Greetings from the corner of 10th and Spring in the Emerald City of Seattle! It is the morning of day 2 of the Puget Sound 2013. I apologize for not updating promptly last night, but after I tell you all of the day we had here, I'm sure you can understand my exhaustion level.
The 9am train out of Eugene is such a civilized train. Not having to rush around at an ungodly hour of the morning, not to mention being able to sleep in, just made life so much more enjoyable. I was able to get some work done, ate a hearty lunch, and took a refreshing nap on the ride up. We ended up getting to Seattle about 15 minutes early around 1530, leaving us plenty of time for our adventures.
I figured it was wise to go check in to our hotel before heading out on our planned excursions. Much joy was to be had by not having to go to a hostel as we actually splurged and got a hotel. It was a bit far from the train station, but still technically downtown. We had to use the bus tunnel to traverse under the streets of Seattle, then hike up two gigantic hills to reach our hotel. Hey, to be honest, I'd much rather have done that than stayed in a hostel!
Our first stop on the way to the ballpark was the Smith Tower. I had been there numerous times, but my girlfriend hasn't, so it was nice to show her the view.
Built in 1914, the Smith Tower was the tallest building in the world outside of New York City when completed. At the top of the gothic tower is a 360-degree outdoor observation deck. On this particular day, I could see the top of Mt. Rainier, the Olympic Mountain range, all of downtown Seattle, Safeco Field, Puget Sound and the Space Needle. While it was only 42-stories up, you can't help the literal breathtaking experience of looking straight down.
On the floor of the observation deck is the Chinese Room. Adorned as a gift from the Empress of China, the Chinese Room is decked out in eastern motifs from ceiling ornaments and carpeting.
The most interesting thing about this place, in my opinion, was the binder full of old newspaper articles they compiled about the construction and completion of the building. I spent a good twenty minutes reading these articles mesmerized by the writing stew of the day. What was puzzling about my research, and was not touched on with the information packets they gave out, was the building was completed during the height of American involvement in World War 1. Did that have any affect on the building, either in construction or the opening?
After the Smith Tower, we stopped for a bite to eat and made our way down to Safeco Field. Unlike when we came up here last month for Memorial Day, this game was very well attended. I got better seats this time that were angled more to see the skyline and the first base bag. Even with a larger crowd, we still were able to stretch out without much difficulty.
On my last visit to Safeco, I brought up how surprised I was about the ushers and their attitudes towards the seats. At first, I thought this was relegated to the first level seats, but even up in the nosebleeds, some of the ushers were vigilant in ticket checks. I say some because the usher in our particular section was pretty lax and very social with us, which I very much appreciate. However, in our two adjoining sections, I saw the ushers literally stopping every person and checking their tickets. I wish all of the ushers at Safeco would take the example of our usher and recognize that the nosebleeds are not prime seats and that people may like to see the game from different angles. Encourage it, and if someone has a legitimate ticket to that seat, ask the transient person to move. When you have 20,000 extra seats, I don't think that will hurt anything.
For the second year in a row, the Seattle phase of the Puget Sound was a great game. The Mariners took an early 2-0 off of Oakland pitcher Dan Strailey before Oakland tied it. The A's then scored three runs in the top of the 7th to take a 5-2 lead. In the bottom of the 7th, Mariners DH Raul Ibanez smacked a three-run bomb to tie it right back up. Finally, in the 8th, Mariners 2nd baseman Nick Franklin hit a two-RBI single to clinch the Mariners comeback to beat the Athletics 7-5.
After the game, we headed back towards the hotel and ducked into a bar for a few drinks. By the time we called it a day, it was well after midnight.
Now, on to today, I'm currently on the bus south to Tacoma. The weather is overcast with occasional showers, so there is, albeit small, chance that the game may rain out. I doubt it, but I'm prepared nonetheless. The game starts at 1pm, so we have to take a few buses to get to Cheney Stadium.
Keep an eye out on social media for updates during the day. Thanks so much for reading and I'll talk to you tonight!
Always take on a 3-0 pitch ;)
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