Back from Seattle
I’m recently back from Seattle some observations -
1. Cleanliness
I am not sure how Seattle got this all figured out but I am impressed. While most major U.S. cities have a cleanliness issue (understatement), Seattle is remarkably clean. Even at Safeco Field, home of the Mariners, the entire stadium borders on spotless. You might say that could have something to due with sparse attendance but I would argue that U.S. Cellular has been dirty for years. Of course, that may have something to do with the nature of White Sox fans.
2. Mariners Baseball
Flatly, the Mariners suck. They’ve spent loads of money on guys who were clearly 1-2 year steroid wonders. The team seems indifferent and the fans are mostly there to eat. The food and beer options at Safeco are insane and run the gamut from Sushi to BBQ. All of the restaurant facades are incredibly inviting. I was beyond impressed. I couldn’t and still can’t come up with a stadium with better concessions or cleaner, more welcoming environment. I still can’t. Don’t get me wrong, Wrigley is still the greatest. If you are looking to bring a high maintenance woman who doesn’t like baseball to a game though, I think Seattle would be your best option.
3. Beer
The Pacific Northwest has to be the beer captial of America. I tried more incredible microbrews than should ever be allowed on a business trip. From Mac and Jack’s African Amber to anything from Pyramid, it’s all incredible. On my way out of town, I hit a bar and grill that had something like 160 beers on tap. This wasn’t at all surprising for this town. It did lead to some agonizing decisions though. Proximity to Canada and all lof their fine beers really tops it off for me.
4. Garlic
I don’t know where this came from or why but apparently somebody somewhere decided to come up with the concept of “Garlic Fries”. We saw (and really smelled) these everywhere. At the Mariners game, I decided I had to try them. I love garlic and this was just too crazy. Also, I was several microbrews in to the evening. So essentially, at Safeco Field at least, these are french fries with minced garlic you would essentially get from a jar all over them. This was surprisingly delicious. However, I recommend moderation. As my stomach the next day can attest, there is definitely such a thing as too much garlic. I would love to try a more gourmet version of this which I’m sure is available somewhere locally. This garlic fries concept hasn’t even made the Wikipedia French Fries page, accompaniments portion yet. So maybe, it is new. I’m going to work on a little research.
