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Seattle Center and Hockey Night
Jul. 5th, 2021 11:59 pmWe left South Everett Freeway Station about 20 after 1 PM. We took advantage of the fully open seating, with Gary behind me upstairs on the driver side. When we arrived at Westlake Center to catch the monorail, we found the mall escalators were out of order and we had to use the elevator on 5th Avenue. At the top of the elevator we had to run a gauntlet of temporary construction partitions. The lady who scanned our ORCA cards said we should hurry to catch the next train, and we had to dodge some folks waiting to buy tickets, so I kept telling Gary, "Go, go, go!" - until an older gentleman in a blue uniform shirt waved at us to slow down so we wouldn't trip and fall.
When we arrived at Seattle Center, our first stop was the restroom at the Armory. I noticed a few things: much of the building was closed to the public with signs and tape stands; only a few of the food court vendors were open; most of the tables and chairs had been removed, leaving the fixed bars and metal stools; and the new Climate Pledge Arena signage is up, replacing Key Arena. We got gyros at Kebab for lunch, then walked around the park. A troupe of acrobats and jugglers were working a small crowd outside the Armory west door as we exited. We descended the stairs outside the Fisher Pavilion, took some pictures of the Climate Pledge Arena, and sat briefly by the International Fountain watching little children navigate the steep slope to run in the water. There was just a trickle: the big jets were turned off.
We decided to visit the Space Needle, which we hadn't done since the major remodel a couple years ago. There were very long lines at the ticket kiosks; at the head of our line were some members of the Aztec Riders motorcycle club with black leather vests and patches. As the line moved slowly, we also spotted some bikers from Texas with tan leather vests and patches. Most of the bikers were bearish (except for their girlfriends). The two clubs didn't mix. When we reached the kiosk the first time available after the Stanley Cup game was 8:30 PM, so we bought our tickets for then.
Next we made our way west across the park to Buckley's sports bar and grill, a couple blocks further west. When we arrived, a party of six fit young dudes were watching the Copa America semifinal soccer match between Brazil and Peru, shouting when they didn't think the game was going their way (they were clearly rooting for Peru). We sat in the window, ordered appetizers and a curious cucumber apple cider, and waited for the hockey game to start. We ordered dinner halfway through the first period, when Montreal led Tampa Bay 1-0. Gary had a turkey club and I had the pub steak. As we ate, the soccer match concluded with Brazil winning 1-0, and the party of six soon left. By the second intermission, Tampa Bay had tied the game at one each. About eight minutes into the third, we were watching a perfectly good fight and a hockey game broke out: three players from each side crowded their respective penalty boxes. Shortly thereafter, Montreal took the lead, 2-1. Later in the third, Tampa Bay scored to tie the game at two. Just before the end of regulation, a Montreal player got a double minor penalty for high-sticking which continued into overtime, but about a minute after Montreal returned to full strength, they scored the game-winning goal to stay alive in the playoffs, with a final score of 3-2.
We left the bar and walked the four blocks east to the Space Needle. We didn't have very long to wait for the elevator. We went immediately outside on the observation deck so we could remove our masks, but Gary was soon overwhelmed by the crowd and needed a quiet place to sit and be out of others' way. I went back outside to get pictures of the sunset, and also took some pictures for three young ladies with one of their phones. Then I returned to the bench and sat with Gary for a few moments before taking him out on the deck for some fresh air. A nice lady took our picture with my phone. We stopped by the restroom (which could use a cleaning), then explored the revolving glass floor before descending in the elevator.
We made our way to 5th Avenue N in front of MoPop and caught the 4 bus downtown since the monorail was closed. As we crossed 3rd Avenue we saw the 512 pass by a block away, so we descended into the light rail station at Westlake to catch the train south to Chinatown and transfer to the 512 at Union Station. As we waited for the train, a suspicious-looking dude with a purple shopping bag and a young woman in tow kept ducking into elevators and crisscrossing the mezzanine, Gary thought in order to avoid paying the fare. He eventually got a talking-to from the two rather cubbish security guards because he had left a wet-floor warning cone blocking the elevator door from closing. The first southbound train was going out of service so the doors did not open and the train quickly left. Eventually the suspicious pair boarded the train in the car behind us, and raced for the elevator at Chinatown as though they were being pursued (as well they might have been). We had about a 25-minute wait for the 512, during which several folks with loud music blaring passed us on foot and on bikes. Other than that it was really quiet, with little traffic so we could hear the streetcar bells and the chirping of pedestrian crossing signals. We made it back to South Everett just after midnight and arrived home without incident.
When we arrived at Seattle Center, our first stop was the restroom at the Armory. I noticed a few things: much of the building was closed to the public with signs and tape stands; only a few of the food court vendors were open; most of the tables and chairs had been removed, leaving the fixed bars and metal stools; and the new Climate Pledge Arena signage is up, replacing Key Arena. We got gyros at Kebab for lunch, then walked around the park. A troupe of acrobats and jugglers were working a small crowd outside the Armory west door as we exited. We descended the stairs outside the Fisher Pavilion, took some pictures of the Climate Pledge Arena, and sat briefly by the International Fountain watching little children navigate the steep slope to run in the water. There was just a trickle: the big jets were turned off.
We decided to visit the Space Needle, which we hadn't done since the major remodel a couple years ago. There were very long lines at the ticket kiosks; at the head of our line were some members of the Aztec Riders motorcycle club with black leather vests and patches. As the line moved slowly, we also spotted some bikers from Texas with tan leather vests and patches. Most of the bikers were bearish (except for their girlfriends). The two clubs didn't mix. When we reached the kiosk the first time available after the Stanley Cup game was 8:30 PM, so we bought our tickets for then.
Next we made our way west across the park to Buckley's sports bar and grill, a couple blocks further west. When we arrived, a party of six fit young dudes were watching the Copa America semifinal soccer match between Brazil and Peru, shouting when they didn't think the game was going their way (they were clearly rooting for Peru). We sat in the window, ordered appetizers and a curious cucumber apple cider, and waited for the hockey game to start. We ordered dinner halfway through the first period, when Montreal led Tampa Bay 1-0. Gary had a turkey club and I had the pub steak. As we ate, the soccer match concluded with Brazil winning 1-0, and the party of six soon left. By the second intermission, Tampa Bay had tied the game at one each. About eight minutes into the third, we were watching a perfectly good fight and a hockey game broke out: three players from each side crowded their respective penalty boxes. Shortly thereafter, Montreal took the lead, 2-1. Later in the third, Tampa Bay scored to tie the game at two. Just before the end of regulation, a Montreal player got a double minor penalty for high-sticking which continued into overtime, but about a minute after Montreal returned to full strength, they scored the game-winning goal to stay alive in the playoffs, with a final score of 3-2.
We left the bar and walked the four blocks east to the Space Needle. We didn't have very long to wait for the elevator. We went immediately outside on the observation deck so we could remove our masks, but Gary was soon overwhelmed by the crowd and needed a quiet place to sit and be out of others' way. I went back outside to get pictures of the sunset, and also took some pictures for three young ladies with one of their phones. Then I returned to the bench and sat with Gary for a few moments before taking him out on the deck for some fresh air. A nice lady took our picture with my phone. We stopped by the restroom (which could use a cleaning), then explored the revolving glass floor before descending in the elevator.
We made our way to 5th Avenue N in front of MoPop and caught the 4 bus downtown since the monorail was closed. As we crossed 3rd Avenue we saw the 512 pass by a block away, so we descended into the light rail station at Westlake to catch the train south to Chinatown and transfer to the 512 at Union Station. As we waited for the train, a suspicious-looking dude with a purple shopping bag and a young woman in tow kept ducking into elevators and crisscrossing the mezzanine, Gary thought in order to avoid paying the fare. He eventually got a talking-to from the two rather cubbish security guards because he had left a wet-floor warning cone blocking the elevator door from closing. The first southbound train was going out of service so the doors did not open and the train quickly left. Eventually the suspicious pair boarded the train in the car behind us, and raced for the elevator at Chinatown as though they were being pursued (as well they might have been). We had about a 25-minute wait for the 512, during which several folks with loud music blaring passed us on foot and on bikes. Other than that it was really quiet, with little traffic so we could hear the streetcar bells and the chirping of pedestrian crossing signals. We made it back to South Everett just after midnight and arrived home without incident.