When I go on vacation in the warmer months, I always try to catch a baseball game. Whether minor or major league, it’s always fun to cheer on the home team. This past summer’s trip to Seattle was no different. We made sure to catch a game at T-Mobile Park, home of the Seattle Mariners.
T-Mobile Park
One fact that I couldn’t believe is that the Kingdome, the monolithic, antiquated domed stadium, is roughly the same age when it stopped being in use as T-Mobile Park is today. My first reaction to T-Mobile Park is how big it is. And how new it seems still.
Getting off the light rail, the baseball stadium looms above. Although it’s smaller in capacity than stadiums like the old Kingdome or Oakland Coliseum, viewing it from the street seems like you’re entering a castle on a hill.
In the park
We sat in the third section up which meant we were far above the action but halfway between third base and home. The Mariners brought some great energy even though they lost to the Tigers in what could have been a walk-off with J-Rod up to bat. Souvenirs were purchased for the kids and ballpark food had by all.
Fireworks
We went to a game on the final day of the All-Star Week which was held in Seattle. Although the festivities were officially over, the city was teeming with baseball. Baseball players were featured on signs on the street and light rail, and fans walked the city streets wearing jerseys of all kinds.
To close out All-Star Week, T-Mobile Park held one, if not the, most impressive firework display I’d ever seen. It lasted a long while and included fireworks shooting off one after the other along the top of the stadium (as you see in the Olympics).
T-Mobile Park is an excellent place to see a ball game. It is comfortable, has a very family-friendly feel, and still seems new. The last time I was at the ballpark (in its Safeco Field incarnation), it was as if no time had passed; it still looked the same way.
For more ballpark trips check out Fenway Park, Hadlock Field, and Dodd Stadium.
