My Experience At Safeco Field

This past weekend I went to my in-laws' retirement ceremony up in Seattle. Since, Sunday was my birthday, I decided to get tickets to see the Mariners play at Safeco. Here are my observations and a couple of pictures from the occasion.

We got to the ball park in the middle of the 1st inning After

taking the exit off the freeway, we meandered through a warehouse district to the stadium. We crossed railroad tracks and passed the Starbucks world headquarters on our way to Safeco. This was actually quite a daunting drive through the bowels of warehouse land of Seattle. We parked i

n the parking lot right across from the stadium which was also a parking lo

t for Qwest Field (where the Seahawks play). A forewarning to those people used to traveling. If you order a full size car from Hertz, stick with the full si

ze car, dont go with the upgrade to the premium. We ended up getting a Mercury Grand Marquis tha

t was the size of the Edmund Fitzgerald. This made parking quite interesting.

We walked into the stadium and a bar looking place that was right next to

the bullpen.

You could just stand and look down the center field area. We were hungry so we decided to sample the local fare. Both of us went to the pub that was right next to the

bullpen and ordered this behemoth spicy italian sausage that was toppe

d with bbq pork. I had twice the desire to get swine flu with this amazing amount of pork. To add to this great food, I decided to be Northwestern and get an Alaskan Ale. I do have to say this

this b

eer is quite tasty. The guy who was serving me the beer noticed that it was my birthday and said that if I brought the cup back he would refill it all night...ok I liked the Northwestern hospitality. My wife and I just decided to stay in the bullp

en bar area because we would be getting free Alaskan Ale. Of course we could not ask for autographs, but this guy was trying to raise a stink with John Wetteland. Yes, I am sure that MJ would be happy about his former closer being the bullpen coach o

f the Mariners.

I went to further my gastronomical endeavor wit

h an order of garlic fries that seemed to be at every food place. They served a full pound of french fries that had fresh garlic on top of it. i do have to say that it was quite tasty especially with another free Alaskan Ale.

My experience at the ball park was ok. I was

n't really awed by the atmosphere. The park seeme

d to be randomly placed on a train track in a warehouse district of Seattle. I would think it would be better if it was actually on the Puget Sound, but I guess Nintendo couldn't get land there. All in all, it was an ok experience. I appreciated the birthday beers and the tasty treats but the ambience of the ballpark did not thrill me. I would have to say this park is behind Camden Yards, Coors Field, Comerica, Great American and any of the "newer" parks I have been to.