Seattle Fun - My Trip Report
Got back from 4.5 fun days in Seattle last night. Already did a 9.5-hour workday with no breaks for lunch or nuthin' to try to catch up, too. But now it's a 3-day weekend, so I gots time to kick back and recover, y'all!
That is, in between me madly trying to water my browning yard and beds, tidy up after cats, and keep my place ready for realtor traffic. Oh, and doing work on writing projects, blogging projects, and critiquing projects. Other than that... :-)
Above is me at the somewhat expensive and pretty cheesy Seattle Space Needle ($18 to go up & down in an elevator). Not a place I normally would've gone, but Andrew (the bro') mentioned it everytime we talked, so I realized he wanted a shotglass for his collection. Plus Goulo & A2na had just been and said the view was worth it. They make you take the (free) photo before you even get into the elevator, but it's better than the self-portraits I kept trying to take while on my vacation --! Plus, big salmon fish prop!!
First off, I have to rave about my hotel location. The Inn at Harbor Steps may not have a lot of rooms, and they aren't cheap even with their summer vacation rates, but it was so great to have a place right in the middle of downtown and so convenient for walking to all the places I wanted to me. Including 5 different chocolate shops in a two-block radius! That was awesome! That and the big, upscale breakfast with delicious coffee we got free in the nice cafe room each morning. The location of my particular room was so neat-0 with the views and the convenience and everything, I took a photo and labeled it.
Look at the pretty fountains and trees and flowers! All laid out below my balcony like I was Juliet (and it made it safer, too). Looking up to the right you can see how the front of the hotel is catty-corner from SAM (like the locals, that's what I call the Seattle Art Museum). The animated statue of The Hammering Man is about 50 feet tall! If I'd turned to my left and taken a photo, you would've seen more Harbor Steps, a few layers of elevated traffic lanes, and then the waters of the Elliott Bay!
Just to prove I really did go up, and fight wind and foot traffic in the 360-degrees, here's me squinting with my hair all blown around. Some part of the bay is over my shoulder...
The first thing the first morning was the 2-block walk to the 150-year-old public market, Pike Place Market. The place is famous for fresh fish, a million tons of ice they spread out every day, and them calling and throwing HUGE ol' fishes across the booth. There were lots of fruits, veggies, knitted things, breads, jams, art, pastas, etc. in the market.
...And it is the location of the FIRST STARBUCK's. The original. (1971 so not really THAT vintage.) The line was too long for me to want to go in, but I did get this photo to show y'all the classy flowers, classy & tidy street musicians, and the somewhat nasty original version of the Starbuck's logo. She's a kinda gnarly-faced mermaid, titties flopping, holding up two sides of her tail (somewhat like an acrobat whore, if you get my drift). Their logo is mucho cleaned up nowadays. Also, there are literally 2-3 coffee shops in every block in downtown Seattle. I finally went into one by the inn to try their artisan mocha latte. Supposedly the coffee roasters in Seattle are the top experts in the field. But I kinda thought "mehhh" about that mocha from Fonte. Didn't break down and buy a Starbuck's until I got to the airport.
...And that's a long enough post for now. More to come later.