I would like to write a disclaimer on this post before you read it as some people would view this post as a bragging post when in fact that is not the intention. It is simply to give you an insight into how some people spend their time and money and the level of luxury at something as trivial as a ball game which we got to enjoy for a night. I however do not have that kind of money to do these types of things so I must rely on being the charity case from those that do. Which BTW I am quite fine with. :)
Tony and I both are big into FREE sporting event tickets (especially baseball - we are football and football fans remember) and as a result, we have gone to much more sporting events free than we have paid for. Somehow it is one of the lucky things I have been fortunate to get from my employers when it comes time for raffles or availability.
On Tuesday Tony and I got a special treat. We got to go to the Mariners game at Safeco field. We didn't just get to go though or get free tickets. We got "Diamond Club" passes. For those that don't know what that means, it means my boss plunked down mega moolah for the best seats at the ball park, the best parking, and access into the club for special people where you get good food and alcohol for FREE. Well it isn't really free - he paid for it in his tickets. But to give you an idea of how mucho cool these seats are. He must have paid a minimum of $25K for them and possibly more.
So when you get to the parking garage this is how it goes (I really thought they were kidding when i was first told this until we experienced it):
Parking
- You drive into the parking garage and you wave your little blue parking pass to one of the attendants. He then yells to the next guy a ways down "Diamond Club!" and then tells you to go to the right - Diamond Club gets to park on a special level all by themselves. When you get to the next guy he tells you were you can park and yells again "Diamond Club". You then walk about 100 feet to the stairs or elevator and we of course chose to take the skywalk across - Tony thought that was cool. I believe his comment was - we get to avoid the masses down below. LOL Ironically every other time we have gone to a baseball game we are one of the masses.
Finding the Diamond Club
I feel the need to tell this next part of the story not because I am mean but because I am blonde and stupid sometimes and for the people that know me they will understand I was not being mean but was instead a little dense. We walk into the stadium and now we have no where to go. So I see to the side there is this guy sitting in a wheel chair all decked out in Mariner stuff and he has a couple of those Mariner passes around his neck making him look official. Ok well he also had a headband with two little antennaes sticking off of it and I thought maybe it was just part of his silliness because the guy was handicapped - mentally and physically. So Athena looks at this guy and thinks what you ask???? oh he must be like the Walmart greeter people who help you out when you first come into the store. So as Tony walks off i stop and ask this guy if he works there. I mean he looked official for crying out loud! He looks at me and says something that must have been gibberish because it was not coherent. I ask again if he worked there and does he know how to get to the Diamond Club. he looks at me with the same confused face and says something else I don't comprehend at which point I realize I am not getting the answer out of him that I need. SO I walk on.
I catch up with Tony and he goes, Athena - he doesn't work here - he's a handicapped guy. I of course retorted with I thought he was like the Walmart greeter. And my husband who loves me so much started laughing at me. Unfortunately a few minutes later I saw the same guy being wheeled around and we passed him again and he looked at me and I just tried to act like I didn't see him - I was embarrassed by that point. So after we finally asked someone who really DID work there how to get to the diamond club - we were pointed to an elevator and we went down to the basement.
The Diamond Club
When we got off the elevator there was the Diamond Club - it looked like a restaurant/bar/lounge place. We go inside and you basically get to eat an all you can eat buffet - for FREE. And no tipping either. The bar was free and as we walked up to the bar Tony turns to me and says, "baby I think this is a pay bar." Well I had been told otherwise but I had my purse ready just in case. But nope - no pay bar. SO we got our drinks and food and sat down at a table just as the first pitch was being thrown. The food was pretty decent - lots of ripe fruit and cracker and cheeses. Some gourmet snack food things, desserts, carved turkey, salmon and meatloaf along with mashed potatoes, rolls and pasta & green salads were available. When you have Diamond Club tickets - you literally walk out from inside the Club to your seats.
The Seats
Our seats were 7 rows from the front and we got to sit right behind home plate staring down the line to 3rd base. We were so close to the dugout that I got to take this picture with my phone. It looks a lot further out, but we were 10 feet from the Mariner's dugout.
We also were right where the netting no longer protected though so you had to pay attention to the game. But there were a total of 16 runs scored so it made for fun. The next bit of status you got was you had personal trash bags on the back of the seat in front of you and each one contained a card that you could check off what you wanted to eat or drink and the ladies at the top of the entrance would go fetch these items for you. you could order, hot dogs, nachos, hamburgers, wine, beer, soda and a heck of a lot more. And it just came to you - you didn't even have to leave your seat. They also had some snacky food inside you could go back in for. Alas - my cotton candy was gone before inning 1 was over.
At the end of the night, we were able to move out of there quickly and get back to the garage where we were able to exit quickly and get home. We had a great time, but in the end, unless it was my Rammies, I hardly see how I would ever pay for that kind of experience but I am glad I had the opportunity to do it off someone else's dime. But now you know, what the other side looks like.
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