2024-08-10: Seattle Harbor and Baseball

We got up at 8:30 this morning and got ourselves cleaned up for the day. We left the hotel and headed for Pike Market to grab some breakfast. We walked through part of the market which was an experience. There are all sorts of different stores, market stalls, and food establishments in the place. We made our way to a cafe called Soundview Cafe for some breakfast. The food was tasty and we had a nice view over the harbor. We saw three cruise ships in dock. They were Norwegian Bliss, Discovery Princess, and MS Eurodam.

After breakfast we explored the market a little more. Michael was still hungry so we grabbed him a grilled cheese sandwich from one of the stalls. Then we made our way down the block to the first Starbucks. There was a line to get in and we debated whether it was worth standing in line for. We decided to get in line and see see how fast the line moved. We ended up staying in line and it took about half an hour to get inside. It isn’t very big inside. They have a bunch of souvenir mugs and such you can purchase as well as a special coffee blend you can only order there. Amanda picked up an insulated mug and we all grabbed a drink.

We made our way to the harbor area. We walked by the gum wall on our way. It’s a section of a street where people have stuck gum all over the walls. It was quite interesting and disgusting at the same time. The amount of gum on the walls was quite astounding. We continued on to an area called Miners Landing. It had a bunch of attractions such as arcades, a carousel, a couple of rides, and a large enclosed Ferris wheel called The Seattle Great Wheel. Of course the boys wanted to go on the Great Wheel. There wasn’t much of a line and we were on the wheel fairly quickly. We had a decent view over the harbor area from the wheel. We watched some tour boats and ferries make their way through the harbor. It completed several revolutions before they unloaded us.

Next, we headed to the Seattle Aquarium which was the next pier over. It’s not a huge aquarium but they have several exhibits showing off various fish and corals. They also have seals and otters. Michael loves aquariums so he was very happy. He got to pet starfish, anemone, and even some sea worms. We stopped at the aquarium cafe for a late lunch. We sat on the patio and watched a container ship sail by. After lunch, we returned to the hotel for a bit.

We relaxed in the hotel for about an hour before heading out again. We had tickets to see the Seattle Mariners play the New York Mets at T-Mobile Park. We left the hotel around 5:45pm and headed to the train station. We debated driving to the game, but decided we didn’t want the hassle of finding somewhere to park and trying to get out of the area after the game.

The train worked well. We walked by Lumen Stadium where the Seattle Seahawks play and made our way to T-Mobile Park. There was quite a line to get in. They only allow clear bags into the stadium which quite a few people were unaware of and slowed down the line. There was a large family passing us and Darrell inadvertently cut off half the family in the chaos of the line. One of the gentlemen didn’t take too kindly to that and started to make a bit of a scene. Darrell apologized and said it was not intentional. We don’t think he believed us, but he continued on his way. We finally got through the line and made it to our seats just as the game was starting.

The stadium is pretty impressive. The seats we had were surrounded by Mets fans. There was a Mom, Dad, and young son sitting in front of us. Mom was a Mariners fan and Dad was a Mets fan. It was fun watching them harass each other. Patrick was a little confused. He was wearing a Mariners hat, but cheering for the Mets. A foul ball flew at us in the 2nd inning and the kids ended up getting the ball which was exciting. The Mariners won the game 4 to 0.

After the game, we made our way back to the train station. We had to squeeze our way onto the train, but we did get on. We continued back to the hotel and called it a night.