5 best things about Nationals Park

Visiting a new park for baseball fans is akin to trying a new restaurant for a food junkie or climbing the next mountain for the outdoor enthusiast.

Here are the top 5 reasons to schedule a trip to Nationals Park in D.C., which if you take a deep breath, still has the new smell.

1). The Scoreboard: On a day as gloomy as last Sunday in Washington, the clarity of the 4,500 square foot screen was stunning. You can see in the first two pictures above how crisp the HD screen appears, even from the upper deck. A screen's a screen, right? Hardly. This screen makes watching you feel like you're watching the replay from your couch. In comparison, the screen at Atlanta's Turner Field is 5,600 square feet, and was recognized as the world's biggest outdoor screen when it was unveiled in 2005. The new screen for the Panthers' games at Bank of America Stadium is reportedly 2,414 square feet.

2). The Metro: Whoever planned this up was brilliant. The Navy Yard stop lets you off at the doorstep of Nationals Park, as soon as you exit the Metro station (see third picture above). Parking is reportedly a nightmare around the stadium but with D.C.'s elaborate and efficient Metro system, getting to and from the stadium is a breeze. Pushy Metro employees ensure that the post-game rush is handled as smooth as possible.

3). The views: The word is that if you sit down the first baselines, there are some decent views of the Capitol Building. We sat in the Bob Uecker seats up the third baseline, but the views were just as good, looking out onto the Anacostia River, to the left of the swank scoreboard. On a sunny day, the reflection would be stunning. I'm assuming.

4). The Fries: This is all we had to eat (read: cheapskate) and a cup of french fries was $5 (extra for garlic fries) and delish. But it was obvious the food options were complex, ranging from steak sandwich ($8) to crabcake platter ($11). They also let you bring your own food into the stadium, as well as factory sealed water bottles (1 liter max) and juice boxes.

5. The Vibe: Just looking around the ballpark area, the amount of development and rejuvenation is very apparent and fans, with plenty of kids in tow, makes for a buzz you can't deny. Although it's still new and the Nationals are mathematically still in the playoff race. It helps to have thousands of $10 upper deck seats to choose from. For the record, the place seats 41,000 and cost just over $611 million.