Seattle November 2023

 

Seattle 11/10-11/13/23

 

We decided a few weeks ago to take a trip to Seattle to see the Washington Commanders (Jourdan’s favorite team since the 1980s) play the Seahawks.  This was very much planned in the aftermath of Jourdan’s mom Merilu passing away, as a fun, get-our-mind-off-things, excursion, and we were able to buy all but my return plane ticket with miles. So we splurged on football tickets.  We couldn’t get 5 together, so got 2 in the front row at the 50 yard line on the Washington side of the field, and 3 in the second row behind one of the end zones.  But more on that in a bit.  After securing football tickets, we decided we’d see the Kraken play on Saturday night (none of us had ever been to an NHL game) — and splurged again.  We got 4 seats in the first row behind one of the goals (although no one except Jourdan knew that until we got to the game).  Then we talked my BFF Aubree and her family into going to the game too, and got 4 seats a few rows further up in the same section.  But again, more on that later.

 

We left Billings Friday night.  Our flight was delayed a bit so we didn’t get to the hotel until after 10, and pretty much just went to bed.   We were staying right next to Lumen Field and had a cool view of Seattle and the Seattle Great Wheel.

 

Saturday morning we woke up to a seagull flying to land right outside our window — it looked like it wanted to talk to us, but we weren’t able to find a common language.  I went to the gym to do physical therapy (and ride the peloton bike the hotel gym had — my first time riding one although I’ve used the app on my bike at home for years), and Owen and Julia came with me.  After we finished our respective workouts, we went back to the room to get Jourdan and Russell, and then got breakfast.  After breakfast we showered and got dressed and headed out for the day.  Our plan was to go to Pike Place Market and we walked along the waterfront to get there, stopping at a few shops and getting Kraken apparel for the game.  We watched some fish being thrown and then grabbed lunch at a fish place on the water, and headed back to the hotel after a few hours of wandering.

 

As a side note, this was by far the most walking I had done since my hip replacement surgery.  I struggled a little after we’d walked around a mile (which has been where I’ve struggled at home too), but didn’t really have much choice but to keep going, and it seemed the more I walked the better I felt.  So, yay.

                                            

                                           Playing on some sculptures on the waterfront

Really gross gum wall near Pike Place Market

Market fun

  

Pictures at Lumen Field on Saturday (no crowds).  Challenge: find Owen in the top picture.

At the hotel room we got ready for the hockey game and set out to meet the Steffens family at Queen Anne Beer Hall for pre-game dinner.  This was chosen for its location near Climate Pledge Arena and the fact that it had vegan items on its menu.  It was PACKED, turns out many people go there to watch games on their big screens and when we got there, there was a Washington State game playing, then they showed the NWSL championship game which featured the Seattle team OL Reign, then they were going to show the Kraken game.  It was a very fun atmosphere with an MC walking around and getting the crowd pumped.  It made the adults feel old, probably because we are.  The food was good as was the beer — I accidentally ordered a glass that was bigger than my head and surprisingly heavy to lift and awkward from which to drink.  I couldn’t finish it, thankfully Aubree was up to the task of helping me.

 

Giant beer

Dinner selfie

From dinner we walked to the game.  I hadn’t been in the arena since it was Key Arena — it’s quite a bit different now.  I sat with Aubree’s family in the higher seats to start and Jourdan and the kids sat in the front row.  As they were walking to their seats Russell was bribed $10 by an Edmonton fan to cheer for the Oilers for the game, which he did.  They said the warmup was a little scary with all the pucks flying at the glass, but they did get a puck (which was customized with the game information and date), which was pretty cool.  Edmonton scored a goal soon after the game started, and when we watched the replay later we saw that Jourdan and the boys were clearly visible on tv!  (I was taking Julia to the bathroom at the time.)

Jourdan and the kids right in front of the action

On TV!

Aubree and I, a little further from the ice

                                                                              

In the first period, Jourdan spotted Mike McCready (Pearl Jam guitarist) sitting in the first row about 1/8 of the way around the rink.  He was wearing a Pearl Jam shirt (I would say coincidentally, but he wears one at least 75% of the time) that Mike spotted, then pointed and waved at him.  That made Jourdan’s night.

I sat with the kids for the second period, and then for the final one Aubree’s son Colin and our kids sat down there.  Overall I enjoyed it much more than I anticipated.  There was a fight and I didn’t love how the crowd was cheering it on, encouraging violence — so clearly I’m not meant to be a hockey regular.  But for sure I’d go to an occasional game.

                                      

Aubree and Colin joined us in the front row in between the first and second periods

Seriously . . . we were SO close to the action

 

After the game, we got a Lyft back to the hotel (funny story — we had planned to ride the bus to dinner but ended up not because of timing; but for the rest of the trip if we were going somewhere Owen would say “there’s a bus let’s just get on it”.  We explained to him multiple times that not every bus is going where we want to go, and in fact it is less likely that any given bus is going where we want it to go than it is NOT going there.  It didn’t seem to get through.), then went to bed.

 

Sunday was football day.  Jourdan and Owen went early to get autographs (and got 3!), but Russell, Julia and I were less interested in that so we swam and then went to game just before it started.  Our seats were so, so good.  Washington scored a touchdown shortly after the game started, and the scoring player was RIGHT THERE.  We swapped seats a few times during the game but I spent most of the game in the end zone seats.  Owen was with me for the fourth quarter and the guy sitting in front of us invited him to sit down there, and he was on the Jumbotron -- despite wearing a Washington jersey.  Everyone in the family cheered for Washington but me.  I was peer pressured more by the crowd than my family, apparently.  It was a good, close game that was won by Seattle on a last second field goal, and I think we are forever ruined for live professional sports after all the amazing seats this weekend.

 

Jourdan and Owen ready to head to the game -- and the view from our hotel pool

  

Owen getting autographs

We looked like a house divided before the game with Julia in her Seahawks hat, although she cheered for Washington

 

The guy in the row in front of us invited Owen down to watch the last quarter from the first row -- that's when he made it on the Jumbotron

 

Owen and Jourdan on tv

Russell, Julia and I on tv

After the game we went back to the hotel for dinner, then back to the hotel pool, then to the room to watch Avengers End Game and go to bed.

 

Monday we got up and checked out of the hotel, then had a few hours before we needed to go to the airport, so we decided to go to the Space Needle.  The last time we went to the top the kids were 3, 17 months, and a 7 week fetus.  So needless to say none of them remembered it.  We had fun looking around for awhile, then went back to the hotel to get our luggage and head to the airport, and made it safely home.

 

It was all in all a very fun weekend with new experiences and old friends in one of our favorite parts of the country, and it was nice to take a break from every day life.  I am planning to head back to work next week, so the timing was perfect.