Safeco Field, Home of the Mariners- Game 2

Shall I address the elephant in the room?  Not that any of you out there actually got super invested in my posts, but it’s been a minute, huh?  Well, I have an excuse.  I moved for a promotion in 2019 and left the comfort of our home in Montana for the state of Washington.  Promotion meant more responsibilities and more hours each day spent working, plus I’ve been super busy exploring my new home.  Plus covid-19.  But it’s time.  It’s time to return.  Ironically enough, where I left off was a trip to the state that is now my new home.  I have a lot to catch up on! 

Now let’s talk about regrets.  Maybe it’s because I’m young(-ish.  At what age do you stop being a naïve fool? Asking for a friend), but I genuinely don’t believe people when they say they have no regrets.  I get the sentiment that your previous choices lead you to where you are now and by saying you have regrets you’re essentially admitting that you wish you were somewhere else.  However, I believe there are inconsequential decisions in everyone’s life that don’t have some crazy butterfly effect on your life path, and there’s no doubt you wish you’d made some of those decisions differently.  Like that time when teenage angst was at an all time high and you were super rude to your parents.  Or a time when you let a friend drift away.  Or when you took that extra shot at the bar when you certainly didn’t need an extra shot at the bar.  Or even that guy you dated for a minute because, well, why again?  None of these theoretical poor choices (that I definitely have never made…) would have changed where I am today and I fully believe that.  Still, though, I wish I would have changed my actions in those examples because in the moment I was an idiot.  Theoretically.  But all the regrettable decisions in my life pale in comparison to one- the fact that I didn’t sit in a club level seat until the 44th game Joel and I saw together.
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I’m pleading ignorance on this.  When I would go to buy tickets for a game, I would always try to be as close to the field or court as possible while still staying within my budget.  I never understood why second or third level tickets would be more expensive than tickets right near the playing surface.  And perhaps Seattle has a bit better club level than others, but to say it changed my whole outlook on buying tickets is not a hyperbole.  Granted, I still love sitting down a baseline close to the field and without a doubt will continue to do so, but when I’m going for a three-game series, you can bet at least one of the games I’ll be sitting club level. 
Game 2 in Seattle was a game of realization and contradictions after another day of tourist-y exploring.  As was par for the course on this trip, Seattle showed us a great time!

The Seats

As mentioned above, we sat at the club level for this game.  We (as usual) showed up early and scouted out our spots and they were great.  The view was awesome sitting to the left of home plate- as a former 1st baseman, I’m biased, but I prefer the right half of the infield and left-handed hitters, which we could see perfectly.  It was a sunny day, but we were shaded, so we were a perfectly comfortable temperature the whole time.  But what was best about these seats was probably what was behind them.  For the club seats at Safeco, you essentially have an entire concourse to yourself.  Want a drink?  Minimal lines.  Want a snack?  Minimal lines.  Need to use the bathroom?  Minimal lines.  While the lower level is a madhouse, particularly between innings, the club level was merely a steady state of a few people here or there.
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The game itself was a bit of a good news, bad news situation.  Good news was we had awesome seats.  Bad news was it was the fastest game of the trip (and possibly the shortest pro baseball game I’ve ever been to).  Knuckleballer Steven Wright was back in action and on the mound for the Red Sox, and he threw an absolute gem, giving up just five hits that manufactured only one run.  That’s the good news.  Bad news was that the Mariners pitchers, lead by starter Wade LeBlanc, only gave up two hits and zero runs to the best team in baseball (I can say that now because it’s a proven fact after winning the World Series in 2018).  The Sox lost 1-0 and did so in just 2 hours and 22 minutes.

The Eats

We started our morning with a spot I chose in attempt to replicate one of my other favorite spots in Denver, aka The Denver Biscuit Company.  In my search for biscuit breakfast spots, I found Biscuit Bitch, which is quite different from my Denver go-to, but still really good.  I got one of their bitchwiches, as did my sister, and Joel got one of their biscuit and gravy offerings.  The wait was pretty long, but definitely worth it.

After exploring all day, I was hungry by game time and had my sights set on two things that I love about the Seattle stadium: sushi and wine.  Seriously, they have a pretty legit wine selection there, and they have a sushi roll called the Ichi-roll.  Seriously, I love a good pun.  Both were legit, as far as ballpark fare goes, and this only added to how much I loved the club seat experience.

After the game we checked out a PNW ice cream staple, Salt and Straw.  There are a lot of places out there who are going after the funky ice cream crowd, but Salt and Straw still has their classics and they do them well.  

Other Deets

We continued our touristy ways this day with a tour of the field formally known as CenturyLink and a trip to the Space Needle.  I’ve already shared the deets on the tour, so I’m going to focus on the Space Needle experience.  First, I think this is one of the best touristy things you can do, especially in Seattle.  You’re going to have to wait in line for a while, but it’s worth it, especially on a clear day.  I recommend buying your tickets ahead of time, as they do often sell out.  The views are amazing, they serve drinks up there, and it’s only gotten better with the upgrades in the last few years.

What you shouldn’t do, however, is not drink enough water during the day or lock your knees standing in line or do whatever it is that my sister did that caused her to pass out while we were in line.  Not a great look.  However, she was ultimately fine and we ended up getting to take a special elevator up, so I'll call it a victory.

We weren’t jazzed about another Red Sox loss, but overall, we couldn’t really complain about the day.  If you’d have told me that weekend that I’d be moving to Seattle in the next year, I would have told you that you were crazy.  Life can be wild sometimes, but I wonder if this trip set off some sort of butterfly effect to get me to Washington?  Which, if so, I definitely don’t regret.  More on that in the post about our last game in Seattle, though!