Tacoma Aroma
They say that Tacoma has a uniquely foul smell caused by a paper factory called the Tacoma Aroma, but I didn't smell it, so i don't know what people are talking about.
Driving up I-5 we realized that the radio in the car was not working. I had my i-pod, but no connector cable, so we decided to hunt down a Best Buy and buy a cable, and some cds. We first stopped in Vancouver, WA. If you have never been there, don't go. Its a little sketchy and the people there don't really know what they are talking about (they gave us faulty directions to a best buy - luckily we ended up passing one on the highway anyway). There are a lot of pawn shops in Vancouver, WA. Once we found the Best Buy, we bought a cable and the Hold Steady cd "Stay Positive".
We made it up to Tacoma by the late afternoon and went straight to my cousin Matt's house. Matt just graduated from the University of Puget Sound (UPS, hehe). It was a beautiful day, so we walked from the house to the historic downtown area along the water (Puget Sound). I took a lot of pictures; you could see Mt Rainier in the distance. Then we ate dinner and went back up the very steep hill to Matt's house. That night we went to Magoo's bar a few blocks from the house. It was nice to bond a little with Matt, since I don't get to see him that often. Also, the movie "10 Things I Hate About You" was filmed in Tacoma, and there was a guy that was one of the classmates in the movie at the bar.
The next day (Tuesday July 29), after sleeping in, JP, Matt, and I drove to Seattle in the afternoon. First we went to Pike's Market (the famous one, where they throw the fish), got some sushi, and walked around looking at all the variety of things to buy. We ended up buying a framed picture of Seattle with the space needle in it and it had this cool violet background...its hard to describe, but it looked really cool. Then we walked over to the Football Stadium, Qwest Field, where the Seahawks play. JP is a huge Seahawks fan, so we stopped in the pro-shop store, where he bought a hat and a jersey, and I bought a shirt. We took a lot of pictures there. JP wished he could have witnessed a game, or at least practice (but they don't practice at the stadium. they practice at another field outside of seattle). We had a drink at this place called Elysian Fields, where they had some of the best beer we had all trip. The have a Jasmine IPA that is quite amazing, especially on tap. Then we walked along the waterfront so I could take pictures and see the Bainbridge Island Ferry that they feature in Grey's Anatomy (which I thought was awesome because I love the show; yay sappy chick shows). Walking along the waterfront took us back to the car (btw, parking in Seattle is expensive, maybe not as expensive as NYC, but $30 is not an ideal amount to spend on parking. Maybe I just didn't know where the cheap places were), and we drove over to the Space Needle. We just took a second to look at it because the price to go up it wasn't worth paying. We were tourists, but not that kind of tourists. Then we drove around a bit before we parked again, and walked over to Pioneer Square and had a few beers (well I only had 1 cause I was driving) and watched a Mariners game. We decided to eat dinner at Elysian Fields, cause we liked the beer, and the menu looked good from before. Then David Teeter (a friend of my dad's from college who lived in Seattle) took us to Capitol Hill to one of the first coffee shops in Seattle (I think it was the B&O or something). We had coffee and desert, and caught up, because I hadn't seen him since I was a kid. Then we went back to the rental car, and drove back to Tacoma.
The next day Matt took us out to breakfast before we set off through Washington State to the coast to Newport, Oregon.
More on that later.
Driving up I-5 we realized that the radio in the car was not working. I had my i-pod, but no connector cable, so we decided to hunt down a Best Buy and buy a cable, and some cds. We first stopped in Vancouver, WA. If you have never been there, don't go. Its a little sketchy and the people there don't really know what they are talking about (they gave us faulty directions to a best buy - luckily we ended up passing one on the highway anyway). There are a lot of pawn shops in Vancouver, WA. Once we found the Best Buy, we bought a cable and the Hold Steady cd "Stay Positive".
We made it up to Tacoma by the late afternoon and went straight to my cousin Matt's house. Matt just graduated from the University of Puget Sound (UPS, hehe). It was a beautiful day, so we walked from the house to the historic downtown area along the water (Puget Sound). I took a lot of pictures; you could see Mt Rainier in the distance. Then we ate dinner and went back up the very steep hill to Matt's house. That night we went to Magoo's bar a few blocks from the house. It was nice to bond a little with Matt, since I don't get to see him that often. Also, the movie "10 Things I Hate About You" was filmed in Tacoma, and there was a guy that was one of the classmates in the movie at the bar.
The next day (Tuesday July 29), after sleeping in, JP, Matt, and I drove to Seattle in the afternoon. First we went to Pike's Market (the famous one, where they throw the fish), got some sushi, and walked around looking at all the variety of things to buy. We ended up buying a framed picture of Seattle with the space needle in it and it had this cool violet background...its hard to describe, but it looked really cool. Then we walked over to the Football Stadium, Qwest Field, where the Seahawks play. JP is a huge Seahawks fan, so we stopped in the pro-shop store, where he bought a hat and a jersey, and I bought a shirt. We took a lot of pictures there. JP wished he could have witnessed a game, or at least practice (but they don't practice at the stadium. they practice at another field outside of seattle). We had a drink at this place called Elysian Fields, where they had some of the best beer we had all trip. The have a Jasmine IPA that is quite amazing, especially on tap. Then we walked along the waterfront so I could take pictures and see the Bainbridge Island Ferry that they feature in Grey's Anatomy (which I thought was awesome because I love the show; yay sappy chick shows). Walking along the waterfront took us back to the car (btw, parking in Seattle is expensive, maybe not as expensive as NYC, but $30 is not an ideal amount to spend on parking. Maybe I just didn't know where the cheap places were), and we drove over to the Space Needle. We just took a second to look at it because the price to go up it wasn't worth paying. We were tourists, but not that kind of tourists. Then we drove around a bit before we parked again, and walked over to Pioneer Square and had a few beers (well I only had 1 cause I was driving) and watched a Mariners game. We decided to eat dinner at Elysian Fields, cause we liked the beer, and the menu looked good from before. Then David Teeter (a friend of my dad's from college who lived in Seattle) took us to Capitol Hill to one of the first coffee shops in Seattle (I think it was the B&O or something). We had coffee and desert, and caught up, because I hadn't seen him since I was a kid. Then we went back to the rental car, and drove back to Tacoma.
The next day Matt took us out to breakfast before we set off through Washington State to the coast to Newport, Oregon.
More on that later.