Seattle Trip

I recently visited Seattle for the second time in my life (this was my first trip) and thought I would share some notes about the trip.

- I love the Pike Place Market. Sure, there are aspects that are touristy, but I really enjoy any place where you can buy fresh food and flowers and so much more. It’s just such a neat place to walk around, and yes, I enjoyed seeing fish being thrown.

- Besides the original Starbucks in the Pike Place Market, there are seemingly Starbucks on every downtown corner. They really love their Starbucks coffee in Seattle.

- Part of the Pike Place Market is the gum wall which will be cleaned for the first time in 20 years this week. Before the cleaning, I took a few pictures.

This sign seems pointless.

- I found a Steelers bar not far from the hotel where I stayed. I was a little shy when I went in, so I just grabbed a table by myself. A few minutes later, two guys arrived and asked if they could join me. Sure. The one guy just moved from Alaska and wore an Alaska Steelers fan sweatshirt. His friend had a Seattle Seahawks hat on. Over the next few hours, I learned that I had absolutely nothing in common with them. The Alaska guy liked to swear. A lot. Meanwhile, I only seemed to swear when Roethlisberger threw an interception. Discovering that I live in the Washington DC area, he dismissively asked if I work in politics. Um, no. I learned that the guy is seven months sober and that’s part of the reason why he moved to Seattle. He also enjoyed chewing tobacco. As for the Seahawks hat guy, I don’t think I talked to him during the entire game, but I did overhear him telling his friend that he never heard his former girlfriend fart in the four years they were together.

- I had my first Uber experience in Seattle. Actually, I got a ride with a friend that has Uber, so I’m not sure if it counts since I still don’t have an Uber app and I didn’t actually pay for the ride. Overall, it seemed like a rather easy process.

- I went to a nice restaurant one night for dinner, and the waiter raved about crab cakes and duck as the two dishes that are most popular and are the restaurant’s specialties. Since I don’t eat crabs, I decided to eat duck for the first time in 15 years. It will be at least another 15 years until I eat duck again.

- The Space Needle is cool. What is less cool is when the temperature is in the 40s and it is rainy and windy when you get to the top. I think I was only on the outside portion of the Needle for a few minutes since I didn't like being cold and wet.

- The Fremont neighborhood was also a cool place to see.

- Finally, the Chihuly Garden and Glass wasn’t in Seattle when I visited last, and I’m so glad that I saw it on this trip. His work is incredible. Enjoy some Chihuly pics.

Completely unrelated to Seattle, this is my 2600th blog post. That's a ton (+600) posts. Wow! In honor of this tremendous (insane?) achievement, please like Sean's Ramblings on Facebook.