Seattle Travel-log
So, I’m sitting down to type a post-mortem to our wonderful Seattle trip. Teressa won’t allow me to call it a vacation as those are generally times to sit back, relax and take stock of life. This was not one of those experiences. I generally look at anytime I’m not sitting at work all day a vacation. Don’t get me wrong, I love the day job, but I stare at a screen all day long…as my inbox reminded I didn’t spend much time online, thus qualifying as a vacation.
It has taken me a couple of days to get caught up on everything, helping out with the great email hosting switch @ work, combing through 300-plus photos, flailing around trying to texture 3D models for the Pixel Corps, and catching up the Lawrence Apple Users’ group have made for a busy couple of days since returning.
However, I did want to sit down and write up our vacati-I’m mean trip, if no other than that I won’t forget 6 months from now all the cool things we got to do.
We flew in Thursday and spent most of the next two days bumming around Monroe, WA shopping for TVs and computer parts. Needless to say Carlos, Teressa’s Dad, was waiting for us to get there so we could help pick stuff out…and why not, we’re good at it. Oh, and we did make one of two stops by our favorite Coffee purveyors, next to Milton’s of course, Vinaccio Coffee. Yeah, we came home with over 3 lbs. of coffee, and it is good.
Saturday we drove to downtown Seattle to play tourists for a day. Now Dave has already lambasted me in the comments for taking the Duckboat tour, but hey when you’re hanging out with both a 10 and a 13-year-old you’ve got to do things to keep them enterainted. And suprisingly it was pretty fun. Amelia, Teressa’s little sister, got to drive the boat and we got these wonderful ducklip callers. The sound they make, got old. fast.
Next up was the ultimate of all tourists traps, Pike Place Market. Now, I love the idea of a 100-year-old open air market, but a lot of the vendors reminded me of the Indian-folk-art you end up seeing at the State Fair or the Reno County Art Fair. However, we did pick up some amazing pasta that survived the trip back to Lawrence. We’ve already tried out the orzo, and are waiting to enjoy the spicy thai linguine and the lemon garlic. Mmmm…pasta.
We followed that up with a classic Martinez family lunch including salami, crusty bread (a baguette) and good cheese. I could seriously live off of that combo…by the way, the weather was perfect when we were outside, and rained Seattle style whenever we had indoor plans. It was perfect.
We amused the kids and took a stroll through the Seattle Aquarium. It was awful. Don’t ever spend your money to go there.
Per Carlos’ suggestion we extended the day trip and drove up to the Chittenden Locks in order to view boats coming into and out of the Lake Washington. Very cool feat of engineering by the Army Corps. and it put us in close proximiity to what I had been looking forward to the entire trip…good seafood.
Now this might come as a bit of shock to you, but I don’t get a chance to eat too much good seafood out here in Kansas. I know, I know, shocking. But it’s true. So on the top of my list was to partake in some good eats courtesy of the fisherman of the Pacific Northwest.
Carlos and Julie knew of a great place they’d been frequenting for years, Chinook’s in northern Seattle. This place sits right on the harbor looking out over hundreds of fishing boats that are docked between seasons. So I was pretty sure getting fresh seafood would not be a problem. Carlos, being one of those people who is always encouraging you to try something new on the menu, ordered clams as an appetizer. Neither Teressa, nor myself had ever had them, but let’s just say Chinooks converted us. In a big way. I also had a couple excellent local Ales and a great meal of king salmon. Best. fish. ever. Oh, and they also have a great walk up service of Fish ‘n Chips if you’re not in the mood for a big meal. Seriously, best part of the trip for me.
Sunday was a pretty laid back day of shopping around Redmond, complete with trips to Trader Joe’s and Guitar Center. Vince and I played “check out all the cool guitars” for a couple of hours and managed to walk out the door without buying anything. A feat for me, but a disappointed for Vince. What can I say, the kid wants a new guitar.
Monday was another day of site seeing, but this time we headed North of Monroe. On the agenda was the Whidbey Island Ferry and the Skagit Valley tulip fields. Both were amazing and a great example of the local beauty the Pacific Northwest has to offer. We also stopped by the nearby village of La Conner. The original plan was to grab some fish ‘n chips at a local brewery, but a side trip to costco for carnitas took up too much time. Worst part? They were out carnitas. Double bummer. That night we had another great meal at home, one of many, and a movie on the new flat panel TV we helped pick out.
We helped get the kids out the door Tuesday in time for school, they had skipped Monday, including walking Amelia out the bus. Best part? The bus driver knew we were in town and leaving that day as Amelia had been talking us up for weeks. How cute is that?
Before heading to the airport we made one last stop for some local baked goods at Sky River Bakery. This place has been around forever and the owner remembered Teressa from when she was little kid sweeping out her mom’s shop down the street. That was almost twenty years ago. I love small town shops and their equally interesting owners.
It was a great trip. We got to hang out with Carlos, Julie, Amelia and Vince for an extended period of time and Vince and I got to hang out and play guitar and video games for 5 days. It took me back to being 13 very quickly. Amelia and Teressa got to bond in a big way, and as per usual, Amelia become mini-Teressa which is quit possibly the cutest thing ever.
Thanks again for having us out there guys, and we can’t wait to come again. This time it won’t be another 5 years before we come out. Promise. As long as their is Vinaccio’s and Chinook’s we’re there.
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