Sunday tangentially related to the Mariners linkage
Corruption.
Culinary inspiration involving bacon.
Guerrilla marketing.
Indecipherable high-stakes real estate dealings.
It’s a FATASTIC OPPERTUNITY!!
Opening Day USSM Chill-o-thon
Tomorrow, Pioneer Square Saloon (73 Yesler), 1-3ish. I may show up even earlier. Short version of directions: walk down your north-south avenue of choice (1st, 2nd, whatever) until you get to Yesler Way. Look to the water. It’s on the south side of the street.
If you’ve managed to get your hands on the book, I’ll be happy to sign, if you don’t, I may be able to strike a deal to provide one for you. Elliot Bay and your local bookstore should have them in stock, and if they don’t, you should raise a fuss.
Come! Hang out! Pre-commiserate! Get excited for the game! Enjoy a delicious beverage!
New adventures and old stories
Dust off the old login and one finds that Felix isn’t fat any more, JJ Putz has an extension, and Jose Guillen has turned into a “potential thumper.” Derek’s been an Atlas both in terms of holding up the site on his own and in terms of supplying encyclopedic information. That last one isn’t altogether surprising.
It’s not that the offseason has lacked action. Rather, I think of it as when a physical confrontation begins with a series of furious slaps, and the bewildered recipient — who had thought himself strong, or at least inured to such assaults — slipped into something akin to catatonia. Then, when the action did actually slow, so did the poor survivor’s capacity for commentary. Stunned drooling became a realistic (if not preferred) alternative.
Offended by the analogy? It’s not the whole fanbase rendered to drooling disappointment. Like Ash says in Army of Darkness: Just me, baby. Just me.
For distraction’s sake, Okinawa is a fine place to be. I hide from sports news. Hibernate a little bit. Wrap myself up in the book I’m writing, seeking solace in new adventures and old stories — a few of which even involve my favorite baseball team. The loosely organized theme: loyalty is a virtue, and virtue is its own reward. Hang in through the tough times.
Let me load three tales into the chamber and see what spins out. One old, one new, one borrowed. Nothing blue, ’cause I don’t work that way.
TALE THE FIRST: THE TALE OF LAS VEGAS (OLD)
Before dipping to the land of Pachinko, I ventured once more to Gomorrah with a group of friends. You know, for the canyon hiking.
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USSM Official Pre-and-post-game Meal Endorsement
So the Pioneer Square Saloon is the best place to meet your friends, have a beer or three, and vent about the team before you head on down to the stadium. What if you want food, and you don’t want to go to Subway or wherever and haul something into said Saloon?
Go to Elysian Fields. 542 1st Ave South. It’s across the street from Qwest Field, right next to Sluggers.
It’s beautiful. I don’t know any other way to put it. It’s spacious, the seating is comfortable, there are TVs and… it’s great. You can see how much care went into the design. I love it.
The beers are great. Elysian’s own brews are delicious. The food’s good. You’re making a tradeoff, though, and it’s obvious when you compare Elysian Fields to what’s next door at Sluggers. Sluggers you can get a giant plastic cup of Bud for $4, and at Elysian, it’s a pint of something nice. At Sluggers, if you can get food, it’s standard bar food at ~$10/sandwich and serviceable. Elysian’s food costs more but it’s genuinely enjoyable. At Sluggers, you can’t get a place to sit, but Elysian there’s a comfortable seat available.
There’s the decision, though: if you want a pre-game bite to eat, and that’s the criterion for this endorsement, and you’re not strapped for cash to the point where you’re willing to haul some food into the Pioneer Square Saloon, this is where you want to go:
– ridiculously good food
– great place
– great beer
And you pay more for it. When I had a job, that was a trade-off I was willing to make. Hopefully they’ll comp me now that I’m unemployed and desperate.
Honorable mention: the J+M up in Pioneer Square. It’s bar food, so you’re paying $8 for that chicken sandwich, but everything I’ve ordered has been good, they have some nice drink specials, and – I kid you not – I once sat around drinking there while they played, start to finish, Sonic Youth’s “Daydream Nation”. That’s so cool.
Pyramid has some great food, and I love their DPA (t’s one of my favorite beers in all the world, which is saying something) but it’s really hard to get a table there, so.. it loses out.
Others considered: FX McCrory’s, I’ve gotten really bad service the vast majority of times I’ve been dragged in there and the food’s not as good as Elysian. Larry’s Whateveritscallednow, which was once upon a time my pre-game hangout. King Street Bar & Oven, which is where I got my food after I stopped going to Larry’s. Many other places.
USSM Official Pre-and-post-game Meetup Bar Endorsement
Pioneer Square Saloon. 73 Yesler Way. I didn’t realize how much I’d come to value the comfortable simplicity of the Pioneer Square Saloon until I looked through my game notes and realized how often I was there. It kind of snuck up on me.
Two brief digressions:
1. I had some plans for the Drinking at Safeco feature this year that never came to fruition (Google Maps, updated write-ups… my reach exceeded my grasp). Sorry.
2. You used to be able to find me at the King Street Bar and Grill, but the last two years I’ve had increasingly poor service and ill times, so it dropped out.
Cons: the Saloon’s a little farther north. It doesn’t have a lot of TVs. There’s no kitchen.
So why go there?
The lack of proximity means it’s relatively calm, you don’t have to brawl for space, and it’s quiet enough that you can have a reasonable conversation. So it’s ideal for meeting friends, because you can get a table and talk to them.
They’ve got a bunch of good, cheap taps. I like the people who work there. I like the people who hang out there. The music’s been good every time I’ve been there, and I’m picky about my music.
While there’s no kitchen, but they’re cool about letting you bring in food, which works out well. If you want a meal, I’ve got another post coming about that.
The best alternative is probably the beer garden at Pyramid, because it’s so easy to find. You’re standing around in a parking lot, paying more, and the beers are often a little nasty, but meeting people from out-of-town or something is a cinch: “It’s across the street from the ballpark”. If they can’t find the park, you’ve got bigger problems than meeting them for beers.
Pioneer Square Saloon, folks. Check it out.
Also considered: Owl & Thistle (horrible service), other places on 1st, the Outback encampment just south, King Street, Tiki Bob’s, Sluggers, etc etc.
Next up: the pre-and-post-game meal endorsement.
If you’ve got a suggestion for a good meetup spot that is
– reasonably priced
– not overflowing with people
please, drop a comment.