February 18 - The Day in Seattle

We woke up at about our usual time (7:30am) and got showered and dressed.  The coffee was pretty good, and then the Canada-Latvia game came on the TV.  Of course, at that point we settled in to watch (more like "fret about") the game as the team struggled to beat the Latvian goalie.  Things were pretty tense for most of the game, but there was some good relief when Weber scored the winning goal with just under 7 minutes to play.

Mounting the Calligraphy

After that, we decided to head off to Pike Place Market and do some shopping.  Actually, I think Dawn just wanted to watch the boys throw some salmon around - we didn't get to see that although I did see them throw 3 crabs across the counter.  We purchased a few things (one thing was a couple of Chinese calligraphy art), and then went for Clam Chowder lunch at Pike Market Chowder.  It was great and very filling.

Next we returned to our car and decided to drive by Safeco Field to see if we could find a hotel near the stadium for a trip Dawn is planning when the Blue Jays are in Seattle.  There's not much right around the stadium, but there is a Best Western fairly close by.  Parking is a concern for me (as is the possible price during the summer).  If they don't have secure parking, we won't stay there.

Then after some more driving around, we returned to our hotel for the rest of the afternoon.  Reading, knitting, and watching the Olympic sports on CBC took the rest of the afternoon.

The hotel we are staying in now is about a 10 minute walk from the Key Arena.  We figure to walk to the Paul Simon and Sting Concert tonight.  Driving would be silly, and after checking out where it is located, there is a pretty straight-forward way of getting there from here.

The weather was great here today.  The sun was shining, the temperature was reasonable (about 8 degrees Celcius), and it was just a pleasant day.  It sounds like another storm is going to blow through later on tonight, so the highways will get hit again.  Watching the news about the Coquihalla make us quite happy that we came down here early, rather than wait until the last minute.

Walked over to the Key Arena for the big show.  We arrived about 7:15, with the show supposed to start at 8:00.  It is a pretty big arena.  We were in fairly good seats, on the side, but a ways from the stage.  The advantage was that we were right up against the steps walkway, so nobody could stand up in front of us and block our view.

They came on the stage at about 8:15, and then shared the stage and played for the next 3 hours.  We were mainly there for Paul Simon, but the more they sang, the more we enjoyed Sting.  Lots of their songs were familiar, with some new ones thrown in, too.  The sang/played together for a few songs, then Simon left and Sting took over for about a half hour.  Paul Simon came back and they played one song together, and then Sting left for about a half hour set by Simon.

When Sting came back,they did some more together, and then Simon left while Sting played some more of his tunes.  The crowd really seemed to enjoy what he was presenting.  Simon came back, they sang some more together.  Sting sang some Garfunkel parts on Paul Simon songs and sounded great.  Sting left and Simon played some more of his hits.  By this time, the tempo and excitement of the songs had really risen, along with the volume, so the place was rocking.  Then, Sting came back out and they finished the concert together.

There were a couple of encore appearances, again singing some great hits.  The second encore was just Paul Simon and Sting, playing their acoustic guitars, singing an Everly Brothers hit, When Will I Be Loved in honour of his "good friend, Phil Everly".  It was a very fitting song to finish the concert.

After that, it was a short walk back to the hotel, and then we watched the news and went to sleep.