There and Back Again
So, we just got back - well, on Saturday we got back - from our Spring Break vacation. This was a really random trip that turned out really well. We hadn't really planned to go anywhere during Spring Break, though Tom had bid the vacation days last March. We like to try to schedule his vacations to coincide with Jonathan's school breaks as much as possible cuz you just never know. Well, this year it turned out to have been a really good thing.
About a month ago I decided we should try to at least go somewhere for a few days just to get away. That meant we'd be driving so our destinations were somewhat limited. We all decided we did not want to go to the Oregon Coast. We've done that before in April and it's cold and windy and not a lot of fun after the first few hours. Seattle, on the other hand, has so much to do regardless of the weather. So, Seattle it was. Then I had the brilliant idea of also going somewhere I've always wanted to go - Victoria, BC. I talked to a friend who has been there often and was informed that, though it's early and not a lot of flowers are in bloom yet, it would still be worth a visit. So, I started planning. Initially, I thought we'd stay the week in Seattle and maybe do a day trip to Victoria. My friend suggested I consider staying in Victoria since the exchange rate is favorable and it's not high season so rates are low. What a great suggestion that turned out to be! I got a great price on a room ($50 a night), the ferry ride over turned out to be half price, and I got half-price discounts for almost every "attraction" we visited!
Anyway, we headed to Seattle on Sunday, arriving about 4PM at the La Quita Inn & Suites Downtown where we get a great FedEx corporate discount (just $70/night). After we got situated in our room we headed over to the Space Needle and Science Center just to walk around and look at stuff and take pictures. It was about a half mile walk from our hotel - a piece of cake! We decided to go ahead and go up in the Space Needle - something I haven't done in over 18 years. We had to cajole Tom into going as he is not fond of heights. Once we got to the top, he was glad he had come. The weather was perfect! We could see Mt. Rainier - a rare thing - and all the islands and everything. It was beautiful! I have never been to Seattle on a more perfect day. Jonathan took tons of photos, getting some really beautiful sunset shots and cool nighttime shots. There was a guy up there with a great Canon digital SLR setup taking photos. Jonathan finally went over and started talking to him about his camera setup, what he was shooting, etc. Jonathan has really caught the photography bug and is talking about working two full-time jobs this summer so he can buy a digital SLR. I must say, he seems to have a great eye for interesting photos. He didn't get that from me. I tend to take very touristy photos. Jonathan has learned a lot about how to look at the subject matter from a very different perspective from his photo teacher and is putting that to good use. Anyway, we had a great time up there looking at the city, watching the sun set, drinking lattes, and then browsing the gift shop at the bottom.
Day 2 we trekked to Pike Place Market. What a cool place that is! We got there early - before a lot of the merchants were even open - so we walked all the way down the zillions of steps to the wharf. We walked around down there for a while, then headed back up to the market once it was fully open. Again, photography sort of ruled the day. I did get to talk to some of the guys at the World Famous Pike Place Fish Market about the fact that the management team at the library read the book When Fish Fly, a book about management and customer service written by the owner of the fish market. I saw the owner buzzing about and tried to talk to him, but he was really busy so I never got to say hi to him. Anyway, we walked up and down the market several times, had a great Russian pastry at one of the shops across the street from the market, took more photos, and walked some more. Then it was time to head to the Crab Pot Restaurant for lunch. This "event" was Jonathan's main reason for going to Seattle. They dump this huge pot of shellfish, corn-on-the-cob, potatoes, and sausages on your table and you just dive in. Here is a photo of what the pile of food looked like:
It's not cheap - $29/per person - but it's sooooooo delicious and filling!!!
After lunch we walked back up the stairs to 1st Street and then headed down to Pioneer Square. On the way back we stopped in at this shop that has every imaginable caramel and candy apple you could imagine and had their Explosion apple.
The Explosion is the one on the second shelf in middle section. You can't tell how huge it is in this photo but it's easily twice the size of the other apples. It's enormous and has seven layers, one of which is peanut butter, all on a nice Granny Smith apple. It was amazing. After walking around Pioneer Square, we headed back to our room. By this time we had walked about 8 miles (I wore a pedometer). The plan was to get the tripod and go back when it got dark to take some more photos then go eat at the Red Robin on the wharf. Well, we did get the tripod and did go back to the market to take the photos, but the thought of walking down those zillions of stairs and back up again was just a little daunting. So we headed back toward our room looking for some place to eat that was not fast food. We ended up eating at a Mexican restaurant in a shopping center that reminded me of River Park Square in Spokane (upscale shops, AMC theater on the top floor with eateries around it). It was okay food but very expensive and the service was slow. By this time, it was late and we still had quite a walk back to the room. We pretty much crashed into bed and fell asleep almost immediately.
And that was all just day one! (to be continued)
