SENSATIONAL SEATTLE STOP: SEAHAWKS AND SNACKING

This is a trip I’ve been looking forward to for some time.

When Oliver and I really started getting into football, we decided that one day we’d go up to Seattle to see our favorite team.

When we learned, however, that halfway decent tickets would cost almost $400 tickets apiece, as a family we decided that just Oliver and I would go to the game and my hubby and Charlotte (a semi-fan and no fan, respectively) would do something else in Seattle (saving us almost a thousand dollars).

Talk about good sports.

So early Sunday we packed up and hit the road.

We got to Century Link Stadium late morning (a few hours before the game), enabling us to walk around the place, hang out with other fans and just soak up the vibes.

Seahawks fans are particularly die-hard, and everyone was so friendly and pumped up for the game.

We hung out in the Fan Zone and I showed off my tackling skills on the Agility Course.

(I know this photo is blurry as it came from a video, but notice that my jumbo pearls don’t detract from my Elf like appearance, right?)

Our seats were at the very top of the stadium, and we got  some spectacular views walking up the long ramp to them.

We finally made it up to the top of the stadium and found our entrance.

Neither Oliver or I’d ever been to a professional football game before, and to find ourselves with 70,000 other  fans was so powerful.

I’d say 98% of the crowd was there to cheer on the ‘Hawks, and since they’d played so poorly the last two weeks, everyone was hoping for a big win over division rivals The 49-ers.

Century Link is such a beautiful stadium — and both Oliver and I got teary during the national anthem. We saw Colin Kaepernick take a knee — and our team link arms.

Canada Day was also celebrated, and sitting next to a couple from Calgary, it was fun to swap Seahawks stories and catch up with natives (I went to university in Montreal).

It was exciting to watch our team score in just the first forty seconds of the game, but I hate it when anyone gets injured and both the 49-ers and Seahawks suffered on that front.

When Russell Wilson, our QB, went down with a horse-collar tackle and subsequent knee injury, the stadium was dead silent as the severity of the injury was assessed.

Luckily he was able to get up but he was mostly finished for the game (he sprained his MCL) but our team rallied and we ended up 37-18.

After the game, Oliver wanted to see if we could see any players on the field.

Bingo.

Bobby Wagner, one of Oliver’s favorite players (and a top linebacker) was just finishing up a press interview and kindly signed both my Iphone and Oliver’s hat.

He also looked right at O and high-fived him when Oliver praised his performance.

As we left the stadium, Oliver said that Sunday was the best day of his life, and it made me so happy that we were able to share it.

GO HAWKS!

With less than twenty four hours left before we had to head back home, we ate as much good food as we possibly could.

We started with a dinner at Din Tai Fung.

Ah, dumpling production.

I’ve told you about this international Taiwanese dumpling house before, and it remains one of our favorite places to eat in Seattle.

Let me show you why.

There are amazing noodles, like this Pork Chop Noodle Dish.

But mostly, it’s all about the dumplings

be it their Spicy Pork and Shrimp

(atop which I like to add more chili sauce)

or their signature Xiao Long Bao (otherwise known as XLB or pork soup dumplings).

These are unbelievable.

We swapped stories about the game (David and Charlotte had seen most of it on TV in the hotel room) and shared our ‘Hawks swag

.

and just stuffed ourselves silly.

The food at DTF was fabulous as always, and it was such a kick to walk around afterwards talking to fans about the big win.

We headed back to our hotel with the lovely views of Lake Union

and the next morning we headed out to one of the kid’s favorite playgrounds there, just south of the city.

There’s lots of grassy area to run around, giant slides, and two ziplines (which apparently never get old).

Having worked up an appetite despite our huge hotel breakfast, we hit one last favorite before hitting the road back home (and Bailey at the kennel).

Red Lantern always comes through for us for a quick Chinese lunch– it’s not too fancy nor too dive-y, not-greasy or generic like some joints — just nice, clean flavors and crunch.

Crispy, savory potstickers

a Hot and Sour Soup with zingy white and black pepper heat

and a host of other dishes, all served family style.

So all in all, a very busy, happy weekend.

Food. Football. Family.

And the foresight to bring Seattle delicacies home to enjoy today on our first full day back.