Seattle: it's freakin terrific.
Because y'all seemed to enjoy the blogs of my AJC-paid-for travels to cover Atlanta United in Costa Rica and Monterrey, Mexico, I thought I'd share my travels to Seattle to cover the team ahead of Sunday's MLS game.
This is a trip I was looking forward to more than two years ago.
I visited Seattle in 2001, I think, while attending the Associated Press Sports Editors convention back when I was in Newport News, Va., at the Daily Press. I’d always hoped I would be able to come back because the city just beautiful, sophisticated, welcoming and curious.
I thought I would get to make the trip two years ago when Atlanta United played. But, and these are totally First World problems, the game was at 10 p.m. on Friday, which was no good for anyone, and I was part of the coverage team at the Masters. It’s a rough life.
Seattle hasn’t changed.
I arrived Friday afternoon and went exploring.
Of course, like most every other tourist, I had to come to the Public Market Center first.
Flying fish. Fragrant flowers. Not-free fresh seafood.
Next was the Gum Wall, one of the odder go-to places I’ve ever seen. It was on our list of things to see. As we were walking to the Market, we overhead some teenage girls talking about it. I couldn’t tell if that was good or bad. I’ll let you decide.
Of the many cool signs in Seattle, I appreciated this one the most because of the cosmopolitan newspapers that can be bought throughout the city:
And here’s another that made me laugh and, to me, reflects the personality of the people:
We were exhausted Friday night because of the time change, combined with coming down from the excitement of the trip. I crashed about 9:30 p.m. PST.
About 10 p.m., I woke up because the windows were shaking.
It wasn’t an earthquake.
The place we are staying faces a park.
We didn’t know, and weren’t told by our AirBnB hosts, that every Friday movies are shown against a wall of a neighboring building.
Aquaman was the feature.
I didn’t know noise could travel that far and loudly under water.
Didn’t go to sleep until about 2:30 a.m. EST.
Anyway, on to Saturday:
I have no idea if this has ever been featured on an album cover by any of the Seattle bands that I appreciate, but it seems like it should. If not, Sturgill Simpson, who I think has ties to the area, should:
It’s a stand-alone psychic shack in the shadow of the Space Needle.
I didn’t visit the Space Needle the last time I was in the city, so it was on the list this time.
The view:
That's not too shabby. It's no Elliott Bay Towers, but it'll do.
Near the Space Needle is the Museum of Pop Culture, which as everything from exhibits about Prince, Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Jimi Hendrix, to Minecraft, Dracula, ray guns and fashion.
Plus, it looks like something that was left in the sun too long and melted.
Inside, this sign made me smile because Pearl Jam is among my favorite bands. The amount of stuff about Pearl Jam inside the exhibit is staggering.
This was also cool:
This stopped me in my tracks after we left.
We took a tour of CenturyLink Field. I toured the stadium when it was under construction when I attended the convention.
I thought this was a particularly nice touch for Seattle’s supporters, which is a scarf composed with names:
Seattle’s pro shop features this really cool scarf wall:
I’m not going to share all of the photos from the tour because you should come and take it. But this was really cool. The Seahawks had it shipped back
OK. I’ve got to start going through the game notes. I hope you’ve enjoyed it. Really try and visit, if you can.
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