Wandering For Distraction - Part 3

The last 3 days of our vacation were spent in Seattle. Christian attended an AP conference and I spent my time kicking around the city and lounging in the Westin's Heavenly Bed (I actually think it is a trademarked bed). Seattle is a beautiful city and, much like Portland, very easy to explore on foot. Our hotel was located in the downtown area and, although very close to many of the major Seattle attractions, I feel like I barely scratched the surface.

Our time in Seattle flew by. We went to a Mariner's game one night, had dinner one night with my aunt Adele who moved to Seattle forever ago (I had not seen her in ages so it was a total treat to catch up and to check out a Seattle neighborhood I otherwise would not have had an opportunity to see) and spent our last evening walking around the University campus and eating at this incredible, divey Mexican restaurant overlooking the lake. The only major attraction that I skipped was the space needle - $18.00 and a 2 hour wait was more than I could take. If I had had La Luz with me I would have stuck it out.

Self-portrait outside of the Experience Music Project - housed in an immensely cool building designed by Frank Gehry:


The Mexican restaurant in the University area overlooking the lakes:


View from our seats at Safeco, gearing up to watch the worst team play the second to worst team:


The line outside of Salumi, a delicious deli in Pioneer Square (owned and operated by Mario Battali's father). We waited about 45 minutes, there were no meatballs left by the time we order so I opted for porchetta and it was delicious and worth the wait.


My favorite areas of the city were Pioneer Square and the Pike Place Market. I know that the market is the quintessential tourist attraction but it is for a reason. There is so much to look at - so many incredible sights, sounds and smells. There are tiny alleys that intersect with the market lined with off-beat shops filled with odds and ends. I could have wasted many more ours exploring that area and eating all of the delicious food. I sort of have to agree with Christian that sometimes the best tasting foods come out of the scariest looking store-fronts.

Pike Place Market:




Pioneer Square area:


Christian, in front of a Japanese garden in the heart of the Pioneer Square area:


The weather in Seattle was perfect. I believed what everyone said about how it rains all the time and the sun never comes out. To the contrary, I am not sure I ever saw a cloud. It was an incredible trip. I had an opportunity to see a part of the country I knew I would love and I appreciated every minute of it. I hope that at some point in our lives we will be able to return and check out some of the many things that we missed.