Last week, we had our first Mariner game of the season and even though it was wet and rainy (the roof of Safeco Field was closed), we got to see Ichiro play for maybe the last time in Seattle.
You see, in 2012 Ichiro was traded to the Yankees and now he plays for the Florida Marlins, a National League team who we never see play since the Mariners are in the American League. Last week, they had an interleague series with the Marlins and Wednesday was "Ichiro Day". We got there early to get the dual bobbleheads of Ichiro, the free giveaway on this day.
The Mariners won the game but on Ichiro's last at bat in the 9th inning, he hit a homerun! Everyone stood and cheered for him, even though he's on the other team. And they kept standing and cheering as he rounded the bases and ran back into the dugout. It was so great. Seattle still loves Ichiro and so do we. We hope he gets traded back to the Mariners before he retires but he's getting old now, at 43 years old. He says he wants to play until he's 50. Whether he makes it seven more years or not, I don't know but it was a thrill to see him today again, doing what he does best; hit the ball. Since we got there early, Bruce dropped me off so he could run up to the Convention Center to help set up their exhibit for the Coffee Convention. I decided to hang out in the Hit-It-Here Cafe and have some lunch.
It's fun to go to the Hit-It-Here Cafe because you get a great view of the field and a nice place to sit and eat your meal. I always dread getting food at Safeco and eating in your lap. Not fun. Especially when it's crowded. Usually, we'll go out and eat before we go so we won't be hungry during the game. Then we're not tempted to buy food there because it's also expensive. But some of the food at Safeco is very good, as I posted here in 2014. I usually eat at Ivar's Seafood and Chowder if I buy a meal while sitting in our seats. It's a local favorite. On this day, I still ordered fish and chips, but I had it brought to me by a really nice server at the Hit-It-Here Cafe. The food is a little better quality here and service is good. Bruce eventually joined me and he ate the rest of my fish and chips since I couldn't finish it all. We sat with friends during the game and after four hours of baseball, we decided we were hungry again so we headed up toward the Convention Center where Bruce had parked our car. I remembered there was a Ruth Chris's restaurant near there and I told our friends they have a really good happy hour. My brother goes to it all the time in Bellevue but we've never been. This was a good time to try it out and my brother is right, it was great!
Their happy hour portions are the full size amounts for a great price, as you can see above. We ordered the Margherita Flatbread pizza (above photo), the Ahi Tuna and we each ordered a Caesar salad. The quality of each one was excellent and very fresh.
We all loved every bite. The croutons in the salad were the best I've had, just so fresh and crisp and the cheese was generous. The dressing in the salad was perfect, not too much and not over-powering. We were lucky that we were walking so parking was not a problem. Our friends had taken the light-rail to the game and Bruce had parked at the Convention Center so we took the light-rail from Safeco Field to the Westlake stop and walked the 3 or 4 blocks to Ruth's Chris. There is a parking garage at the Hyatt Hotel, where Ruth's Chris is located so that is always an option. The rates are reasonable for Seattle, $9 flat rate after 3:00 pm and $9 all day on the weekends. When you consider parking for the Mariner game was $40 in a lot near Safeco Field...well, parking is always an issue in Seattle. We will definitely return to Ruth's Chris happy hour.
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