GO HAWKS!!
While we were up in Washington this last summer, we made plans with Debbie and Jack to go to the Seahawks/AZ Cardinals game on Dec 8 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ. Tickets were only $35! This will be my first time seeing the Hawks play in person!! Exciting!
Paradise (Encore) RV Resort was an ideal location for us to stay for the weekend! We drove Sadie (originally nicknamed “Mini-V”) to Paradise on Friday.
Saturday was a great day enjoying the resort. We played pickleball in the morning, and followed that up with water volleyball and some relaxing pool and jacuzzi time. The chaise lounges on multiple levels around the pool had beautiful, thick, royal blue pads!! Classy!
Paradise commons area was nicely decorated for Christmas. We loved this nice outdoor fireplace set up – complete with Santa. You could feel the heat from the fireplace.
They also have nice group gathering areas that even have heat lamps! (Hmm…CVR?)
DEC 8th – TO THE GAME!!
Jack and Debbie picked us up at noon. Jack prepaid $11 for parking in the Black Lot. Finding the lot was a bit of a challenge till we put in the cross streets instead of just “Black Lot Statefarm Stadium”. When we arrived at what we thought was the BLACK Lot, the signs just said “EVENT PARKING $50”, so we didn’t think it was the right lot. Luckily, just before we passed the last entrance for this lot, I spotted a “Black Lot”-labeled light post inside the lot. We quickly turned in. Whew. Made it! The walk to the stadium wasn’t bad. it was really cool to see so many Seahawks fans.
The game was awesome! The Cardinals scored on the opening drive of the game, but it wasn’t long before things turned our way with a couple of nice interceptions. We were kind of surprised at how NOT LOUD the Cardinals fans were.
When the Cardinals missed their field goal attempt with 30 seconds left in the game, we knew we had the win clinched since the Seahawks were ahead by two scores. The Cardinals fans had been leaving in a steady stream prior to the field goal attempt, but after that they left in droves – along with many Seattle fans. Guess the Seattle fans wanted to beat the congestion and to the restaurants and bars to celebrate. We stayed to soak it all in! GO HAWKS! What an awesome game!! Final – Seahawks 30: Cardinals 18.
Now to get back to the car and find a place to eat. Jack mentioned SALT, Tacos, & Tequila, so that’s where we headed – along with most of the stadium, or so it seemed! It was within the Westgate Entertainment District. What a cool area! It was HUGE! So many restaurants, cool lights, and even an outdoor ice skating rink!!
SALT Tacos & Tequila, could seat us immediately, but the music was way too LOUD and NOT even close to a music genre we appreciated, so we headed to the Yard House. Seahawks fans dominated every location! It was pretty cool. Here we had a half-hour wait, but it was worth it.
I bet these businesses love it when visiting teams experience a win here, and then come out to eat and celebrate!! Every place was packed with Seahawks fans! I got the “Everything Toasted” Ahi Sandwich, but with a lettuce wrap. It was SO nice and tender. The multiple leaves of butter lettuce completely wrapped the thick slice of seared ahi beautifully. (We were all really hungry, so missed taking any food pics.)
By the time we were done with dinner, traffic was a breeze back to the Paradise Encore RV park. Jack and Debbie checked out Sadie. Together, we capped the day off with my pumpkin cheesecake bars topped with fresh whipped cream. The four of us agreed that we’d like to make attending the Hawks-Cardinals game here in Arizona a yearly tradition for as long as we are able! What a fabulous day! Of course the Seahawks WINNING was key for the level of our enjoyment. LOL