They’re here!

7 am, just after the Blue Angels landed @ Boeing Field and parked @ their Seafair “home” alongside the Museum of Flight. (I-90 bridge closures start at 9:45 am.)

angelrainier.jpg
earlycrowd.jpg

11 Replies to "They're here!"

  • matthew August 2, 2007 (9:40 am)

    i remember when i was a kid being obsessed with the blue angels. i guess we all go through a “wanna-be-a-fight-plane-pilot” at least once in our lives.

    (This is a great local blog by the way, and if interested, check out thenewsroom.com if you ever need great content for it)

    –Matthew from the local desk at thenewsroom.com

  • eric August 2, 2007 (2:52 pm)

    yay!!

    I remember hearing the old thunder boats from our house in Admiral when I was a kid.

    I love the Blues! I just hate the annual Seafair bashing that usually comes with it.

  • Jan August 2, 2007 (4:02 pm)

    eric…I’m not from Seattle, but have been here for 32 years. My ex grew up in WS (class of 70), and he told me all about the thunderboats from his childhood. We lived on Genesee Hill, up near 54th and Charlestown…and we could hear the old hydros on the lake all the way up there. I’m sure he wasn’t the only one who was disappointed when everyone went to the turbine engines (progress, of course), just because you can’t hear them all over the place :)

  • Erin August 2, 2007 (5:30 pm)

    Forgive me if this is a stupid questions, but this is my first SeaFair/Blue Angels experience … was that the Blue Angels making a rucus above my house today? Or something/someone else? It was cool either way :)

  • Jan August 2, 2007 (6:08 pm)

    erin..yes, that was them. They tend to do that when they’re doing their performance (or practicing). If you can find a way to be down by Lake Washington to see one of the performances, I’m sure you’ll just love it :)

  • miws August 2, 2007 (6:50 pm)

    As much as I love the sound of a jet/turbine engine, I do miss hearing the thunderboats!

    Another thing very long time Seattleites will remember, is the race being broadcast live on all 3 Seattle stations: 4,5,&7.

    Mike

  • Karen August 2, 2007 (9:16 pm)

    And on the radio, too. We always had on the TV and at least one radio in the house – just to be sure we didn’t miss anything!

  • mrwillow August 2, 2007 (9:43 pm)

    Wellllll,
    A case of cold beer,and getting there at 4:00 am (circa 1966, and thereabouts), would guarantee you a frontside seat, and a full day of fun, and one hell of a hangover. However, bathrooms were a BIG problem then, and now.

    Ah, the good old days. Stupidity was fun. Wish I still that young and stupid. Have fun.

  • huindekmi August 3, 2007 (7:54 am)

    “I wanna fly jets.”
    “My Grandmother wants to fly jets!”

  • mrsB August 3, 2007 (8:03 pm)

    Took your advice – and the Metro bus shuttle from Boeing field – and had a marvelous virtually free day! In fact, if you add in all the freebies, from McDonald’s, Garden of Eatin’ chips, Olay products, Chevrolet baseball caps, to name but a few, to say nothing of the wonderful airshow and the hydro timetrials, what more could you ask for from a Seattle experience!

  • miws August 4, 2007 (6:45 pm)

    mrwillow, I attended almost every race from around the mid ’70’s to around the mid ’80’s.

    The guys I went with (two brothers, that in the 80’s built and raced their own Limited boat) were, in my mind, the only two there, strictly for the races. ;)

    Early on, when there was no admission charge, and fans could show up along the shore at any time, we would show up, probably like around 5:00 am to stake out our spot.

    They would tape each heat with their 8mm (Super 8, I’m sure) camera. Even filming a neatly typed up sign, that they’d lean against a tree, designating each heat number.

    They didn’t drink, and I didn’t want to make any more of a fool of myself than I normally would, so I’d only take a few beers with me, and alternate between a beer, and then a soda pop. I think more than anything, it was fun to do, just to get away with it, since it was technically illegal.

    I’d walk down Lake Wash. Blvd. past a couple of cops, with beer in hand, and they wouldn’t even blink. They’d also ignore the pot smoke wafting up from the shore. If you weren’t causing any trouble, there was no hassle.

    I always enjoyed the hydros themselves, and the Blues, of course, plus the people that had been drinking steadily since early in the morning, making fools of themselves, or passing out before the first heat.

    In all those years, I never witnessed anything more than the occasional fight. Not bad considering all of the drinking that was going on.

    Mike

Sorry, comment time is over.