We were headed up north to the great uncharted territory made famous by Grunge and Grey’s Anatomy. The drive up I-5 was relatively uneventful, which started the idea that Seattle would follow suit. We did, however, manage to see one of the most amazing mountains around, at least in our minds, by the name of Mt. Shasta. Her snowcapped vistas offered us ample opportunities to snap some incredible pictures through the bug splattered windows. She was also, as we later found out, the source of our 35 pack of Crystal Geyser water that we purchased in Redding. Mt. Shasta, you sure do taste good. I was a bit disgruntled that I had to pay a deposit on the bottles, though, since I had no intention of returning them to that state to collect on said deposit.
Other than these events, the drive was mostly spent flipping between the myriad Christian Rock stations, taking pictures, and contemplating just what exactly we were going to do once we arrived in Seattle. Once we realized we wouldn’t actually reach Seattle until 4am, our frugalness kicked in and we decided to forego a hotel room for a stay in the not-so-scenic rest stop. We settled on a nicely lighted area of the parking and called it a night. Apparently, I was actually the only one that called it a night, as Jon was left awake to wonder what exactly the truckers were doing all night while clearing their –ahem- pressure valves. I was simply snoozing away, ready to start the day with the sunrise.
After a relatively silent breakfast at Denny’s in Tacoma, I learned of Jon’s inability to fall asleep due to the location of the steering wheel and the trucker antics. I thought I was the light sleeper…. Before leaving Tacoma we stopped in a hotel lobby and grabbed a Seattle brochure to plan a day of sightseeing. That’s when the worry really set in. When it’s possible to equate another city with Orlando for unique attractions, it’s a bad sign. We set on, though, in search of downtown Seattle. It was sort of a “hear we are now, entertain us” moment…
As we approached on the interstate in the early morning rush hour traffic, we were actually impressed with its beauty and size. The two stadiums were clearly defined in the downtown and the city was somewhat hilly with clear views of the water. Our worries were somewhat eased. A few laps through the main streets in search of a hotel brought us to a Best Western, which we thought would be in our price range. Unfortunately, the woman at the front desk said they were sold out, but also the rooms were $140/night. Definitely way too expensive for us, but I managed to find out that they had wireless internet. After emerging from the hotel lobby, I told Jon the bad news, but also told him that we should search the internet for a hotel in the area off their wireless signal. That’s exactly what we did and we managed to snag a hotel, albeit not downtown, for $60/night. Oh, and get this, that Best Western wasn’t actually sold out. Man, the satisfaction I got from stealing internet….
Now that the hotel was set, we had a few hours to burn before check-in. In our Seattle brochure we both thought the Underground tour sounded interesting, so that was agreed upon to be our next destination. After $12 and a little green sticker on our jackets, we were down underneath the sidewalks and streets of Seattle for a comedic tour about the early days of the city. Actually, it was virtually impossible to not make the history sound fun. It’s just way too unbelievable.
After learning all about Seattle in an hour period, we headed out toward SeaTac for a famous Ramada shower. I was actually pretty impressed with the showerhead. It had this little spiny thing in the center that sprayed the water in all different ways depending on the setting. Thanks Ramada, you managed to remove the tension in my shoulders.
Once we smelled of Ramada soap, it was time to head back in toward the city for the famous Space Needle. The brochure actually proved useful once again in saving us each $1 on the ridiculous admission price of $15. But, it was actually impressive with its telescopes and view finders offering unspeakable views across the city. Once we descended back down, it was a short walk over to the Pike Street Fish Market. All the while, Jon was managing to moon every pedestrian through his ripped jeans if they snuck a view of his derriere.
Upon walking through the Fish Market, we thought about the similarities between it and San Fran. Also, we noticed just how clean and safe the city felt, not at all unlike a Disney theme park. We walked on our way to the Mariners game, but had a few hours to kill. What better way to burn some time than to stop in an Irish pub called the Owl n’ Thistle. Sticking with the Irish theme we grabbed some Fish n’ Chips and some microbrew beer. Well, I got the beer, and Jon stuck with his staple – the rum n’ Coke. With a few drinks in, I was able to work up the courage to talk with the waitress. First, I went for the compliment. “I can’t believe you’re handling all these tables. We’re both servers and we know how it is.” She smiled and said, “This is nothing. You should have been here Friday.” After that, we would get a few words in as she walked between tables. Somehow we managed to get in a whole conversation over the course of the hour or so in which she learned where we were from and that we were interested in hanging out in Seattle. Once we worked up the sobriety to continue on to the Mariner’s game, she told us when she was getting off from work. So, I hurriedly scribbled down my phone number and an offer for a free drink on a shred of newspaper.
Then, it was back on the clean streets of Seattle for some drunk navigating to the Mariner’s game. After a few laps around the stadium in search of the box office, $7 for the cheapest seats, and a stop in the bathroom, we were in for 5 innings of complete fun. That was my first professional baseball game and I have to say, it was amazing. That’s definitely something I will repeat, but hopefully next time the Mariner’s will be able to beat the Angels.
Now, it was time to go back to the Owl n’ Thistle. After learning about our plans for continued drinking, Jon headed back to the hotel with the car. Remember, he had issues with the truckers the night before. I won’t say anything if you don’t….
The next four hours were spent in a whirlwind of drinking at the Lava Lounge in downtown Seattle. It’s a fun little bar with an attempted tiki and beach theme throughout. I followed through on my promise of a free drink and I continued drinking beer. Somehow, I managed to find myself taking shots with a Microsoft executive. Through all of this I kept up my end of the conversation with everyone, in between staring at the glowing image of the beach with the 3D water. Y’know what I’m talking about, you’ve seen them before at Spencer’s. Then, before I knew it, it was last call and I was thrust into a cab and on my way to the Ramada.
Once arriving back at the hotel around 3:15am, I checked my phone to see 5 missed calls.
Then, I got back to the hotel around 7:00am and fell asleep for a few hours.
The rest of the morning was spent in a daze around Seattle in search of food and pants to replace the torn ones. Needless to say, Jon took the first shift on our way to Bend, Oregon.
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