The Last Day

So naturally after we return from Seattle I don't blog. I am a lazy bastard.

The last day was "My Geek Day" which meant that I could plan anything I wanted. I considered a movie at Paul Allen's Cinerama, but The Dark Knight was playing and we've already seen that. Alex said that it was the best movie theater in Seattle and I would've liked to see a movie there, but no joy was to be had.

So I opted for Seattle's Underground Tour, which Elizabeth had expressed an interest in. I didn't want to totally alienate her on the last day. It's an interesting story of a big fire that had city planners wanting to raise the level of the city by 10 feet or more vs. property owners who just wanted to rebuild and get back to business as quickly as possible. What you end up with is blocks of the city where the streets are 10 feet above the front doors of the businesses.

I didn't take any pictures, because it basically all looks like a dilapidated basement. I would give it a "Meh" on the excitement meter.

There is a cool toy store there with Bacon flavored dental floss. Yes, bacon flavored:


Then off to Pink Godzilla Games. This is a small store in the international district (because Seattle is too cosmopolitan just to have Chinatown, they have a large Japanese population too) that specializes in import games. I picked up Dragonquest Monsters: Joker for a lot more than Amazon is selling it, but hey, I like the idea of the store, and there are rumors that they're going to open a Boston store. Fingers crossed!

We picked up a late lunch a a little hole in the wall hot-pot place, then went over to Uwajimaya Market, where we should have eaten. This place was like an Asian version of Whole Foods, only cheap. As it was, I picked up some manga called iDeNTITY. If it's good I can pick up the rest online, and if it's bad, I've tried to expand my horizons a bit.

Then we had an argument about whether to go to the hotel during rush hour or just go to Safeco Field. Safeco Field won, since we were right there anyway. Y'know, once you get to a ballpark, everyone is great. You're there to watch baseball and have a good time, and even the parking attendants were nice.

Safeco Field is gorgeous, and they have a much bigger selection of foods than Fenway. On the other hand, Fenway has that moment, where you've been walking around underneath and it's cool and a little damp, with all the food smells. It really feels like you're in an alley or something, then you walk up the ramp and out into the stadium where it's green and bright and magical. Safeco didn't have that magical moment, but it did have some damn fine sushi. And kettle corn. And bratwurst. And ice cream.

The panorama:


We had tickets right at third base. You can't buy these tickets at Fenway. Also, they have booths around that you can take your DS to, and Nintendo will load up a suite of baseball applications. You can follow the game and get the jumbotron feed on your DS, you can order food (at hugely inflated prices) delivered right to your seats, or you can follow another game being played that night. I ended up following the Red Sox game in Kansas City while watching the Mariners get pasted by the Minnesota Twins.

Because everyone sitting around me told me that the Mariners suck this year. Who am I to argue? I said what I always say, "I root for the Mariners whenever they play the Yankees."


At least until the seventh inning, when, after being behind 6-zip, they scored 10 runs and took the game.

Here is Elizabeth getting excited during the amazing rally:

Oh, and they gave us hats too, but they were in Japanese because it was Japanese Baseball Appreciation Night. Notice the kid behind Elizabeth with the Twins jersey and the Mariners cap. He was a winner that night.

Though now that I've unpacked, I think I lost my hat. Oh well. Easy come, easy go.

Then it was off to the crappy airport hotel for our last night, and the day of flying.

We are now back in Watertown, and expecting Elizabeth's parents anytime. More touristy crap around Boston to come!!