rested up a bit in the late afternoon before heading back out, meeting back up with more of Adam’s University of Maryland crew. A lovely Thai dinner at the Siam Bistro, was followed by some pre-game drinking and games.  Once midnight came around we decided to head out to Adam’s Morgan, a happening area for nightlife in DC, and settled on the aptly named Madam’s Organ Blues Bar.  After a night of drinking, live blues music, and interacting with some very eccentric local characters, the night came to close with what can only be described as the largest slice of pizza this side of the Mississippi, the infamous Jumbo Slice. ~Jeremy, Max, and Adam