Saturday is all about College Football. Because of the time zones there appears to be games on all day.
In Seattle there appears to be a phenomenon where everybody where's college clothing (shirts, sweatshirts etc.) from, I'm guessing, wherever they went, or where their kids are. I've not really noticed it as much in other places in the US I've visited.
That was the size of the crowd at the Seattle Sounders game last night! And that size of attendance isn't rare. Impressive.
The game itself was a bit slow in terms of how quickly the passing was - extra touches for control etc. Obefemi Martins was impressive for the Sounders and he scored inside 2 minutes of the kick-off. Cling Dempsey made an appearance from the subs bench after the US World Cup qualifiers.
A highlight was the Soundwave band - light years away from the dire England 'band'
Busy day today involving taking a hire hire to Everett to go on the Boeing Factory tour.
The driving is always a bit interesting to start. I reckon it took me about 30 miles to get used to driving on the right and just the way US roads work (especially the highways).
The tour was brief, but impressive. I got to see the 747-8, 777 and 787 production lines. The scale is bonkers, and I can't get my head around the fact that the 777 line is a moving line similar to how cars are assembled (true the line moves very slowly).
I was lucky and saw the brake test and then first flight of a 777-300 ER destined for Cathay Pacific. I also saw an Air Astana 767 take-off and then just as I was leaving another Cathay Pacific 777-300ER (B-KQH) take-off which may well have been its delivery flight.
The food here has been universally good. Tonight's meal was standout.
I'm not normally a fan of salmon and think that is because I've always had it overcooked. Well here they love their King salmon and they know how to cook it -- practically raw in the middle like a decent steak.
Also they have their rubs. The salmon in the picture was a 'Cedar plank roasted Alaskan King salmon with chef Howie's famous rub'. It was brilliant (but not cheap!).
Seattle is renowned for being a Mecca for 'counter culture'. Basically not buying into the mainstream, living an 'Alternative Existence'.
In my mind I see that this has manifested itself in the music scene, the coffee culture, the multitude of craft brewers (and their great beer), the passion for local, sustainable, organic food and tattoos. Yup tattoos.
They appear to be everywhere. Oh and there is a high degree of odd (visible) piercings. Maybe I'm just noticing them because there are more compared. It does seem to fit in with the Seattle vibe (admittedly there are plenty of people with no 'ink' anywhere on their bodies).
This was fantastic, and no seafood in sight! It was a spicy pork torta from Marination Nation. Really tasty.
Marination Nation has an interesting story. They started out as a Food Truck offering Korean-Hawaiian-Mexican fusion food (yup, not the most obvious marriage). Anyway the result of this marriage has been a highly successful Food Truck (I saw the queues when they were parked in Downtown Seattle yesterday lunchtime).
So successful in fact that they now have a bricks and mortar location in hipster central, Capitol Hill.
When I ordered I struggled as I had that 'chilli at the back of your throat' feeling as the air was laced with chilli as they prepared somebody else's lunch!
Today has been a sort of record-breaker. It has been the warmest September 11th in Seattle since records began. A very nice 33 degrees Celsius.
I think people in Seattle have a very British attitude to the weather -- today has been a 'scorcher' in their eyes. I was talking to a couple from Dallas on the bus, and they were saying how comfortable they were finding it. "Cool enough to walk places" was the comment!
This afternoon I spent some time wandering around the main campus of the University of Washington.
A seriously nice place. And a seriously big place -- a total of about 42,000 under and post-graduate students.
I don't think term/semester has started properly yet, but there were lots of signs out for 'freshman orientation'. There was also some kind of strange sorority thing going on I think. Hordes of girls, dressed up walking in big groups around the campus (with purple backpacks with UWGreeks.com on).
Oh and the sporting facilities were on a different planet compared to a UK university. The American Football stadium (Husky Stadium) has a 70,000 capacity! I have to get to a College or NFL football gain soon.
Cliff will be disappointed that I haven't bumped into Meredith Grey since I've been in Seattle. Never mind the show is shot mainly in Los Angeles and that the Seattle Grace Hospital doesn't exist!
The NFL season started on Friday, and its been been wall to wall on ESPN since I've been here.
The Premier League could learn a thing or two about maximising the exposure they get. The one thing in the NFL's favour is that the regular season starts at the beginning of September and is pretty much done by the the end of December. Every game is mega important -- not many games have teams simply going though the motions.
The Seattle Seahawks had their first game away at Charlotte with a kick off time of 10am on Sunday. Plenty of bars were buzzing at that time!
Well apart from Boeing, Microsoft, Amazon, CostCo, Starbucks, Baskin Robbins and UPS, Seattle is intrinsically connected to Pike Place Market.
I went on a 2 hour tour of the market today with Savor Seattle. The guide was a mildly camp wannabe comedian from San Francisco, but entertaining nonetheless! The problem with tours is you don't get to pick your fellow 'tourists'. It's even more of a lottery when Americans are involved! Thankfully my group were not too dumb/excitable/enthusiastic/naive.
There were lots of samples from the various places we stopped - it meant I didn't need to worry about lunch.
The best fact of the day was that the so-called first Starbucks is a lie! If I remember correctly the first Starbucks was in a basement of building that has since been demolished. The one at Pike Place is probably the fourth store - but it was the first one to actually serve brewed coffee (the others sold beans only).
Great meal at the Steel Head Diner tonight. In fact calling it a 'diner' is doing the place an injustice -- the food was way better than typical diner fare.
I stuck to seafood. Dungeness crab cake to start and then Oregon cod for my main course. I felt almost virtuous tucking into my meal -- no ha,burgers or French fries in sight!
The NFL season starts this weekend and ESPN, in fact pretty much all TV channels, are wall to wall with their coverage.
The Seahawks were playing away at Charlotte this weekend and anyway I was here for some baseball!
I enjoyed watching the Mariners against the Tampa Bay Rays. It was a bit one sided as the Mariners played like a team looking forward to a winter catching rays in Florida (they lost).
Safeco Field is mighty impressive but I wonder if it's ever been full. It seems a bit excessive to have the baseball stadium right next door to CenturyLink Field where the Seahawks and the Sounders play. Who knows what kind of political shenanigans were involved when the stadiums were being planned and built.
When I'm on my travels I like to go for the *local* stores over the global mega-chains.
Well in Seattle Starbucks counts as *local*, so I had no qualms getting a latte this morning to kick start my day!
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