A Winner and a Loser: of Zeitgeist and the Yankees

Seattle, Washington

September 20, 2009

Day 4 of Pacific Northwest Journey

And on the seventh day, thou shalt in rest!!!

The Lord commanded it in the book of Genesis. Rest is a necessity of one’s life.

I know what you’re thinking...this is only our fourth day, but STILL we need rest. Every journey requires a restful day, and we have allotted today to be that day especially after yesterday’s rigorous activities. After a day of nothing but hiking over a mountain in the misting rain and the whipping wind, there is honestly nothing like sleeping in in a king sized bed curled up in a down blanket having coffee delivered to your room. AHH this is the life. Mom is watching her favorite channel, Fox News. Yes, she loves it still...although she has backed off tremendously from current affairs in the past year. I am in restful heaven when something on the desk catches my eye, and I sigh and bury my head in my pillow.

Writing post cards is not a talent that I possess. Think about it, you are supposed to fit in a ridiculously tiny square the details of your trip. If you know me, you know I have trouble with being succinct. I like to describe...everything. So post cards, frustrate me. But, I bought a whole pack of them yesterday at the guest center at Mount Rainier because the pictures on the front were so beautiful, I couldn’t resist. I’m a sucker for landscape photography. And as I stood in the check out, I was trying to be positive and tell myself this was a good social thing that I could do for people. Write them a quick little note, share with them a beautiful photo of the gorgeous Mount Rainier. After all, everyone loves to get mail.

Now they are lying on the desk almost as if they are daring me to write them, address them, stamp them, and mail them. “Why?” I ask myself, “Why did I buy them?”

I am also not one to waste things, so I crawl out of bed, grab a pen and start writing my short sentences that go along the lines of, “So beautiful here. So much fun. Wish you were here!” To know my true thoughts on Mount Rainier, read previous blog.

The four of us meet down in the lobby a little before lunchtime and decide to grab coffee before we go to the only thing we actually have planned for today.

America’s greatest pastime - a major league baseball game!!

Yes, we have tickets to watch the Seattle Mariners play the New York Yankees. I am so excited, for I love the Yankees. (this is a secret, but I actually scheduled this entire trip around today’s game because I knew we could get tickets. woop woop!!)

But before we start singing, “Take me out to the ball game,” and popping bubblegum, we absolutely must fuel ourselves with coffee, and being we are in coffee heaven, we decide to try another local and travel guide favorite, Zeitgeist. It’s located in a converted warehouse on S. Jackson street, just walking distance from Safeco field - the home of the Seattle Mariners.

Now, I am just going to go ahead and say this and not care what anyone says or thinks, because that’s just me...but this place is MY FAVORITE!! Yes, as far as coffee goes, we have a winner in the RL Wallace coffee book and it’s Zeitgeist. Basically, I walk in the door and fall in absolute love. The sound of coffee beans grinding hits me, and I know I’m home. It’s everything. The ambience of this establishment is nothing like you would expect from a converted warehouse. Finding the words is difficult, but I’ll give it a shot - (pun intended)

It’s artistic, yet sophistically trimmed, with local artist’s handiwork, hanging on their bricked walls. There is an underlining black and white theme going on here, with chrome accents. It’s edgy, chic, sophisticated, artsy, - it’s a dream. It also doesn’t hurt that the atmosphere is saturated with the smell of rich, espresso. Yes, yes, yes, I’m rubbing my hands together just waiting and wanting. I decide to order a vanilla dark chocolate mocha after I see on the elaborate menu that you can get either white, milk, or dark chocolate mochas - yes this is the place for me. When I’m offered the choice of which intensity of chocolate I want, I know I’m with the experts. The orders are placed and we take a seat in the corner against the window so we can watch the pedestrians outside. Yes, we are sipping and watching yet again...hey, when else are you going to do this?

Travis fetches the coffee tray for us ladies, and I wait...My mug arrives with mounds of whip cream on top.

I’m on vacation, I can splurge.

Travis has joined me on this mocha adventure, but mom and Penny have stuck to vanilla and hazelnut lattes. Theirs did not come with whip cream but they are embellished with leaves in the foam. Design and coffee marry well.

First sip.

My eyes flutter.

They tend to do that from time to time when I am completely overwhelmed by the taste of cuisine. It comes from years of being a food and coffee snob...yes, I’m pathetic - I’m already aware of that.

But back to this white mug that is absolutely making my day, week, month, year?

It is Whoa! The chocolate and vanilla are rich and flavorful without being overly sweet. The espresso is robust and dark without being overpowering going down smoothly. The milk is high quality and has been steamed to just the right temperature. The whip cream is billowy and tastes homemade. It’s coffee magic. It’s an absolute winner!! Looking around at my three companions faces, I can tell they are thinking the same thing. This coffee is unbelievingly AMAZING! Rich coffee is meant to be sipped, but we can’t help ourselves, we quickly drain our mugs.

Now, it’s baseball time!

We walk from Zeitgeist past Qwest Stadium, the home of the Seattle Seahawks, and head to it’s neighbor Safeco Field. It’s amazing how close these two are together. They are literally right beside each other. If both had a game scheduled on the same day, I would hate to see the traffic, both road and foot. It’s already manic with just people heading to the baseball stadium. If both were being filled at the same time, I couldn’t even imagine.

We have tickets on the first row of the upper level terrace complete with cushioned seats and a waitress - to the man who got us these tickets, I thank you very much.

The view is great, we can see everything from here. I decide to indulge in a park favorite and order garlic french fries smothered in ketchup. Yum, yum, yum.

Again, I’m on vacation!

Ball park music starts playing and the game begins!

Derek Jeter is first up to bat!

Woo hoo!

My all time favorite player.

This is what coming to the game is all about! Seeing your favorite players, being a part of the ball game atmosphere. Singing “Taking me out to the ballgame,” chewing bubblegum, eating hot dogs, (or in my case, garlic fries), cheering for your team when they get a run, booing for the other team when they get a run. Something to note, Alex Rodriguez is not liked here. I mean really not liked. When he steps up to bat, the entire stadiums boos him, and it has nothing to do with the Madonna scandal or his divorce. He used to play here...you don’t remember? Yeah, I didn’t either. It was a long time ago, and he left in a huff. Needless to say, there is no welcoming parade for him when he comes into town.

The four of us chat and watch the game...thoroughly enjoying being apart of this humming, sporting atmosphere.

Despite the Yankees playing terribly and finally losing, I am enjoying myself. This is the second time I’ve seen them play and they had the same outcome that game as well. Is there something about me being in the stadium? Do I throw them off their game? Is it too much to ask of the best team in the nation to actually win a game when I am in the ball field?

They lose 7-2 against the SEATTLE MARINERS. (There is consolation in that they do go on to win the world series in November. I sadly was absent for every game...or perhaps that was why they won)

I am dejected, but I can’t let their loss get me down. It’s more for the experience than the win. I was at the game, I had great fries, I saw Derek Jeter in the flesh...

We meet up with more friends and the lovely man who gave us the tickets afterwards and decide to have dinner later in Kirkland, another little branch of Seattle.

We have a couple hours to kill...so what do we decide to do? Sip and people watch. Where? Zeitgeist of course. After all, once you’ve reached perfection, there is no going back.

So we enjoy it yet again. You know it’s good if we went twice in one day.

Walking back to the coffee shop, we come across a homeless lady who is begging for money to take her dog to the vet. To my chagrin, my mother asks her what’s wrong with her dog, and after she goes on her long spill, my mom responds with, “Well, she looks just fine to me. She’s really pretty!”

I am hiding behind a pole, whispering, “Mom!! Mom MOM!” during this entire exchange.

I suppose without her half of my entertainment meter would be eliminated...I do really love her and her inquisitiveness towards the local community here...

Dinner is at a restaurant called Anthony’s right on the marina. They specialize in fresh seafood, and they aren’t lying. I have a delicious Tequila Lime Swordfish with fresh salsa on top alongside mashed potatoes and fresh vegetables. Umm WOW!

Again everyone from the table, is passing around their food comments and they are all positive. Halibut, Salmon Cakes, Clam chowder, grilled and marinated Salmon are all being past around and tasted by everyone, and no one is disappointed.

Despite everyone being beyond stuffed, we are urged to order dessert and again we decide on a couple to share, we get a huckleberry (the berry in season here in Washington state) cobbler with vanilla icecrem and a New York style cheesecake with huckleberry sauce on top.

Again the eye fluttering starts.

To finish the evening, we decide to take a walk around the Marina admiring the boats anchored here for the night. Some of them actually have residents cooking and sleeping on them. We walk through the adjoining park, and down the side streets lined with little boutiques and local restaurants and coffee shops. Kirkland is growing on me...just like this entire area is.

This day was low key, but it was just what we needed...We had some big winners - ZEITGEIST! and some losers - come on, YANKEES!! We had the extreme end of cuisines: yummy, greasy, garlicky fries to tequila marinated swordfish, but all of it was extremely delicious. It’s a perfect restful day: coffee, sports, and food...yes...yes...yes...

You may be wondering why I ordered a day of rest today...well that may have something to do with the fact that we embark for Canada bright and early tomorrow morning...

“Eh?”

Happy traveling : - )