Seattle 2005
First trip to Seattle and right off I can say I'd like to go back. The city itself is not too big, the buildings are limited with a smaller sprawl around it, not distractive at all...that is if your eyes aren't locked on the two sporting complexes (baseball and football stadium) side-by-side that are part of the cityscape.
I was told that there is a lot of traffic congestion within the city limits. We did not experience this at any point during our stay. Drivers however do like to cut each other off, and since we saw no accidents I suppose they are used to it.
Nightlife seems okay. Since we were in Seattle it would seem stupid to not find some local bands to see. We did that and they were all terrible (one was okay, but they needed another guitar to beef them up a bit), but hey, people have to start somewhere. It's inexpensive to get into the clubs, but prices of drinks do jump compared to what I am used to here (bars in this town serve at $2 - $2.50 a drink for beer and spirits). $5 for a glass of beer is a bit too much, but when you pay only $10 to get into that place, which also gets you into another five or six bars and clubs, I suppose it evens out. Downside is the 2am closing time, but on that list are a couple of after hours clubs, which we did not go to because we had a game of Baseball to see the next day.
Baseball at Safeco was neat. We booked a table at the 'Hit It Here Cafe". which gets you four tickets and $72 worth of food for $168. We had two friends with us so the cafe plan worked out good for us (saved us from having to get our own food and drinks by having our own personal server, plus we had an extensive drinks/food menu). Downside was that we could not see Ichiro when he was in the field. Not too sure why they'd make it so we could not see the Mariners highest paid player (who is also one of the few baseball players I really like). It didn't take long to go over the $72, not that it mattered.
There is a bar just out of the city called the Kangaroo and Kiwi. Obviously this is a bar for homesick Aussies and New Zealanders. They sold Coopers Vintage, Sparkling and Pale Ales, as well as Coopers Stout and Steinlager. They also sold Tooheys New. That wasn't really the highlight for us. They sold MEAT PIES! Yes, in Seattle they have a company called Australian Pie Company (I think that is it's name). They were pretty good, but weren't my #1 purchase. They had BURGER RINGS!!! I hoped for Redskins, but there is an Australian import company in Seattle that they buy their stuff from that sells anything I could want snack-wise. The beer was a neat treat, but it wasn't the real deal. In the US they seem to like to taint the good beers by importing the ingredients and making it themselves, so they can screw with the alcohol content. No way was the Vintage over 7%, heck it wasn't numbered or dated....and it was US$3.50, so you know it's not the real thing. Still, it would be fun for when they have the Grand Final, plus they play JJJ.
There is a fair bit of culture in Seattle and it's not all grunge. It was also not all gloomy and rainy while we were there. Best of all the people were great, service was good and the food was of wide varieties. I have been to other cities in this country and felt that at any point all hell could break lose. Seattle seems safe and is a very clean and fun place.
I was told that there is a lot of traffic congestion within the city limits. We did not experience this at any point during our stay. Drivers however do like to cut each other off, and since we saw no accidents I suppose they are used to it.
Nightlife seems okay. Since we were in Seattle it would seem stupid to not find some local bands to see. We did that and they were all terrible (one was okay, but they needed another guitar to beef them up a bit), but hey, people have to start somewhere. It's inexpensive to get into the clubs, but prices of drinks do jump compared to what I am used to here (bars in this town serve at $2 - $2.50 a drink for beer and spirits). $5 for a glass of beer is a bit too much, but when you pay only $10 to get into that place, which also gets you into another five or six bars and clubs, I suppose it evens out. Downside is the 2am closing time, but on that list are a couple of after hours clubs, which we did not go to because we had a game of Baseball to see the next day.
Baseball at Safeco was neat. We booked a table at the 'Hit It Here Cafe". which gets you four tickets and $72 worth of food for $168. We had two friends with us so the cafe plan worked out good for us (saved us from having to get our own food and drinks by having our own personal server, plus we had an extensive drinks/food menu). Downside was that we could not see Ichiro when he was in the field. Not too sure why they'd make it so we could not see the Mariners highest paid player (who is also one of the few baseball players I really like). It didn't take long to go over the $72, not that it mattered.
There is a bar just out of the city called the Kangaroo and Kiwi. Obviously this is a bar for homesick Aussies and New Zealanders. They sold Coopers Vintage, Sparkling and Pale Ales, as well as Coopers Stout and Steinlager. They also sold Tooheys New. That wasn't really the highlight for us. They sold MEAT PIES! Yes, in Seattle they have a company called Australian Pie Company (I think that is it's name). They were pretty good, but weren't my #1 purchase. They had BURGER RINGS!!! I hoped for Redskins, but there is an Australian import company in Seattle that they buy their stuff from that sells anything I could want snack-wise. The beer was a neat treat, but it wasn't the real deal. In the US they seem to like to taint the good beers by importing the ingredients and making it themselves, so they can screw with the alcohol content. No way was the Vintage over 7%, heck it wasn't numbered or dated....and it was US$3.50, so you know it's not the real thing. Still, it would be fun for when they have the Grand Final, plus they play JJJ.
There is a fair bit of culture in Seattle and it's not all grunge. It was also not all gloomy and rainy while we were there. Best of all the people were great, service was good and the food was of wide varieties. I have been to other cities in this country and felt that at any point all hell could break lose. Seattle seems safe and is a very clean and fun place.