Help me plan my first trip to CenturyLink

So I'm finally making plans to make it to a Seahawks home game. I live in North Carolina and have been a fan since around 1982 or 83, but the cost and time to get to a game on the West coast was always an issue. Well, it's time. Schedule comes out Tuesday and I'm going to start planning which game then.

I have tons of questions, so here goes...

Tickets and Seating - Forgive my ignorance, but is there an official 12th man section? On tv it always appears to be the end zone section, 147 and 149. If so, I'd love to sit there for my first (and maybe only) time at a home game. There will be 7 people, so what are the odds of that happening? Where is the best place to get tickets

Tailgating - I am a huge college football tailgater, so what do I need to know? Is there a particular place to be? How early do you guys get started? Anything forbidden?

Lodging - Where? Why?

Am I missing anything? I really do appreciate any help.

If this is posted in the wrong forum, please move it.

Tickets -- EVERY SECTION is a 12th man section. Seahawks.Net classified is your best bet to buy seats because people here will sell their tix at a reasonable price if they know it's going to a Seahawks fan. Otherwise, you're at the mercy of all the normal outlets. Ticketmaster is the official outlet for Season ticket holders who are selling their seats but you're probably above face value. Stubhub is a bunch of evil greedy bastards and never give them anything.

Lodging -- Hotwire a hotel in downtown Seattle or at SeaTac Airport. From the airport the light rail takes you to the stadiums or downtown. Outside those two areas you're looking at taking cabs.

Tailgating? It has pretty much been legislated way. Plan on finding a local pub to pre-funk. We have our preferred spot (Temple Billiards about 2 1/2 blocks from the stadium) but there are plenty others.

The only thing you're missing is: prepare to yell your ass off the whole time the Seahawks are on defense. This is required. We take this serious.

Also, food inside the stadium isn't that great and definitely way overpriced so eat something before you come in. Security is annoying but there's one entrance that has short lines but I only tell my closest friends about that one!

Hope you find a great week to visit and enjoy your first game!

Megaphones can't be brought into the stadium. However, with a small pocketknife they can easily be made by cutting the bottom out of your first empty beer cup. Local microbrew cups make the best megaphones... Be loud on D! Don't start when the enemy approaches the line, disrupt the huddle too!

The weather will be way nicer in the first half of the season.

NC State Seahawk":co2zpq9j said:

So I'm finally making plans to make it to a Seahawks home game. I live in North Carolina and have been a fan since around 1982 or 83, but the cost and time to get to a game on the West coast was always an issue. Well, it's time. Schedule comes out Tuesday and I'm going to start planning which game then.

I have tons of questions, so here goes...

Tickets and Seating - Forgive my ignorance, but is there an official 12th man section? On tv it always appears to be the end zone section, 147 and 149. If so, I'd love to sit there for my first (and maybe only) time at a home game. There will be 7 people, so what are the odds of that happening? Where is the best place to get tickets

Tailgating - I am a huge college football tailgater, so what do I need to know? Is there a particular place to be? How early do you guys get started? Anything forbidden?

Lodging - Where? Why?

Am I missing anything? I really do appreciate any help.

If this is posted in the wrong forum, please move it.

Click to expand...

Make your trip more about visiting the area then just going to the game. Last year I went to your state to watch the Seahawks/Panthers. I also went on a trip into the Blue ridge mountains and Virginia. A hotel in the downtown core will give you easy access to a lot of activities that Seattle has to offer. Maybe take a couple days and head up to Vancouver BC Canada, a beautiful city that is only 3 hours away, you will need a passport to do that. Mount Rainer. leavonworth are other awesome mini trips that you can do. Make the most out of your stay.

Obviously you should try to get here for the home opener and watch the World Champions banner unveiled... *Chills*...

RockHawk":38eekd8d said:

Obviously you should try to get here for the home opener and watch the World Champions banner unveiled... *Chills*...

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I agree with this 100%

I made my virgin trip for this past NFCCG. If you can't make the season opener, just get there ASAP.

NC State Seahawk":3duxqbpx said:

So I'm finally making plans to make it to a Seahawks home game. I live in North Carolina and have been a fan since around 1982 or 83, but the cost and time to get to a game on the West coast was always an issue. Well, it's time. Schedule comes out Tuesday and I'm going to start planning which game then.

I have tons of questions, so here goes...

Tickets and Seating - Forgive my ignorance, but is there an official 12th man section? On tv it always appears to be the end zone section, 147 and 149. If so, I'd love to sit there for my first (and maybe only) time at a home game. There will be 7 people, so what are the odds of that happening? Where is the best place to get tickets

Tailgating - I am a huge college football tailgater, so what do I need to know? Is there a particular place to be? How early do you guys get started? Anything forbidden?

Lodging - Where? Why?

Am I missing anything? I really do appreciate any help.

If this is posted in the wrong forum, please move it.

Click to expand...

Any seats you can find for the price you want to pay are gonna work. Now, getting 7 together is going to be expensive and difficult. . . may want to plan to have them split up if you can't find that many in the same spot.

For tailgating one of the better alleyways Ive found runs from S. Massachusettes street down Utah ave. From the stadium you'd go south on 1st avenue past safeco and another block, head west on massachusettes and you'll come upon the fun. bring some chairs and some booze and find people to hunker down with or just wander and have fun.

Lodging just depends on where you wanna be and what you wanna spend. The Silver Cloud hotel is right by the stadium literally on the same block essentially. If you wanna be within walking distance of the stadium, tailgating, etc and not worry about transportation, check it out. If you'd rather just be in the city but don't care about being at the hotel, that's just gonna depend on what kind of accomodations you want. Personally my wife and I are fans of the W.


Anything else you might wanna know would just be dependent on what else you're hoping to get outta your trip, most of that is just going to depend on what sort of transportation you plan on having.

Seven tickets together is going to be very difficult.

Agree with making the trip earlier in the season, to increase the chance of good weather.

There is tons of good food in the International District, near the stadium. My wife and I usually go for dim sum before games.

Tons of great bars in Pioneer Square for a few beers before or after the game.

Stadium food is a mixed bag, there are some good options, but everything, especially beer, is very expensive compared to outside.

There is tailgating but if you have big time college tailgating where you are, our tailgating will be totally lame. Take advantage of the unique downtown stadium environment and hit some bars and restaurants.

Sit anywhere. The club sections and suites are more restrained but in general the whole place is nuts.

If you're not drinking beer, bring a few caps for 20oz pop bottles. They take the caps off when they give you pop and it sucks leaving them open.

Depending on when you arrive, take a tour of the stadium. It's cheap and fun. Obviously not available on gameday, but the friday before should be available.

If you plan on buying stuff at the pro shop, prepare to wait a LONG time in a VERY crowded area on gameday. Might be better to check it out a day or two early as well. Also, give yourself time to pack stuff back to your car, if you drive, so that you don't have to hold onto it all day long.

Parking...There's an amazing area for parking just past Safeco. It may not matter if you are staying in a nearby hotel, but if you're trying to hit the interstate top get out of town after the game, you basically turn right and you're on I-90.

When it comes to bringing the noise...hydrate. Keep your throat moistened all game. If you have no voice left in the fourth quarter, you blew it, but if you have any voice left Monday, you suck.

We are arriving on a Thursday and leaving on a Tuesday, so there will be plenty of time for us to sightsee. The 7 people do not need to sit together, so a group of 7 is unnecessary. Seriously, I would assume the opener would be a very expensive ticket to get. I wasn't even thinking that was doable.

The weekends we are thinking are 09/20, 09/27 or 10/04. I'd love for it to be a game of significance, but at this point, who really cares? I just want to do this 1 time in my life.

Can't add too much in the way of tickets, but my one trip for a game I stayed at the Moore Hotel down town on 2nd Ave. Very reasonably priced and within walking distance of the stadium, Pikes Market, Space Needle, etc.

http://www.moorehotel.com/

I'm actually a big fan of the Ace Hotel if you are looking for something clean, relatively inexpensive, and in an interesting part of town. It's walkable (a bit long) to the stadium, but you can also take a bus south from right in front of the building more or less.

https://www.acehotel.com/seattle

Are you bringing kids or all adults?

My advice would be to do the tailgating stuff but also make sure you get to the game early if it's your one shot, personally I enjoy getting in my seat about 60-90 minutes early and checking out warm-ups and stuff but I guess that is more whatever's your style.

Since moving to Monata, I get to travel in for games. Prior to the move, I lived in Seattle for 8 years. Here are my thoughts.


HOTEL

Silver Cloud Inn Seattle Stadium is awesome for proximity, but spendy, especially on game days. I usually stay in the Eastlake area at either the Silver Cloud Lake Union or the Lake Union Residence Inn. Great access to the South Lake Union area and I-5 North and South. Both are located next to the bus stop and offer free parking. Few of the other downtown area hotels still offer free parking. You can ride the 66, 71 72, 73 bus lines into downtown and back from right in front of the hotel. I usually ride to the Pioneer Square stops and walk in from there. Cabs fare isn't too bad to the Eastlake area, especially if you have several folks to split it with.

Another couple of hotels I like are the Seattle Center Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express. Both are within reasonable bus ride of the stadium, but I can't remember the lines off the top of my head. Parking is hit or miss. Sometimes it is free and sometimes not. If the hotel is busy, then the parking lot will usually be full and you have to park on the street. Not a problem on the weekend, but weekdays can be difficult since you have to get up in the AM and move your car before the parking meter maids start their rounds.

I used to stay at The Homewood Suites Convention Center frequently. Great location. Easy access to downtown and bus lines to the stadium area, but they started charging for parking recently.

There are other hotels in the downtown core that are cheaper (I generally don't trust them) or much more expensive. I stayed at The Alexis on my honeymoon and I highly recommend it if you are looking to drop some coin. One thing I might look into this year is finding a hotel that offers a free 24 hour shuttle into the downtown core. I suspect that some of the hotels might do this for travelers wanting to get to the train to the airport. That would be a sweet way to go.

Moving further out. Staying near the airport by one of the rail stops is awesome unless you end up missing the last train out of downtown like my buddy did after the NFCCG this year. There are also some good cheaper options on the east side (Bellevue/ Kirkland) that can be reached by bus, but late at night the bus runs infrequently so you can wait for quite a while if you don't want to take a cab. I usually stay at the La Quinta Kirkland. Cheap, quiet, clean. Good access to 520, although you have to pay a toll now.


STADIUM

I haven't found a bad seat at the Clink, but I have only personally sat in two sections 149/147 (The Hawk's Nest) at the North End Zone and 123 at the South End Zone. Both were rowdy. Most of the folks you might recognize from pictures sit in the South End Zone. I dislocated my jaw in section 123 during the NFCCG. If you sit in the Hawk's Nest, beware that they are exposed metal bleachers. You will be standing for the game, but between quarters you might want to sit. Bring something dry and padded if you don't like metal bleachers.

As has been mentioned, every section is a 12 section. If you want to take a virtual tour of the stadium or see what the view will be like from various seats check out Century Link Interactive Seahawks Virtual Venue. Awesome resource.

I haven't tailgated Seahawks games. Mostly I just go into area bars/ restaurants. There is no shortage of these around the Clink.

Hope that helps

- bsd

Hawknballs":1q6tecfq said:

Are you bringing kids or all adults?

My advice would be to do the tailgating stuff but also make sure you get to the game early if it's your one shot, personally I enjoy getting in my seat about 60-90 minutes early and checking out warm-ups and stuff but I guess that is more whatever's your style.

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1 kid and 8 adults. No way I'm getting in there last minute. I will give myself plenty of time to watch all of the pregame stuff. I'm the only Seahawks fan, so this will be friends just coming along for the experience. We are psyched.

bigskydoc":1q6tecfq said:

I haven't found a bad seat at the Clink, but I have only personally sat in two sections 149/147 (The Hawk's Nest) at the North End Zone and 123 at the South End Zone. Both were rowdy.

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Hawks Nest! That's what I was trying to think of. Sounds to me like it doesn't matter which section as long as it's not club sections.

warden":27yea39r said:

Make your trip more about visiting the area then just going to the game. Last year I went to your state to watch the Seahawks/Panthers. I also went on a trip into the Blue ridge mountains and Virginia. A hotel in the downtown core will give you easy access to a lot of activities that Seattle has to offer. Maybe take a couple days and head up to Vancouver BC Canada, a beautiful city that is only 3 hours away, you will need a passport to do that. Mount Rainer. leavonworth are other awesome mini trips that you can do. Make the most out of your stay.

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I saw the Seahawks play the past 2 years in Charlotte and there were a ton of Seahawk fans. I've been lonely my whole life and all of a sudden I found my long lost family. hahahah. I even got to meet Chris Clemons' mom. By the way, Blue Ridge mountains are amazing. Glad you took the time to cruise the Blue Ridge Parkway.

GeekHawk":1ajtuh77 said:

However, with a small pocketknife they can easily be made .

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YES bring pocket knife to the game..........

Separately - I thought there was an effort last year to accumluate people's thoughts on what to do when going to Seattle for a game for the first time. Bunch of tourist things, hotels, areas etc. I know I saw a bunch of posts on it did the thread ever materialize / get pulled together?

If we are playing the Saints it is a 12 tradition to push wheel chair-bound Fans in black and gold down the stairs. Haha! Learn to walk! lazy jackass.

I stayed at the Moore. Was mentioned above. 92$ a night. Very old building but room was nice. Old cast iron tub. Bed was amazing. Waked to stadium in about 25 mins. 2 blocks from public market and lite rail station.
Had great time @ Temple Billiards with .net gang.

Looks like the Broncos game is my aim. When can I expect the best crop of tickets to be available? What could the average cost be?