Seahawks vs Panthers | Game Day | Lamar King | Autographs | Meet Pat! | The Game | The Stadium | Halftime |

I'm writing to you from a restaurant in Charlotte, NC! It's been a good day and I'm happy and anxious to tell you about it!

The trip so far has been an interesting learning experience! For instance, I learned that there's a reason Super 8 motels are cheap! I stayed in a Super 8 in Topeka last night. It was only 10pm when I arrived but with the hectic Grandpa events of this past week, I was beat! Knowing I wouldn't be sleeping long, I took the cheapest motel I could find. It was clean - I can't complain about that - and the - Excuse me while I take a bite ... Mmmmm! This blackened chicken alfredo is to die for!

Sorry, I was distracted by my delicious meal! Thumbs up for Harpers!

As I was saying about Super 8, the wake-up function on the TV was awesome! May we have that at home, please? Much better than the radio!

OH MY GOSH! That waiter has a handlebar moustache! Eeeks!!!

Not to go on and on about the meal, but every time I take a bite an Mmmm! slips out! hee hee!

Super 8. We were talking about Super 8, weren't we? Every hotel in the WORLD (yes, WORLD!) gives you a free bottle of shampoo, right? So when I realized I'd left mine in the other suitcase in the trunk, no worries. Ha! This morning I had a choice. Get dressed and run to the car in 40 degree temps with a biting wind -- or do without. This is the first time in my life that I've washed my hair with a bar of soap!

But at least I got it all rinsed out. The shower blasted out of the sprinkler. It nearly knocked me over!

Enough about Super 8!

The trip to Kansas City was uneventful, which is a good thing. The bagel and cream cheese served on the plane were delicious, but the banana grain bar was a bit too bananay!

OH MY GOSH! The handlebar moustache guy just came to MY table and spoke to me! He's not my waiter! I had to try to keep a straight face! TORTURE!

The view as we lifted off from the KC runway was as beautiful as I've ever seen. Maybe it's the farm girl in me (no jokes, please) but the plowed fields and green pastures really are a sight to behold from the air. The flight was about 2 hours, during which 1 hour was in complete cloud cover. As we lost altitude to come into Charlotte, we broke through the cloud barrier and the view of the Appalachians was lovely, even on a gray day. Love those mountaintops. They're good for shouting!

I was happy to land in Charlotte. It's always a relief to finally step off that crowded airplane. First order of business was to get the rental car. Should be easy enough, right? HA! Being the Seinfeld-addict you are, I'm sure you recall the episode where Jerry rents a car in advance, but when he goes to pick it up they're out of cars. You remember that episode, right? Well, that's what happened to me! And a half dozen other travelers who thought their reservation meant a car was being held for them! In the words of the Great Jerry Seinfeld, "What part of the word reservation do you not understand?!?!"

Supposedly they have an agreement with another car company for instances like this. When I return the car, I'm supposed to take the receipt back to Budget Car Rental and they'll refund the difference. I doubt it will be that easy. My quoted rate from Budget was $20.99/day. The rate I have from Alamo is $51.00/day. BIG DIFFERENCE! I'll have to battle that one Monday morning. Yuck!

The car I got is sweeeeet! It's a Mitsubichi Galant. It drives so nice! I like it! Each time I drive a rental car it makes me realize just how old and full of rattles my 1990 Camry is. Boo!

Getting around in Charlotte takes desire! I spent an hour trying to find my hotel. The directions I printed off the Internet were WRONG! It got me to the Days Inn, not the Fairfield Inn!

This city is bizarre. I can't find it! [pause to think about that] Really! I can't find the city! I know it's here somewhere - at least I think it is - but it's nowhere I've been yet and I've put over 150 miles on the car so far!

There are two streets called I-85 Service Road. Did I know that? Billy Graham Parkway changes its name to Woodlawn at the junction of Highway 77. Ashley Road runs East/West, and the other Ashley Road runs North/South. How do people find their way around?!

I can't tell you how many u-turns I've made today. Go ahead and scream TOURIST but this city is not made for visitors.

It was around 2pm when my tummy said LUNCH. I decided I'd head to the Daniel Stowe Botannical Gardens and stop somewhere en route for a bite to eat. Do you think I could find a restaurant other than McDonalds? Cripes! All I've found in Charlotte is one business at a time in a tree-filled residential area. There's no real business row or restaurant row or anything like that. Everything is well-hidden in neighborhoods. It's weird!

When I finally saw the Derby Diner, I pulled in. I was a bit intimidated by the nice-dressed, our age-ish couple smooching and fondling each other in the parking lot. What makes them think THEY can do that?!?!?

The restaurant was nice enough, though they had a longhorn steer mounted on the wall staring at me the whole time. They serve steaks! With a cow head on the wall! That is NOT right! I ordered a club sandwich. No beef for me!

I was surprised to hear the accent of the waitress. It's not the same drawl from the deep South, but it is a version of the Southern drawl.

I was also surprised when she asked if I wanted my tea sweet or UNsweet. In Kansas, they don't even ask. Tea is tea without sugar, but in my other travels they usually say with or without sugar, not sweet or unsweet. Just an observation.

After lunch I headed to the gardens. I trusted the driving directions from the Internet but was a little concerned when I saaw the Welcome to South Carolina sign! I didn't know I was going to SC! I was relieved to come across the Welcome to NC sign, and worried again when I came across another Welcome to SC sign! Apparently I weaved (wove?) in and out of both states. It was a pretty drive among lots of trees and a few lakes or rivers or something. The route I took wound me all around, but who cares?! I didn't have anything else to do! I was VERY proud to make it to the gardens without getting lost!

The gardens were lovely. Probably not as beautiful as perhaps earlier in the growing season but lovely just the same. I just flipped through the piccies on the digital camera. I must have taken about 60 pictures! Thank goodness floppy disks are cheap! I won't make you look at all 60 shots but you know I'll be sending a few! The day remained gray but the temp was comfortable in a short-sleeved sweater. I don't think you would have enjoyed the gardens all that much. The pollen was very high. The bees loved it but it made my sinuses go whacko so I'm sure it wouldn't have been pleasant for you.

When I saw all the inviting park benches, I wished I had not come to the gardens by myself. When I walked down the paths between beautiful landscaped fountains, all I could think about it what a lovely spot it was for a wedding.

And then I went to the gift shop.

They had some wax flakes that you use to make your own candles. WAY COOL! For $8.50 we got two bags of flakes, a holder and some wicks. I bought two candles that look like bee hives for the girls. And then I wasted WAY too much money on this cat thingy. It's a cement brick planter thingie that you fill with dirt and grass seeds. Cats are supposed to LOVE it and I guess the grass is healthy for them. I don't know why I bought any of that stuff, but I did.

Oh yes, and I wanted a drink too because I was parched after all that walking so I got a Diet Sun Drop. NO! Don't ask! TRUST ME, IT'S NOT A GOOD QUESTION! I already made that mistake and I got a "WHERE ARE YOU FROM???" reply! Everyone (apparently) in North Carolina drinks Sun Drop! Sheesh, you're so PXNC!!!!!

(Note to Non North Carolinans: It tastes like 7-Up or Sprite.)

The other question you DON'T want to ask is how to pronounce Stowe. It's stow, not stowie. NEVER make that mistake!!!! These people are proud of their silent e!!!

I found an easier route back to the hotel. Unfortunately it took a LOT longer because I got caught up in NASCAR traffic. Vroom! Vroom!

Once I got back to Charlotte I wanted to go to K-Mart or Wal-Mart or ANY discount store. I forgot my watch and I cannot live without it. I got directions from the hotel desk clerk but of course they were WRONG! I found 85N and I found Freedom Avenue but there is NO K-Mart there! I found a drug store and ran inside. Luckily they had watches. I was hoping for a $10 cheapie, instead I got a $24.95 cheapie. Oh well!

And in case you wondered, that's where I got this swell stationery (purple) and gel pen (green!)

THEN ... I had a dilemma. Dinner. As in ... WHERE IS A RESTAURANT?!?!? I could find fast food joints easily enough but I can have fast food at home. I want something unique.

Once again, I drove all over town hoping to run into a restaurant that looked good. I debated driving to Pineville or Pinedale or Pine-something to a German restaurant but I figured even if I made it to Pineland, I wouldn't be able to find the restaurant! With the help of the hotel staff I found Harpers and as you already know, the food was awesome! Cost me $20 - yikes! - but it was tasty!

Hey! Seahawk Pat just called! Hooray! Looks like we're on for a tour of Charlotte tomorrow at 10am. Not sure where we're going or what we'll do but I hope it's fun. I think we should check out the stadium and make a game plan for Sunday. I've already had a taste of traffic in Charlotte. It's not the stress stuff of Dallas but it definitely gets backed up. Bleah!

Wow ... I'm getting sleepy. Shall we call it a day/night? Our first day in Charlotte was a lot of fun. Can't wait for more tomorrow.

Hello!

Today was a very good day indeed! We had so much fun!

It started with the free continental breakfast in the hotel lobby. I had another bagel with cream cheese. Mmmm. I also had an apple danish on your behalf!

Then we read Sports Illustrated while we waited for Pat to arrive. Interesting Olympics articles. I couldn't believe the one I read about athletes injecting drug-free urine into their bladders so that they would pass their drug tests. ICK, not to mention GROSS!

There were some great articles about highlights and lowlights and it passed the time quickly. When Pat arrived, he greeted me with a big hug, which I thought was very kind, and then we hopped in his car for a drive. He is SO nice. We had a very easy time with conversation, laughing and teasing and just having fun. I like him a lot. Any worries I had about meeting a "stranger" from the Internet were immediately gone, gone, gone. I feel silly now for worrying about it.

We headed for downtown Charlotte and found the stadium easily. It was WAY cool! I got goosebumps just driving by. We found a parking place and started out on foot, having not a clue where to go or what to do. It was a lovely day so I didn't mind walking around as we chatted. I can't believe Pat isn't married. He's so cute and he's got a warm and fun personality. I had to pick his brain on Catholicism for a while!

We walked up to the Marriott and just for kicks, Pat asked the bellboy if the Seahawks stayed there. YES! COOL! Then the guy told us that they'd be coming out any minute. What timing! We could have gotten tons of autographs but we didn't come prepared. Aaaauuuggghh! We saw them all - and they saw us! Pat is even more shy than me, believe it or not, so we both hung back from the guys and just sat there with silly grins on our faces. I think the biggest thrill was seeing Ricky Watters - his personality is so outgoing. He smiled for us, as did almost all the players. We got to see Rodriguez and that was an honor. He's an awesome coach. We saw Pete Kendall, Jon Kitna, Brock Huard, Tez, Sean Dawkins, Christian Fauria, Kaz, Shawn Springs, Shaun Alexander, and a host of other Hawks we couldn't name! Oh yeah, Chad Brown, too. That was a thrill for me.

Pat wanted to see the North Carolina State University game so we decided to have lunch in a sports bar there in the hotel. I had a salad - bleah - and then we waited for the game. Pat was getting sleepy and decided he wanted to walk around so we left the bar - just in time to see the Hawks come back! Perfect timing! It was so cool! What a thrill!

We walked around some more before settling in at a different sports bar. You know I'm not a fan of college football but it was a good game. NCSU were the underdogs. Clemson were expected to clean up. However, NCSU held their own and the game came down to the end with NCSU unfortunately losing. Pat was a nervous wreck in the final two minutes! BEEN THERE!

After the game he dropped me off at the hotel. I told him I'd had a very good time - I hope he knows how much I meant it. He really is a nice guy and I feel honored to have spent the day with him.

It was 8pm when I got to my room and I was HUNGRY! The thought of another meal at Harpers was mouth watering so I headed back South. Even at 8pm the waiting line was enormous. I drove all around trying to find some place that looked as good as Harpers - to no avail. Finally I decided I'd wait. Good things come to those who wait, right? Then I spied a restaurant on a side street called Don Quijote, Spanish & International Cuisine. YUM! Sounded good! The restaurant didn't look so hot but the thought of Spanish food (what is Spanish food?) was too tempting. I walked in and waited to be seated, and I must say the aroma wasn't that appealing. I thought about walking out but something kept me there.

The host greeted me and was very outgoing and warm. He was, well, Spanish, I would assume, though to be honest I thought he looked Indian. In any case, he made me feel as if I were the only customer that mattered and that's a nice feeling!

One look at the menu and I knew I'd found a gem of a restaurant. The entrees ran around $16 per plate and the folks beside me were having mussels as an appetizer. Eeks!

I couldn't read half the menu. Thank goodness there was a description of each menu item. I had to point at my choice on the menu because I had not a clue how to say it! Ohhhh, it was to DIE FOR!!! It was a tenderloin of chicken, a tenderloin of pork AND a lamp chop in some sort of almost invisible sauce with some chopped up green stuff (like pesto) on top. I started with the lamb and it was without a doubt the best lamb I've ever had! I wish I could have picked it up with my fingers to gnaw on the bone!!!

Yes! I'm serious!

STOP LAUGHING!!!

The chicken and pork were every bit as good, and the fresh veggies that were served with the meal were out of this world. The service was outstanding. Perfect, actually. The waiters had a good sense of humor while not being pests. There's often a fine line there but they know just how to enhance the dining experience! Even dining alone (well, you know what I mean) was a very pleasant experience!

Now that I'm back at the hotel I'm feeling very relaxed and good. I think I'll call it a night now. Pat will be here at 7am tomorrow. Oh, that's SO early - but I'm looking forward to it just the same.

We've got the heater on in the room tonight. It's nice and toasty warm. Very nice.

BOO! The Seahawks were SO bad today! Boo. Boo. Boo. Hiss.

The day was a good one despite the game, but I've got to tell you, I'm still feeling pretty bad. Real bad. So bad I want to cry and cry. But first - the joy!

Pat picked me up at 7am. Not bad for a girl who loves her sleep, eh?

Actually I woke up at 3:30am - wide awake with Game Day jitters! I treid to go back to sleep and I managed it off and on but that's just how it is for me on Game Day.

We headed right to breakfast at Bojangles. It's like a local version of KFC. I ordered sausage biscuits and gravy - ate about 3 bites and decided I could eat no more. My stomach was so upset with Game Day nerves!

We headed next to the downtown area. The plan was to hang out at the Marriott in hopes of getting autographs. Hang out with did. FOR SIX HOURS! You would have been in autograph heaven!!! It took patience but it paid BIG dividends!

For hours nothing happened, but we were able to meet some friends and fans and had lively and fun conversations. The time passed quickly and often I found myself with Seahawk giggles.

One man spoke with us for HOURS. Literally. He came to town for NASCAR with his friends but didn't enjoy it, so instead he got tickets to the Panthers game. Good choice!

This man made it his mission to see that we got autographs. I say 'we' but I actually mean Pat. I had nothing to be autographed unfortunately. I thought about letting them sign my #12 jersey but I couldn't bring myself to do it. So instead I helped Pat get his autographs - 14 of them - and had a ball doing it!

The man who befriended us said we only needed to ride the elevators. It was embarrassing but we did it! First haul - Nolan Cromwell! He is SO nice and a very handsome man! We rode the elevator with Chris Canty (from Kansas, you know!) and Antonio Cochran, Antonio Cochran's girlfriend (they weren't together - we met her separately as she gloated), Steve Sidwell, Mike Sinclair, Karsten Bailey, Lamar King's folks (lovely, lovely people who are SO proud of their son - Mr King was his coach when he was a little boy - when I asked how Lamar felt about being a Seahawk they said it's been his dream and that he loves Seattle! Later we saw them again and they made a point to have Lamar come over for photos and autographs. He was SO nice. He made BIG points in my book!)

Oh, who did we see on the elevator with a Super Bowl ring? He's a coach, oh, who is it? I'm blank right now but that was one HUGE HUGE HUGE ring full of diamonds! It was hideously huge!

Around noon we went to the escalator entrance and camped out for more autographs. It was a thrill for me to see Pat getting Kitna and Watters - two autographs he really wanted!

Tez didn't sign, nor did Springs. I want the diamond in Springs' ears! HUGE! BEAUTIFUL! I want them, I want them!

We saw Holmgren from about 2' away. He's a handsome man with a presence. He even smiled. Shock! Shock!

But I still don't like him.

When the buses left, we headed to the Omni Hotel, a swank hotel just down the street. I bought our tickets from GoTickets.com and they included a "free" box lunch from the Omni, so Pat and I figured we'd grab the box then head on over to the stadium. We arrived at the hotel to discover the doors were all locked. Huh? A team of security personnel swarmed us and quickly I presented our free coupons. Cripes, they let us in to THE most swank hotel I've seen in my life! They directed us up the elevator to an elegant restaurant. In jeans and Seahawks jerseys we entered this beautiful dining room! Come to find out, our "box lunch" was an all-you-can-eat buffet served by tuxedoed waiters who treated us like we were gods! WAY COOL and a fun, fun surprise. The food was incredible, including the cheesecake for dessert. But the kicker was the bathroom! They had little bottles of mouthwash on the counter! I've NEVER seen that! Funny and fun!

Then we headed to the stadium.

We got to the stadium and walked down to the empty first row, took one picture and were told we couldn't be there. Pffft. I am so tired of all the stadium rules. No one was there - we were disturbing no one - WHY can't we go to the nearest spot to watch our boys?

Pat needed a smoke so we went out to the concourse area. Met some nice Seahawks fans from Virginia but they were a little heavy into the drinking for my liking. Then we took our seats in the 5th level. They weren't so bad. We could see the field really well.

Unfortunately we didn't want to.

The game was poorly played from the start. Pat started getting down so I started being the ever-optimistic cheerleader. I was fighting back tears. I was tired, sad and a little bummed that I wasn't finding a way to cheer up Pat.

Tears slipped down my cheeks as we walked to the car. Some drunk cutie-pie followed us, telling us how she loves Seattle and that she'd move there if it didn't rain every Spring, Fall and Winter, and how she was in a car wreck and the insurance company is xxxxing her and how her landlord is about to evict her and how she slept with Dean Wells (but don't tell her brother) - CRIPES! She said, "I'm sorry, I'm drunk!" No lie. Pat was attracted to her - drunk and a beauty.

Pat drove me back to the hotel. He pulled up to the hotel entrance, without getting out of the car (or even putting it in park), shook my hand and I said goodbye. I'm beat. It's midnight - shall we call it a day?

(Click on the arrow for more of the story!)