Visitor's Locker Room (Ticket talk, Restaurants, Fantasy Questions, etc)

[dkich96]

Hello all, I'm moving to DC DuPont circle area to live with my girlfriend from NY. I need your help, I play ice and roller hockey and was wondering where the beer leagues in DC were and which would you recommend over others? Thank you for your help.

MOD EDIT: SEE POST 11 for Sk8's helpful OCD post.


Previous fantasy talk thread: http://hfboards.mandatory.com/threa...antasy-starter-injury-questions-here.1130665/

Click to read more...

 

[usiel]

There are a ton of local rink in-house adult leagues...Kettler, Rockville, Laurel, Ashburn, Mt. Vernon, Cabin John, etc..(ice hockey that is..I don't roller so maybe others will chime in).

 

[malyk]

Kettler is probably your best bet given your location. It's quick to get to and very nice. The winter leagues are wrapping up in a couple of weeks and then the spring/summer league will start sometime in april, iirc.

 

[Foy]

There's not a ton of rinks in the city, but there are plenty throughout the suburbs.

 

[malyk]

There's not a ton of rinks in the city, but there are plenty throughout the suburbs.

There's a total of 1 rink in the city; Ft. Dupont.

In Maryland: Cabin John, Rockville, Wheaton, Laurel, Wells (college park), Tucker Road (ft. washington), Bowie, Columbia, Piney Orchard, Frederick, and probably a couple others.

In Virginia: Kettler (ballston), reston, ashburn, mt. vernon, fairfax, prince william

 

[Foy]

There's actually 2 rinks in Reston if you include the outdoor rink at Reston Town Center. Not fit for hockey, but a great place to skate if you just have to get on some ice.

 

[malyk]

There's actually 2 rinks in Reston if you include the outdoor rink at Reston Town Center. Not fit for hockey, but a great place to skate if you just have to get on some ice.

Yeah, and there is the rink by the gallery downtown,. I actually work 2 blocks from the town center and live a couple miles away.

 

[Devil Dancer]

There's a total of 1 rink in the city; Ft. Dupont.

I play pickup there on Sundays. It's far, far out of the way, especially from Dupont Circle.

 

[Foy]

Yeah, and there is the rink by the gallery downtown,. I actually work 2 blocks from the town center and live a couple miles away.

I can see Town Center out my bedroom window, and I remember when they first built it (which dates me a bit). It's not a great rink aside from the fact that it is public skate all the time.

 

[LadyIce]

I play pickup there on Sundays. It's far, far out of the way, especially from Dupont Circle.

Ft. Dupont is right down the street from me!

 

[sk84fun_dc]

WORK IN PROGRESS

Ok, work in progress and definitely going to require feedback and edits, but an attempt to pull information from the other thread to the front and it needed a reboot anyway. So here it goes...

Post 1: The Overview (this post) - Please note that there are many links in these first few posts. Hopefully they are all working links. Please use the links to find out more information as your question may be answered.

Post 2: Tickets/Arena/Kettler Practice Facility

Post 3: Before/After Games: Getting to Verizon Center/Bars/Restaurants in area

Post 4: Visiting Washington DC

Post 5: Sports bar/Restaurant Information for Game Viewing

The old thread started in 2007, time for a reboot

 

[sk84fun_dc]

Visiting from Out-of-Town Thread

Tickets

Washington Capitals - Ticket Information Page

Directs to Ticketmaster
and other special offers

Stubhub, Ticketmaster Exchange, Ebay, Craigslist
(all of course with the typical caveats/warnings)

Note: Capitals have 4 tiers for ticket prices for the 2010-11 season
(see website and/or seating chart for details)

Interactive seating chart


Verizon Center Questions

Verizon Center Website

Simple seating chart (loads quicker than the interactive one linked above)

Capitals Bench: Section 101
Visitors Bench: Section 121

Benches: Section 100 side
Penalty Boxes: Section 111 side

Capitals shoot twice - 105/106 end
Visitors shoot twice - 116/117 end

Seating: 100s, Club, 400s, Suites

Club Seats since the question was asked several times in the old thread: Club level seats are a nice view for watching hockey; most season ticket Club seats come with the Acela symbol on the ticket, which allows one access to the Acela Club/Restaurant, but once inside bar and restaurant, money required, it isn't free (restaurant is all you can eat; based on history: pricey and mixed reviews); my understanding is buying a club seat online via ticketmaster, the ticket will not include the acela club symbol and will not include access unless you are purchasing via exchange from a STH; not sure what happens in those situations.


Practice Facility

Kettler Capitals Iceplex

The Caps have practices and most of the pregame skates at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex, located at Ballston Common Mall (on top of parking garage) in Arlington VA.

Also, sometimes visiting teams practice there if they stay an extra day or arrive a day early.

If you don't happen to have computer access and are wondering about practice information, people have posted before that the number to call is 703-243-8855.

 

[sk84fun_dc]

Before/After Games

Downtown DC Site with Map and other Information including Links to Many Sites


Getting to games:

Metro:

Closest stop, at corner of arena: Gallery Place/Chinatown (green/yellow/red lines)

Other stops in walking distance: Judiciary Square (red); Metro Center (orange, red, blue); Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter (green/yellow)

Parking information:
(info. would be helpful, but I know some people like to keep their parking spots from getting too popular)

In arena area - indoor and outdoor lot prices range from $10 (longer walk) to $30

3 parking garages on E street between 7th and 6th street that many people use

Parking at Gallery Place - The pro is you don't have to go outside, but it's pricey.

Outdoor lot at 9th and H

Getting to DC:
Train: Union Station/Amtrak - Direct trip on Metro from Union Station

Airports: Reagan National (DCA) - Can take the Metro; Washington Dulles (IAD); Baltimore Washington (BWI)


Bars/Restaurants

Everyone has their preferences and there are a lot of options in the Gallery Place/Chinatown area...so an alphabetical listing by general category of places people have recommended in the previous thread. Again most of these are included in the Downtown DC site linked above.

Bar Louie
Clyde's
District Chophouse and Brewery
Fado Irish Pub
Gordon and Biersch
Greene Turtle (attached to the arena)
Irish Channel, in the Red Roof Inn at 5th & G
La Tasca
Matchbox
RFD
and more

Quicker Bites
BBQ place on H (TX? name?)
Chipotle
Chop't
Five Guys
Fuddruckers
McDonalds
Potbelly's
Subway
and more

 

[sk84fun_dc]

Visiting Washington DC

This section could go on and on and on. There are a ton of tourist sites if you are visiting DC, but people log in and ask. Everyone has their preferences/favorites, so here is some basic information and links.

Some sites in the city require timed tickets if you want to do more than just see the site from the outside and most, if not all, now have options to purchase tickets in advance online if you want timed tickets (for example, the US Capitol, Ford's Theater). The ticket itself is free, you are paying the service fees to buy it in advance. There are likely some sites that explain this better than I can typing quickly here, but for example, if you want a tour of Ford's Theater or to go in and up the Washington Monument, you need a ticket. If you just want to walk around the outside, no ticket needed.

Also, additional timed tickets are handed out same day on a first come first serve basis. Some of the sites require all in your party to be there to get the tickets; some let one person pick up a few tickets. If you have an interest in a site, check the Check the National Park Service website in advance to see what your options are.


Washington Tourism Information Sites

Destination DC

and

Downtown DC



White House, US Capitol, National Mall

White House, President's Park

U.S. Capitol

National Mall and Memorial Parks
(Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Veterans, Korean, WWII, Jefferson Memorial, FDR Memorial, etc.)



Museums/Other Tourist Sites
not an exhaustive list, there is so much to see in the area

Smithsonian museums

Museum of Natural History
Museum of American History
National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum (immediately across from Verizon Center)
Air and Space Museum (one on the Mall, newer/bigger one Udvar-Hazy Center out by Dulles Airport; only cost is for parking at U-H near Dulles)
and more, see the link above

National Archives including the permanent exhibit of the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence.

National Gallery of Art

Smithsonian's National Zoo

U.S. Botanic Garden

Ford's Theater

Holocaust Memorial Museum



Other Museums (note: admittance fee, near the Verizon Center)

Newseum

International Spy Museum



More in the Area:

More information/National Park Service links - see this post at HFBs

Great Falls, MD/VA

Arlington National Cemetery

Mt Vernon (in VA)

Old Town Alexandria (in VA)

 

[sk84fun_dc]

Sports Bar/Restaurant Information for Game Viewing

(note: A list of some of the arena area bars/restaurants is listed in an earlier post; this is a list of sports bars where one can hope to have a tv turned to a hockey game in the area; some have NHL Center Ice; some have Versus; some have NHL Network; call ahead to confirm)

see Caps on Tap Partners with information and links to the participating individual restaurants/bars

DC

Near the Verizon Center:

- Bar Louie
- Grand Slam in the Grand Hyatt
- Greene Turtle (attached to Verizon Center)
- Penn Quarter Sports Tavern
- Rocket Bar

note: Given the location for some of these, crowds before and after most games

Other areas of DC:

- Buffalo Billiards (Dupont Circle) (not sure how much they show hockey games)
- Ventnor's (Adams Morgan)

Maryland

- Glory Days Grill (multiple locations)
- Greene Turtle (multiple locations)

Northern VA

- Bugsys in Old Town Alexandria - owned by former Capital Bryan Watson; Pizza place with a sports bar (upstairs)

- Baileys Pub and Grille at Ballston Common Mall (Ballston/Arlington)
- The Front Page (Ballston/Arlington)
- Union Jacks (Ballston/Arlington) at Ballston Common Mall
- Mister Days (Clarendon/Arlington)
- Crystal City Sports Pub (Crystal City/Arlington)
- Summers Restaurant (Courthouse/Arlington)
- Greveys (Falls Church, VA)
- Ramparts (Alexandria, VA)
- Glory Days Grill (multiple locations)


If you find a good place to watch hockey games, post and we'll add it!

 

[sk84fun_dc]

The catch-all - a space to add other useful information as it is posted in the thread. There is some information in the old thread about areas of the city. This was already too long so I left that stuff off for now.


If you are visiting from out of town and coming to a hockey game at Verizon Center rooting for the other team, from this one fan, welcome and I hope this information helps. OT: I hope the only bad part of your visit will be seeing your team lose the hockey game. If you are a Capitals fan coming from out of town, Go Caps!

 

[sk84fun_dc]

Ok, work in progress and definitely going to require feedback and edits, but an attempt to pull information from the other thread to the front and it needed a reboot anyway given the old thread covered 3 1/2 years of questions and answers.

Note: I'm not thrilled with the formatting so if anyone has any suggestions or a mod wants to take another shot at this, enjoy.

Feedback/Edits/Additions/Corrections...have at it.

 

[ufanje]

Caps Tickets

My wife and I are going to visit her family this Christmas in D.C. We were looking at ticket prices for the caps on ticket master and the cheapest we could find for Dec 21 (devils) were 60 bucks and for Dec 23 (pens) were 95. Is there a place to find cheaper tickets or are they that expensive because of the holiday season or are they always that expensive? Any help would be very much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[Drake1588]

Ticket prices have increased, but the Caps also have a tiered pricing strategy, where some opponents are more expensive to go see compared to certain other teams. The games all sell out now too.

 

[Chimaera]

You could also try the ticket exchange deal.

Tickets are probably that expensive (especially for the Devs/Pens)

 

[Synergy27]

Do you guys have a season ticket holders ticket selling thread? I'm looking into getting tickets for the game vs. the Rangers on 2/25/11 and I'm shocked to see upper deck seats going for well over $100 on TM. Does anybody here have anything for sale?

 

[Chimaera]

If we did have things for sale (and most typically don't on these boards) they usually are day of type of sales.

Not to mention, while I'm not 100% you're a Rags fan, since you list NJ as your your location, I don't know that Caps fans on these boards are going to want to sell to you. While Rangers fans aren't exactly our biggest rivals, many who make the trip down (or are local) have been a pain in the years past, so I know I wouldn't sell to you.

 

[Synergy27]

If we did have things for sale (and most typically don't on these boards) they usually are day of type of sales.

Not to mention, while I'm not 100% you're a Rags fan, since you list NJ as your your location, I don't know that Caps fans on these boards are going to want to sell to you. While Rangers fans aren't exactly our biggest rivals, many who make the trip down (or are local) have been a pain in the years past, so I know I wouldn't sell to you.

Fair enough, but I assure you I'm just about the easiest to deal with sports fan in the world. My post was pointed more towards how shocked I was at the cost of tickets down there though. I thought we had it bad up here...

 

[Chimaera]

It's not about you to deal with per say, but generally, now that we can sell out consistently, most prefer to avoid bringing in other fans when there are Caps fans who will buy them.

As for the prices, they've gone up significantly, but they're also higher for certain match ups. the Rangers would be one.

 

[PhoPhan]

Hello all.

First off, this is a great thread. Very informative.

Anyway, I have just moved to DC from Philadelphia (and I'm a Coyotes fan, so swap out your antipathy for indifference) and am trying to get to know the area. I figured this might be a good place to get some tips.

I'm living in Mount Pleasant and working in Foggy Bottom, and I feel comfortable enough to get to whatever part of the city might have something cool going on. I'm open to whatever recommendations you might have.

In particular, I'm on a hunt for a decent record store. I checked out the two on 18th in Adams Morgan (Smash and Crooked Beat), but I found them both pretty lacking, though more in terms of what I was looking for as opposed to overall inventory. I'm willing to grant that my tastes are relatively obscure and I've been spoiled by living near both the Princeton Record Exchange and Wuxtry Records in the past eight months. Still, I'm sure there are good places to buy vinyl in this town. I just don't know where they are.