Today we had sometime before the game to check out the downtown area of Seattle in the on-again/off-again rain. Chris and I visited the Seattle Art Museum, which we have to say was a bit lacking in content—all filler, no killer (art). We also had a chance to go to the Pike Place Market, where people seemed to like to stand around waiting to see fish being thrown from one person to another. It’s funny to watch people try to ignore the awful smell of the fish just to see this spectacle, and there are more than a handful who can’t take the smell and bail before the fish tossing begins.

I had to drop Chris off on a bus to the airport before the game, as his 3-month leg of the Tour was over (see “Goodbye Chris” post). Afterwards I headed to the Mariners game to see them take on the Toronto Blue Jays, my third time seeing the Blue Jays in the month of June. Safeco Field is a really nice place to see a game—it has sweeping views of the downtown area, and from the upper concourse you can lookout on the waterfront and see mountains in the distance. The place was pretty packed, and of course a lot of people were cheering on Ichiro, who is batting a ridiculous .364. It has a umbrella-shaped retractable roof, but air is still able to flow in and out of the ballpark from the sides, which remain open. As futuristic and cool as that sounds, Safeco Field is one of the only Major League parks to have a manually operated scoreboard, which adds to its uniqueness.

Safeco Field is also home to my favorite restaurant name I’ve seen so far. Right behind home plate on the main concourse there is a small Chinese food stand called “Intentional Wok.” Genius.