The tidal basin is officially closed through September, the WW2 side is being taken over by kickball that sets up very early, and the east side of the Mall is bustling with tourists. We’re a little squeezed for location, so this is going to be a bit of choose your own adventure today and until we find a dependable location.

Option 1: Mall between 4th and 12th. There are four big fields, and if one of those is not packed with tourists, then that’s where we’ll play.

Option 2: Close to WW2 memorial. This is the same location as most Mondays and Wednesdays, just closer to the road (17th). There is generally enough space near the kickball people.

Option 3: North side of the Washington monument. These fields are also not great and on a slight hill. Not ideal, but can work in a pinch.

Keep your eyes here for an update between 5 and 5:30 to confirm the location. But plan on the options above in that order.

As long as we get enough people to play by 9:30 it seems that we’ve been able to stake out a space to play before the tourists all show up. We’ll probably use the field closest to Smithsonian metro. But if not there it will just be one or two sections closer to the capitol building.

The weather will start off a little cool, but quickly warm up with plenty of sunshine. A great day to come play touch

5:30pm between WW2 memorial and Washington monument. It will still be on the cooler side with a light breeze, but much warmer than yesterday. A glorious spring day to get in an after work run.

The forecast is almost 100% chance of moderate rain and wind this afternoon, with temps in the high 40s. Usually a little rain wouldn’t stop us, but the whole forecast looks like enough to take away all the fun.

Wednesday looks good though, so plan to be back out on Wednesday 5:30pm

still on the mall, just the field toward the capital a little

We were all set to move over to the tidal basin pitch for tomorrow, and then came the sad news this morning from the NPS that Wallenberg field will be closed until Sept 15 2022.

As long as we are on the Mall before all the tourists show up we should have room to play for a few hours. It’ll stay a little on the cool side, but very pleasant tomorrow with a little cloud cover and moderate wind.

Tourist season is back, and without COVID keeping people indoors the east side of the Mall is crawling with people and not enough space to set up a pitch, so we’re back in the usual location on the WW2 memorial side.

It’s going to be legitimately warm tonight, around 80F/27C, with a moderate breeze.

someone let all the tourists back in and there’s no open space on the mall. Sorry for the last minute but we’ll play on the WW2 side of washington monument wjere we can find a little room

We were able to play on the Mall Saturday without any contact from the park rangers. We’ll play on the Mall this evening and hope for the same result. Worst case scenario, we’ll have to remove cleats.

It’s going to be a beautiful evening for touch rugby. Low sixties, with a moderate breeze, and partial cloud cover.

The cherry blossom parade is tomorrow and runs along Constitution Ave. If we move further toward the capital building maybe there will be less congestion and chaos. We should be able to use one of the fields on the mall in front of the national gallery. There is a chance the park rangers will be out and about, so barefoot/sneakers might be in the cards.

At any rate, give yourself some extra time to get down to the mall and find parking if you drive. I suggest going early since most of the road closures start at 9. Below is a link to all the road closures. I couldn’t find a closure map, so I made a quick one and highlighted where we will likely play. https://dcist.com/story/22/04/06/street-closures-2022-cherry-blossom-parade/

Weather will be on the chilly side, but we should get enough sun that it won’t feel too cold.