Ice Cream Cruises and Flutterbies

We had another fabulous day here in Nirvana...er...Seattle. The weather is colder and rainy but that didn't stop my fabulous hosts from pulling themselves up by their sleep deprived boot straps and showing me a good time. (Banner & Frazer, I'm eternally grateful!)

So we headed down to Lake Union and took an Ice Cream Cruise! It was on an adorable little boat that took us on a little tour around the lake. There was a bit of history behind every sight, but of course I was so busy snapping pictures I only heard bits and pieces.

The floating houses impressed me the most. Look at these little architectural gems.



Does this last one look familiar? I'll give you a hint, it was in a movie that did pretty well at the box office, with Tom Hanks & Meg Ryan. And it wasn't You've Got Mail. Yup, that's the Sleepless in Seattle house. Neat, eh?

Next stop, the Science Museum for BUTTERFLIES! My hosts, they are too good to me.




So of course I took another 300 photos today and just cannot share them all here. You can see the rest of the cruise & butterfly pics on my Flickr account.

After our adventures I made some dinner to try and say thank you to my oh so gracious hosts. We laughed at the massive bowl of butternut squash risotto I put on the table and said who will ever eat all of this? Then we devoured 1/2 of it.

Tomorrow I'll be on my own in the city again. I heard something about a Jimi Hendrix museum and I think I'll have to check it out. It's also right by the Space Needle so I'll fork over whatever they're asking because when in Rome, right?

Belgian beer fest!

Last I left off Frazar was doing something odd with pretzels & string. He was actually stringing pretzel necklaces for us lucky people who went to the Belgian Beer Festival in Georgetown today. The necklace was to provide sustenance so as to maximize our drinking time. Brilliant. We weren't even the only people who were wearing such necklaces at the event.

There were about 20 or so vendors pouring their Belgian Tripels, their White Ales, and their various other Belgian brews. It was MAGICAL. I mean, a beer festival is wonderful in and of itself, but Belgians are my favorite beers on earth. We dropped the N-man off at the neighbors and spent a good 4 hours enjoying the beer, sausage, and Belgian Waffles.

My favorite of the day was Dick's Belgian Tripel. It's well-rounded...not too much spice, sweet, or bitter...just the right combination of all three. A few other winners came from the Issaquah Brewhouse, which is apparently owned by Rogue. Their White Frog Ale and the Menage A Frog Ale are both very good.

Man, I am wiped out tonight. I thought yesterday I'd be exhausted from all of the walking around I did but that was nothing compared to the effects of drinking all afternoon. No plans for tomorrow...with Noah's feeding schedule it will probably be difficult to venture far, but a day of chillin' around the house sounds pretty good to me.

Besides, why go out when there's a dude this cute hanging around?

For ALL 145 of my photos from Day 1, you can go to my Flickr account.

Best little city in da woyald

Granted, I haven't been to a lot of cities in my life. I'm not so much of a city person...I've always loved the serenity of the countryside and the idea of the tranquility of a simple life. But goddamn, Seattle, you impressed me today.

My poor hosts had a rough night last night. Their little one, Noah, woke up at least 3 times, and was a pretty unhappy camper. I have a fabulous little setup in the basement, and although his cries woke me all I could think was, "Poor Mom & Dad!", and then would fall back to sleep. By the time I left for work I was coming to and feeling well rested.

I got out around 9, and made my way to the bus stop. Fantastically Fat Freddie from last night was not on the bus this morning. He was replaced by very normal sized people doing very normal commuting and it was all good. After about a 30 minute ride I was back at Westlake Station.

Coffee and a bite of breakfast was found at, surprise surprise, the Starbucks. From there I was pointed in the direction of Pike Place Market, my own little slice of heaven on earth. This was the scene:











Not to mention all of the unbelievable crafts for sale. I tell you, I could spend a FORTUNE in that place.

Now, you're saying to yourself, whoopdee fucking doo, I've seen flowers and fish before. Ok, I hear you. Here was the scene a couple of hundred feet from Pike's Place.





Yeah, how's that mountain grab you? I think it's Mt. Rainier. That's what happens when you walk around in a strange city without a guide, you guess about things that are common knowledge to others.

By now it's about 12:15, time to go meet Banner for lunch at McCormick & Schmick. I find the trolley and take a 10 minute ride over to Lake Union. There I am served a $10 masterpiece.


That's Dungeoness Crab, mango, and avocado, in a mango sauce with a balsamic vinaigrette. Unreal.

After lunch Banner suggested I visit the wooden boat museum across the street. Sadly, they are closed for renovations, but I saw something even better on the dock.



Uh huh, that's an otter. A real, live, genuine, WILD, otter. A little boy pointed him out to me and I am forever indebted to him.

Well it's taken almost an hour just to upload these pics so I think I'll throw the rest onto my Flickr account and call it a night. Just one last one...we'll make it a game. What is Frazar doing in this picture, and more importantly, why? Answers tomorrow.

Ahhhh...Seattle

Well I arrived safely in Seattle. It was a long, rather uneventful day of travel, and that's exactly how it should be. My flight to Chicago was canceled inexplicably, but I arrived at the airport early enough to jump on an earlier flight. There were roughly 50 Air Commando military personnel on the flight, which was a comfort, a.) because they are military, and b.) because I assume any of them could fly the plane if need be. This was followed by a 4 hour layover in O'Hare, which is a lovely airport to be stuck in for a while. I had lunch at the Macaroni Grill and meandered about the shops, finding a replacement stuffed animal for Noah who resembles the evil dog who ate Noah's original gift.

En route to Seattle I met a guy who on his way back from Haiti...he was actually there during the earthquake. He was with a missionary and was supposed to be there for 10 days, which turned into 13. NOT BAD. They were 125 miles away from the epicenter so they didn't live through the horrendous devastation that poor Port Au Prince did. I asked if he was able to help in any way and he said unfortunately no, being so far from ground zero and unequipped they weren't able to lend any aid. Also, he mentioned that being white was quite a liability, as they would likely be seen as people who might have more valuables on them and therefore would be more likely to get attacked. Sad, but understandable. Those poor people are so desperate.

Anywho, to take my mind back off of the real world I watched Taking Woodstock on my laptop during the flight. It was charming and amusing and did not disappoint. I hope to see more of Demetri Martin in future films...for his first acting gig he did quite well.

We landed on time, I collected my bag and found the bus stop immediately. I took the right bus and encountered the only frightening moment of the day:

Good God Seattle. Your gut is showing.

Tomorrow - I venture into town and hope to take more photos of unsuspecting creatures.

Dahlia

This is the prettiest thing that's ever come out of the dirt in my backyard. It turns out Dahlias are not hearty enough to survive New England winters, and I am not dedicated enough to dig up my bulbs before the frost just to replant them in the spring, so this beauty was a one-time deal.

VACATION here I come!

Seattle Washington

















Portland Oregon













Lake Shasta California














San Francisco California