Hooray for mid October!

The major league playoffs coming to Washington was big news for the city and us as the Cardinals and Nationals played in the National League Division Series.  

Ben got the opportunity to work the first home game (game 3) and we had tickets for game 4. With the Cardinals up 2 games to 1, game 4 was a potential elimination game for the Nationals.  The sellout crowd was nervous for game 4 and routing for a Nationals win to force a decisive game 5.

The game was a pitcher's duel throughout and was a 1-1 tie when Jayson Werth led off the 9th inning. The video below shows what happened.  

With game 4 being one of the greatest sporting events we had ever been a part of, we decided to bike down to the stadium for game 5. Tickets were scarce, so we watched some of the game on the big screen from outside of the stadium and the nearby stadium bar.

After the Nats grabbed a commanding 6-0 lead, we headed home while making plans for the impending NLCS and World Series appearances.  However, it was a roller coaster night with a 9th inning collapse by the Nationals and the epic come from behind victory by the Cards.

We got home in time to watch the Nationals blow a two run ninth inning lead to our beloved Cardinals. We were devastated as Nationals fans, but ecstatic that the implosion came at the hands of the Cards.  It is hard to admit to many our of family and friends, but we were both rooting for the Nationals deep down, which made the collapse hard to take.

With the baseball season over in Washington, some of our schedule was freed up.  In celebration of our first wedding anniversary, we drove down to Charlottesville,VA. Our first stop was Monticello, home to Thomas Jefferson. It turned our we probably should have purchased tickets ahead of time.  No tour was available for a few hours, so we decided a return visit made sense.  Instead, we decided to visit James Monroe's home at Ash Lawn - Highland for surprisingly pleasant experience. Termed by Ben the "poor man's Monticello", it was a wonderful history lesson about our nation's 5th president. 

All that history caused us to work up an appetite, so we stopped by a place called the Bluegrass Grill and Bakery for a delicious brunch.

While we waiting for our meal, we were treated to a piece of chocolate covered bacon by the owner or manager.  While it is hard to imagine this could be anything but delicious, Kelly was not a fan of the cinnamon.

Next up was the University of Virginia's homecoming football game against Maryland.   For Virginia's homecoming, the Cavaliers were taking on the rival Terrapins.

In a battle of mediocre football, the 1-4 Maryland Terps beat up on the Cavs throughout much of the game.  By the end of the first half, it was pretty clear that game was all but over.

After the halftime festivities, we decided to spend second half walking around the beautiful campus.

After touring the campus, we spent some time walking around downtown Charlottesville and then called it a day headed back to DC.

Sunday we had to catch up on life chores and spend some quality time with the dogs. 

Monday was the big day, our first anniversary. We had an awesome dinner at La Plaza where we enjoyed Paella and Steak Fajitas. We busted out some wedding cake that had been preserved for dessert.

When we blew out our candle, we wished for another year as great as this one!