Hey, remember that movie Road Trip where a group of friends hop in a car and drive cross country? Well, today, I experienced my own abbreviated version – minus the scene in which someone gets served a piece of french toast that took a ride down the back of somebody’s pants (although, to be fair, I can’t vouch for that stadium pulled pork sandwich).
This morning, Ivon, Lawren, Rob and I hit the road at 8:00 a.m. sharp and made the drive to Seattle in a little under two and a half hours.
We were there, of course, to take in the big game pitting the hometown Seahawks against Rob’s perennially underachieving Dallas Cowboys. But Rob had high hopes for his Cowboys coming off their upset week one win over the Superbowl champion New York Giants. Maybe, just maybe, this is the season they’ll show some consistency and live up to their potential (spoiler alert: no, it isn’t).
We parked and walked over to the stadium where we checked out the various food stalls. Our first stop:
The tacos were quite good. Even though there was a line-up, it moved quickly. And there was this guy to keep us entertained while we waited:
Then, we headed inside to check out the concession stands inside the stadium. I have to say, I was very disappointed. I was expecting a little more variety. And, quite frankly, a lot more tastiness. The pulled pork sandwich was dry and the sausage sampler was only one third successful. The cheese nachos suffered from a woefully uneven cheese to nacho ratio:
And, for dessert, I had one of those average chocolate-covered ice-creams on a stick. I regret not having waited in line for the donuts.
Our seats were in the 300 section so named because it is located approximately 300 feet below the mesosphere. Perhaps more alarming than the thinning air was how incredibly steep the seating. I imagine many a drunken fan has taken a loooong ride down those steps.
We were in the standing-room-only section. By that, I mean that even though we had seats, everyone in our section elected to stand for most of the game, forcing us to stand in order to see what was going on.
Boy, Seattle fans are dedicated. And LOUD!!!!
Fortunately, they only screamed like this whenever Dallas had the ball. Or whenever the Seahawks did something good. Which was most of the time.
As for the game itself – well, it wasn’t much of a game. The Cowboys fumbled the opening kick-off – and it was downhill from there.
The game and the food may have been disappointing, but the high point was easily the cheerleaders who we got to see a lot of on the big screen – jumping and dancing and smiling. I’m not sure, but I think I spotted CNN’s Nancy Grace among the boisterous pompom wielders. I said to Ivon that dating a cheerleader must be great because they all seem so happy all the time.
We headed out as the clock was ticking down on the Cowboys’ 27-7 defeat, then stopped off for another round of tacos before piling back into the car and driving back to Vancouver.
In the end, great fun was had by all. With the exception of the Cowboys.
And my Snow Monkeys who lost this weekend and now wallow in the misery of a 0-2 record heading into next weekend’s match-up against the equally winless Running Dead managed by Ivon Bartok.
I suppose you might have hoped for better food in Seattle than in most stadiums, but there is probably some rule that all stadiums must serve the same overpriced crap and if you were not on the top row, be grateful. Nothing like feeling a stadium, and. Your footing, shake when the crowd cheers, knowing a thin rail and thin fencing are all that keeps you from tumbling backwards… Anyways, glad you had a fun time, and personally thrilled the Cowgirls humiliated themselves again. Only fair since I have to put up with the dead skins shaming me most of the season. Hope your snow monkeys can turn it around next week and pick up some steam.
Next time you drive down give a shout – I’m in Tacoma with the zombies!
-daubermaus
Poor Cowboys, they never get a break. It looks like it was a lot of fun. Wish I had been there. 😀
In other news, the Eagles won. 😀
(Yeah, I hate football, but I just loooove rubbing it in. 😈 )
das
@Joe:
Sorry for your Snow Monkeys’ loss; I can commiserate, as my Ravens lost too. My wife’s a Redskins fan and they lost as well. Besides tracking the scores on our phones, we didn’t get a chance to watch much football due to our own road trip (now in Bowling Green). No “texting while driving” tickets though; I used my son as a play-by-play announcer 😉
A mostly depressing day (scorewise), but at least my Orioles won…
And congratulations to for the love of Beckett on the Colts win over the Vikings.
On Ballpark Food Fare:
The only constants seem to be high prices and mediocre quality. I remember buying crab cakes at Camden Yards (it is on the Chesapeake Bay after all) and thinking I could have made them better myself, but that may just be the seafood-snob in me 🙂
Today we’re off to the National Corvette Museum, and then on to Nashville tonight (and the Loveless Cafe…updates later).
Now there’s a new one, Joe, the Football Stadium Food Critic. 🙂
Nancy Grace as a cheerleader? I’m going somewhere while my head implodes. Gah.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejpFDBv4T6M – NOW this is entertainment!!!!
Inflated prices at games have filtered down to high school here. They were charging $4 for a small scoop of ice cream and $5 for a smaller pack of Nachos (smaller than what you pictured) friday night. Outrageous!
I watched Whispers again last night. I’d forgotten how good that episode is. Too bad we won’t see those characters again. 🙁
How are you feeling today AnneTeldy?
I’m disappointed that you guys didn’t tailgate. Now THAT would have been a road trip worth taking! 🙂
das
Your road trip sounds like it was a lot of fun. There’s few things more relaxing than going on a road trip with “the guys”. This past weekend, I did go (by myself, sadly) on a trip to the North woods of Maine for a weekend of fly-fishing and star-gazing and it was a wonderful time. (This is where I stayed: http://www.outdoors.org/lodging/mainelodges/gormanchairback/index.cfm ) It’s my birthday today (the 17th) and I wanted to celebrate the big 5-0 by doing something fun for myself, so that’s what I did.
They had a special star-gazing weekend on where they had a professional astronomer come in and do a sky tour on Saturday night – which worked out great since there is absolutely no light pollution around there and the skies were perfectly clear! The Andromeda Galaxy never looked so close!
Joe, you were due for a roadtrip and a guy’s day out. It sounded like fun, in spite of the annoyances. Go again sometime, so we can go with you. 🙂
Glad you found decent tacos, though they were outside the stadium. I had blackened tilapia fish tacos this weekend, with coleslaw in the taco — at the Irish Festival! The tacos were pretty good. We have a lot of the traditional fare at home, so was looking for something different. Dessert was bread pudding with Bailey’s Irish cream sauce ladled over the top. Yum! Eating dinner while listening to the Irish bands and step dancing made for a terrific night.
Sorry about the Snow Monkeys, and everybody’s teams. JeffW — Thanks for the congrats on the Colts victory. Am really pleased that Andrew Luck got his first win. That was earlier in the season than Peyton Manning’s first win during his rookie year. Sorry I haven’t replied yet to your recent great post on the Colts history and Baltimore fans. This past week has been really stressful.
I can understand why Baltimore is still grieving; their cultural/local identity was commemorated in the team’s name. The city of Indianapolis now feels equally strongly about them, because of the heart and soul invested, and sacrifices made to keep the team in the city. We had the very classy and charismatic Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning representing the team and the community when they were on the road. It was a perfect fit for a positive and committed city. Even without them, we were able to give our visitors that experience during the Super Bowl. Hate to even think of a future without the team. God forbid.
It was bad enough losing Peyton Manning. You’ve heard this before, but for everyone else’s benefit… The city was in mourning when Jimmy Irsay and Peyton Manning made their joint announcement about the departure. Both were crying, and even the sportscasters were wiping their eyes on camera, and didn’t care. Every possible effort was made to reach a deal, even when they took a last-minute retreat to Florida together, but alas… A local sports columnist predicted the probable outcome 6 months earlier. He was still just about crying in his keyboard when he wrote his farewell columns. Peyton’s victory with the Broncos a week ago Sunday was bittersweet. We’re overjoyed for him, and very sad for us.
Andrew Luck brings with him new teammates and a new era. We’re the same city, and still committed to our team. Our eyes are on the future. 🙂
Safe travels with your family, Jeff. Wave at Indy as you pass through!
Kelly / Anne Teldy — Hope you were able to get some rest today and feel a little bit better! I agree with the group, Major Teldy needs to get a promotion, at least to Lt. Colonel if not Colonel. Would have loved to have seen her character challenge, and win over, Col. Sheppard. 🙂 As always, hugs and prayers for you, Little Sister, and the family.
~Lise
dasndanger — Larry was yelling about how terrible it was, how awful the Eagles are, now they can’t do anything, blah blah blah (he is from Philly)– then he’s yelling what a great game. If it’s only a great game if they win, the I don’t know how it was a great game. I don’t watch ballgames at all, btw.
LOL the Running Dead. I love it but sounds like he jinxed himself!
i think unless you go for the fancy luxury box, all stadium food is lackluster.
@ dasndanger; i agree, they should do some tailgate party stuff next time.
Great. Thanks for reminding me. My Cowboys stink and my favorite driver’s throttle gets stuck and he hits the wall in the NASCAR race. I’m sure my dog will pee on the couch next.
On the much brighter side:
@ gforce – Happy Birthday!! Big 50? You’re just a baby…
@ anneteldy – Hope you had a good day! 🙂
I’m just going to go ahead and leave this here for you, http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748704281204575002852055561406-lMyQjAxMTAwMDEwNTExNDUyWj.html#articleTabs%3Darticle
Yep…I worked for the ⚾MLB, 🏈NFL & NHL when I worked at FOX. I was happy to move on. Sports just goes right over my head. I think I spent too much time as a ⚽soccer mom. Sounds like you had fun. I’ve gone to my share of 🏀🏈⚽⚾games. I love your display ball park food.
I really don’t understand the chip to cheese nachos ratio in any stadium/theater/etc setting. I had nachos on Sunday as well at a movie theater, and despite the chips coming in a plastic bag, they were stale, and still there wasn’t enough cheese. You’d think they’d be correctly portioned, but no. At least at Staples Center (can the lockout please end soon? I want hockey!) you can skip the jalapeños and get double cheese, although you have to skip the jalapeños to do that, or get charged extra…
I am really surprised that you guys don’t get recognized when you go out together. I don’t understand why not.
And the GIANTS won! This week.