I got to Covington, and the people at the "Kits" camera store (equivalent of Ritz) told me they didn't do cleanings in house, and wouldn't sell me the supplies, but they did refer me to a repair shop in Seattle called Photo-tronics. I called them up, and they said they could get my camera done by the 5:30 if I got it to them quickly.
Drive Through Kent
The fastest route according to my GPS took me through Kent, so I technically went there, but very briefly. I had planned to visit the city that shared my name. It is actually the 6th largest city in the state, and was originally called Titusville, but in the late 19th century, the town became the largest supplier of hops to England, whose crops had been dessimated by aphids. During this time, it changed it's name to Kent, after Kent County in England. I actually had thought it might have been related to one of the codevelopers of Kenworth - one of the largest semi truck producers based out of the Seattle area - which was founded by the Gerlinger brothers, but bought out and developed by Edgar K. Worthington and Captain Frederick Kent.
Photo-tronics Camera Repair Shop in Seattle
I dropped off my camera around 3:30. Since I had 1.5-2 hours to wait, I decided to drive to Safeco Field to get a ticket for the night's Mariners Game.
Baseball Tonight!
This should have been easy, but the interstate that runs along Seattle is being re-reouted, so exits don't exist where they should, but I managed to find my way there. One of the businesses near the main box office that charges $25 to park allowed me to park there for free long enough to run across the street to buy a ticket. When I got to the box office, I asked for the cheapest ticket they had, and it was $6 because they were having a special tonight to celebrate the 6-pitcher no-hitter they had last week. Score!
Pickup Camera
I went back to pick up my camera, and they gave me the news that the ribbon cable in the lens is for the VR (vibration reduction), and that for them to repair it, it would take 2 weeks and $289. They said as long as I leave the VR mode off, it shouldn't degrade any more. I'll try to keep using the lens until the end of the trip, then send it to Nikon for repair (I hear they often repair for free, even out of warranty). $100 for the cleaning, and I was on my way back to the stadium.
Mariners vs. Padres
The guy that let me park near the stadium had told me that you could bring food in, so when I got there, I wanted to find out exactly what was permitted and what wasn't, so I went down to the right field gate (I parked in the Quest Field - home of the Seattle Seahawks - parking lot across the street).
I talked to a few of the gate keepers/ticket scanners for a while about my trip, and they told me I could bring any food in, but no liquids (an empty flexible plastic water bottle is acceptable, but I didn't feel like emptying one just to take it in). They also told me about the street at the center field gate that has vendors lining it, selling cheaper food that can be brought in.
I headed back up to my car, and decided to bring a backpack in so I didn't have to wear a jacket unless I wanted to (my ticket was in section 318, and the temperature was around 55*), and so I could bring in some food - I tossed some yogurt covered raisins and dried fruit in it. I knew no weapons are permitted in the stadium, and though I only use them as tools, I wanted to remove my pocket knives and folding trowel from the backpack. While I was emptying the unnecessary items from it, I opened one of the pockets and found my missing lens filters! $50 I didn't lose permanently! I swapped the now found UV filter onto the camera, since it would be mostly low light in the stadium, took some pictures from the top of the parking garage, then headed back to street level.
I walked the street the vendors were on, and walked into one of the several sports shops on it. They had a sale on a lot of Mariners clothing, and also had some hats on sale from other teams including the Bucs. I asked if they had anything from the Rays, and they didn't, but I talked to the sales person for a while, then walked back toward the stadium, and around it, to the home plate entrance, where I entered the stadium. They barely glanced at my backpack as I went in. As I entered the gate, I looked up, and there was a chandelier constructed of 1000 bats.
Safeco field has a retractable roof, which was open for the game, and is built to offer good views of the field and the surrounding skyline from almost anywhere in the park. It didn't disappoint.
I bought an all-you-can drink souvineer cup (many of the stadiums I've been to offer these, which save you money if you get a few refills, over the cost of buying drinks each time), then watched another inning of the game from the standing area over the bullpen, while finishing off the remaining yogurt raisins.
I lapped the home plate entrance, then checked out their hall of fame, which is an outer hallway lined with some of the more unusual food vendors in the park, including sushi, thai, and gourmet pizza vendors.
Walking into the team store from the main concourse, you enter a cylindrical room filled with signed limited edition photographs and memorabilia.
The sales attendant here put my drink aside, since food and beverages aren't allowed in the store, and I spent a while talking to him before heading downstairs to check out the main store. The main store has a door with direct access to the outside that was being guarded by a couple of attendants. One of them asked me about my camera and my Rays shirt, so we spoke at length about photography, baseball, and my trip. He told me that the retractable roof on Safeco doesn't actually fully close in the stadium, but only serves as an umbrella over it when closed - it's the only such stadium in the US - all the other retractable roof stadiums seal when closed, allowing for climate control.
After talking to him and looking around the rest of the store, I went back to the main concourse, then headed up the series of escalators to the 300 level. At the top, I checked out the skyline from some of the scenic viewpoints around the upper concourse. I continued watching the game from different vantage points, then decided I'd check out the game from my seat, since it was already the top of the 7th, and I hadn't actually been to my seat yet.
I stopped and bought a fish and chips platter, then headed to my seat.
I never actually got there. I ended up in a nearby section, in a slightly lower row, because I didn't want to disturb too many people, and there were plenty of open seats around the stadium. Here, I watched the remainder of the game while eating my cod and fries (which was o.k., though I've had better - and worse - stadium food).
John Jaso (formerly a Rays player) was got the Mariners their first RBI of the night. It was nice to see him playing, and doing ok in the DH role.
Rally time in the ninth?!?
No rally came to fruition. The Mariners ended up losing to the Padres 6-2, but I thoroughly enjoyed checking out the stadium and getting to watch only the second game I've seen this season, since I started my trip just before the season started, so the only other game I've seen was the Astro's starter in Houston. I would have liked to see more of this game, as I normally watch 90% or more of a game, and only watched about 50% of this one, but it was a very good night at the ballpark.
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