Seattle Trippin !!!

Today marks the official one-week mark before I shove off to Korea! I also happen to be visiting my parents in Seattle, which is also coincidental since a) it's Mother's Day tomorrow, and b) the Emerald City Comic Con is this weekend! Happy Mother's Day! And I'm off to the nerd gathering.

It's been a pretty action-packed, rip-roaring time up here in the sleepless city. Here are the highlights:

Wednesday- After getting on an earlier flight (yay!), I ended up not only taking the wrong bus but also taking the slowest bus man has ever designed!! Needless to say, I was on the bus longer than my plane, and thus spent about 2 seconds in the city before zipping across the Puget Sound to Bainbridge Island. The 'rents live in Suquamish, with a disgustingly gorgeous view of the water surrounding the city from right out of their back porch!

Thursday- Mom and I went back to Seattle as Jim rested from a rather invasive medical procedure. We did a solid amount of the touristy crap, going to the Space Needle (terrifying!), Pike's Place Market (busy and exciting), and Pioneer Square (old timey, with lots of cool buildings and some fantastic bookshops), along with the Sci-Fi Museum and adjacent Experience Music Project (EMP). We also took the Monorail!! :::cue Simpsons song::: Topped the day off with dinner at Place Pigalle, a restaurant in the market that came recommended from Sir Carni; the food was pretty good, the view of the waterfront was fantastic, and the bartender knew her shit (the Pimm's Cup was a refreshing appertif!).

Friday- Both parents went into work, so I woke up early and took the ferry into the city for some exploration of my own. Walked around aimlessly, as nothing was open, until I saw a cool building off in the distance and found the St. James Cathedral. I then took a circuitous route through Pioneer Square again to the Public Library, which was all funky and hip. Decided against entering the art museum (too many whipper snappers!), and instead went back to Pike's Place to do a little shopping and grab a quick lunch and a couple pints. Feeling pretty good, I went down to the waterfront and the Seattle Aquarium! It was a little too kid-centric, but the otters more than made up for it! After that, I met up with my mom in Bainbridge (ferry!), and we went to her boss's for a bbq.

Saturday- Took our time getting up, we all eventually piled into the car and took off for a scenic drive around the Washington coast, during which I was asleep for about half the time. I can't help it; car rides just put me out! We ended up at Olympic National Park, a mountainous forest area. It was sadly a little too foggy and dreary for much mountain gazing, but we saw a good amount of snow up there! We drove over to Port Townsend, where we walked around a bit and had a seafood dinner. Spent the evening watching the water and sipping mint juleps. It's good to own land.

Some thoughts on the city: Seattle's a mix of East Coast city and San Francisco. It's hilly, a little chilly (hehe), the people are a bit friendlier, and it's a good mix of old and new. It's also a city that welcomes smokers, as I've seen plenty of them sauntering about. Speaking of vices, my coffee count is already in the double digits, which is funny considering I attempted to give up coffee a couple of months ago. The quality is definitely a bit higher here, as one would expect, but you can definitely still get a bad cuppa joe. People are definitely proud of their city and show it, which is, I guess, another more east coast characteristic. And finally, there's a weird obsession with teriyaki here, since there's a place proudly displaying the word in bold, often neon, letters on every freakin block! Is teriyaki a new fad? Why is Seattle just jumping on this? I need to know!

And now, the pics!


The city, from the ferry.

And from the Space Needle!

The Sci-Fi Museum and EMP

Pioneer Square (notice the building covered in ivy)

Pike's Place Market (Just behind the trucks: Rachel the Pig!!!)