M's game and garlic fries

Take me out to the ballgame...

We went to our first Mariner's game ever on Father's Day this year and what a great time! The Mariners did not win (2-6 against the Washington Nationals) but we didn't care one bit.

T.'s Cub Scout troop was given tickets by a business here in town so the boys could take their families and we all went. I think C. was surprised that I wanted to go but I really enjoy watching baseball in person and knew it would be good to go and was it ever!

Our seats were up in the upper level but it didn't matter one bit. We could still see the game and while I am sure it would be heavenly to sit right behind the M's bullpen it felt like sitting up in the nosebleed section just made it more "authentic" for our first experience. Like what it's supposed to be or like what it was back in the heydey of Babe Ruth. Baseball is supposed to be accessible to everyone and sitting up there in the top seats made it seem like everyone could be there. Hard to explain, just right somehow.

The boys and C. took their mitts to catch that "knock it out of the ballpark" hit that, sadly, never came our way. Ah well, maybe next time. And for sure there will be a next time. We just all fully enjoyed it.

Since this was my first professional sporting event (well, if you don't count professional wrestling back in the 80's that we took my grandmother to see-and while it was fun in a slightly embarassing way, I am not going to count it) I am not sure how Safeco field stacks up against other venues but I have to say I was completely impressed. It felt like the best place to bring your family. We didn't have drunks slopping beer on people, no profanity, no idiocy. Sure, there are probably times that happens but it didn't happen around us.

As for our day, we got to the parking garage about 45 minutes before the gates opened. We walked halfway around the stadium for reasons I cannot understand and ran into some of the other scouts from our troop. Lucky thing we did too because soon after we got in they told us there was going to be a parade on the field and did we want to go? Heck yeah! Here's the view the M's have when they are walking out onto the field from their locker rooms.

Out you come onto the field and this is what you see...

The M's practicing right there in front of you. Awesome!

So, we finally make our way to our seats and as you are walking through the whole stadium I gotta tell ya, you start smelling a really wonderful smell.

You walk and you smell it. Then you don't. Then a second later you smell it again. Then you don't. At one point you start thinking you are imagining this smell. I mean, truly, how can it be ALL OVER THE STADIUM!?!??? And the smell kind of scares you because while it smells a bit like heaven on Earth it also smells like it could send you running for the Pepto after eating too much of it. The smell, you ask.....Garlic, of course.

Why no one warned me about this lovely smell is a mystery. Maybe it's because you don't really walk up to your friends and start talking about your love of garlic. It's kind of a personal thing, really. I mean, we all know it is a killer on the breath so who wants to admit that they would bathe in it if it were an option? I guess most well-bred people keep the subject of garlic to themselves. Not once did anyone say, Hey girl, make sure you try the garlic fries.

And there it is. The garlic smell comes from Grounders garlic fries. Garlic fries that look like this...

And frankly, this picture is not even completely accurate because mine had like twice the garlic piled on. But I must tell you, I resisted the urge to buy them until the 5th inning. And let me explain why. That garlic smell was everywhere. People kept walking by with piles of garlic fries. I was slobbering over them. But I KNEW, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that if I ate those garlic fries I would have intestinal discomfort for the next 12 hours minimum. And you know what? By the 5th inning I didn't care if I had discomfort for the next 12 years. I HAD to have those fries.

I waited 1/2 hour in line for those fries. I ate 1/4 of them on the way back to my seat. I sat down and offered to share them with C. but he said he was going to go buy a beer. I ate another 1/4. I waited. I really wanted to share because I knew C. would appreciate this taste of bliss and I knew I would give him kisses later and frankly, I didn't want to kill the man. I ate another 1/4 while waiting. At that point with only 1/4 of the fries left I felt it was just ridiculous to only offer him that small amount and what was taking him so long anyway and I ate the rest of those fries all by myself.

And the best part of all? While I was able to protect my entire family from a whole fleet of vampires, my stomach didn't bother me much at all. Get the fries. You'll be glad you did.