Seattle Sports Weekend
The last weekend in June my father and I enjoyed a weekend of Seattle sports. We nicknamed the weekend 6x9x celebrating the 6 years I’ve lived in Seattle and the 9 years that Dad has worked here. I’ve already covered the half marathon and the boat cruise but there was a lot more that we crammed into the weekend. In order to do this we had to start the weekend at lunch on Thursday with an afternoon Mariners game. It was the first 1:40pm start I’d ever been to and I was very enjoyable. We’d purchased seats we knew would be in the shade so it was quite comfortable. The Mariners beat the Padres 9-3. It was a great day to be a Mariners fan.
On Friday evening we went to a Seattle Storm WNBA game. I really love the WNBA. It’s partly because I used to play basketball and partly because I think it’s awesome that women can be professional athletes too. The Storm beat the LA Sparks 69-67 despite a brief second half meltdown that let the Sparks back into the game.
Saturday was the half marathon and the boat cruise. Then on Sunday we went to a Seattle Sounders MLS game. We had awesome seats that Dad purchased on StubHub (apparently the season ticket holders were on vacation in France). We spent almost the entire game on our feet which was actually pretty tiring in the full sun. The game flew by though and we ended up with a 3-0 win!
If you’re keeping score that means Seattle teams went 3-0 at games we attended that weekend. I’m counting my half marathon PB as another victory (although frankly any finish would have been a victory) and declaring that we went 4-0 that weekend! Those are almost surely the last Seattle home games I’ll attend for a long time but I may get myself to a Mariners game in Toronto before the season is done.
Cruising Puget Sound
After my half marathon last Saturday my father and I joined friends on their boat for a cruise around Puget Sound. We started at the Elliot Bay Marina in between Magnolia and Queen Anne. There were two huge cruise ships at piers 90 and 91 preparing to head to Alaska later in the day. It was a gloriously sunny day. The kind of day that makes living through the Seattle darkness and rain of November and December worthwhile. We headed out along the downtown waterfront enjoying the view of downtown.
We then headed across Puget Sound around the south end of Bainbridge Island and onto Bremerton. There’s a large Naval Shipyard at Bremerton and we saw several huge ships in dock including the USS Kitty Hawk. From Bremerton we headed to the west side of Blake Island where be put down our anchor and enjoyed a BBQ dinner on the top deck of the boat.
Just as dinner was winding down the winds all of a suddenly picked up to 30 knots and we had to quickly get off the top deck, pull up the anchor and head back home. We made it back to the marina and got some help from fellow boaters parking the boat at the dock. We then enjoyed brownies for dessert. It was a very memorable day!
More pictures here.
Mariners Opening Day
Yesterday was opening day at Safeco Field. My Dad and I joined 46,000 other fans in playing hookey from work and school to attend the afternoon game. This was Ken Griffey Jr’s return to Seattle after all! The opening ceremonies were completed with the roof closed but the roof was dramatically rolled back before the first pitch so the game could be played in the sun. Seattle won with a perfect bunt in the bottom of the 10th inning. Go Mariners!
Discovery Park
This morning I decided to go to Discovery Park for a trail run. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that in all my years of living in Seattle I’d only been to Discovery Park once before! I left my apartment at about 9:30am, took the bus downtown and then transfered to a #33 for the trip to Discovery Park. It took roughly an hour to get to the park. I could practically have run there is that time (OK maybe not quite) but the bus ride was very easy and comfortable and it was all part of the adventure of the day.
I stopped in to the Visitor’s Center to get my bearings and then started running clockwise on the Loop Trail. This 2.8 mile loop is the only part of the park I’d seen before. After about a mile I turned onto the South Beach Trail and headed down to the beach. I ran all the way down to the West Point Lighthouse (pictured below) and then spent some time wandering along the beach and taking in the scenery. It was only partly cloudy but unfortunately most of the Olympic Mountain range was obscured by low clouds.
After the beach visit I took the Hidden Valley Trail to the North Bluff. By then the sun had fully come out so I decided to run down to the North Beach just to check things out. I then ran up from the beach and finished the rest of the Loop Trail through the forrest. By the time I got back to the Visitor’s Center I’d gone a total of 5.5 miles in 1:37. Obviously pace means nothing today since I spent a bunch of time taking pictures and just enjoying the day. I did however run all the flats and easy inclines. When things got too steep I hiked. It was a great workout. I even managed to capture this picture of me running on the trail next to South Beach. You might notice that I’m wearing my new backpack that my parents got me for Christmas. I actually got the pack for downhill/cross-country skiing but it worked out really well today comfortably holding 2L of water, extra clothes, snacks, my camera and other miscellaneous items.
After my run I took the bus back home. The connection in Belltown wasn’t great (a 20 minute wait, that’s what happens on Sundays) so I stopped into one of my favourite local coffee shops for an Americano. By the time I got home I was beat which I think it quite funny since I only ran 5.5 miles! It was an awesome morning and I’m so glad that I finally got around to exploring Discovery Park! I’ve posted a few more pictures in my Discovery Park photoset.
The world’s game comes to Seattle
This evening my Dad and I went to the Seattle Sounder’s FC inaugural game. We’re not huge soccer aficionados but we are big sports fans so we couldn’t turn down the chance to see something like this! I really enjoyed the parade of world flags during the pre-game ceremonies. The game was very exciting and the sold out crowd (32,400 people) was very boisterous. In the end the Sounders won 3-0, a great kick off to the season!
