Adventures in Emerald City

Last Friday night we embarked on our adventure to Seattle. We had never been to Seattle before, or the state of Washington for that matter, so we were excited. Plus we got to add two new stadiums to the Stadium List, and one new airport to the Airport List!

We got to Seattle really late Friday night, around 11:30 pm. A $35 cab ride later, we arrived at the Crown Plaza downtown, our hotel. We got to stay there for $59/night (a HUGE discount!) because of Todd's parents' Holiday Inn Express ownership. Our room was a corner room with views to the East and North. The room was very comfortable and spacious. But I gotta tell you, luxury hotels not only cost more already, but they nickel and dime you to death too! Local calls get charged by the minute. In-room internet access was NOT free but $9.99/day. Ugg! We were just happy to get there and get some rest, so we crashed.

Saturday morning we had breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Todd had yummy Belgian waffle with strawberries and whipped cream, while I had some kind of muffin sandwich with egg, cheese, tomatoes, and bacon. It cost three times as much as a McMuffin but was not as good. :( Then we walked around downtown try to find the bus (#43) that went to Huskie Stadium. We couldn't find Pike Street because the sign was missing. Finally we saw a bus that said "STADIUM" on the front, so we flagged it down and ran to it. Turns out the bus to the stadium is FREE on football Saturdays if you have a ticket to the game! How cool is THAT?! Plus it went straight to the stadium, picking up game-goers along the way.

Here's Todd in front of Huskie Stadium

Two of us in front Huskie Stadium

About to enter; excited to see the Buckeyes!

We got into the stadium and bought some lunch: hot dog, sausage, Coke, regular popcorn, and caramel popcorn. We got to our seats and saw that we were surrounded by a small section of scarlet-clad Buckeyes.

The Buckeyes take the field

The first half of the game was full of mistakes and not much scoring. The Huskies led the Buckeyes 7-3 at halftime. Boy did the second half come alive! The Buckeyes wore out the Huskies and won 33-14! What a fun game! After the game we crammed into a very crowded, standing-room only, Buckeye-filled bus and went back downtown. I crashed as soon as we got back to the hotel. I slept for 2 hours! I was too pooped out to go back out, so we ordered room service for dinner. Caesar salad and pizza! Then we watched TV (mainly sports) and relaxed.

Sunday morning we walked several blocks to Pioneer Square to go on the 10 am Underground Tour. We went to a Starbucks across the street to get a pumpkin spice latte and chocolate bread for breakfast (very healthy, I know!) By the way, we must have seen maybe 20 Starbucks in Seattle. They're literally around every street corner.

Todd in front of the Underground Tour

The tour was fun and humorous, especially the historical stories told by the tour guide. I love to learn about old times and hear the stories about the early days of the city. The reason it's the underground tour is because this particular part of Seattle existed one floor lower back then! After the fire of 1889, they decided to just build OVER the existing streets. So there's a whole floor's worth , now in tunnels underneath the city!

We couldn't resist these cow chip cookies!

After the tour, we got some Subway sandwiches and walked a few blocks down to Safeco Field, where the Seattle Mariners (baseball) team play. It started raining harder and harder as we walked. We were so glad when we got to Safeco Field and discovered that it has a retractable dome and it was closed! No rain on us!

On the way up the escalators to our seats, I saw this dog wearing a Mariners shirt and a Mariners backpack! He was so cute that I asked to take a picture with him!
Inside the stadium, we bought some YUMMY garlic fries and a drink. I've always wanted to try garlic fries and these smelled so good!

Inside view of Safeco Field

Self-portrait inside Safeco Field

Todd outside the Seattle Art Museum (SAM)

We left after the 7th inning stretch because it was a blowout and the Mariners were losing badly to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. We walked to Pike Place Market... Here's the famous fish market at Pike, where they throw the fish.
We walked around the various stores inside Pike's Place Market, and had dinner at The Pike Brewery. I had crab chowder and Todd had fried halibut. Afterwards we walked back to our hotel and ate our treats that we bought at Three Sisters Bakery @ Pike Place market. I had a cherry turnover and Todd had a raspberry brownie. Yum! Then we watched football and ESPN. What a perfect two days of sports!

Monday morning we walked a long ways to Expresso Vivace on Yale Ave. Todd got a caffe caramel and I got caffe white velvet. We also got some breakfast granola-ish bar and a croissant.

Right across from Expresso Vivace was the REI Flagship Store! REI started in Seattle and this is the largest store. We went in and looked around. It was huge and really cool! Lots of everything outdoor-ish.




Then we walked over to the Space Needle and ate at a nearby Italian restaurant. Todd got a salad with smoked salmon, and I got linguini with clams.

After that, we went to the Exprience Music Project and the Science Fiction Museum, which were right next to the Space Needle.

Todd in front of the Experience Music Project

Nice artistic pic of the Space Needle

Todd in front of the Science Fiction Museum

We saw lots of costumes from Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, etc. It was very cool!

After that, we took the Monorail back to downtown and walked to Pike Place Market. We bought some fruits & fresh fruit bars. Then we got some croissants at Le Panier for the next day's breakfast.

That's me, in front of the famed Pike Place Market sign.

We found the very FIRST Starbucks at Pke Place! It has a different logo than the rest of the the world's Starbucks. This is like the mother ship to the afficionados!

After that, we went to Cutter Restaurant for dinner. This is a view from right outside Cutter.
I had a seafood ciappino and todd had grilled halibut. It was yummy! then we walked back to our hotel and crashed.

Tuesday morning we checked out of our hotel and then went shopping downtown. We had lunch at the Nordstorm Cafe, and had the famed cookies. Then we took the shuttle to the airport and came home. What a fun trip, we had a blast!