As I mentioned before, lyn lives in la Conner, which is about an hour or two north of Seattle depending on traffic. So we opted just to go down for the day, though I knew we could have spent much more time. But it was easier and more feasible to just do a day trip. Along the way, as we take in the beautiful I-5 view of mountains, valleys and old-school iron bridges, we encounter a rest stop sign. It's at this moment that Jessica informs us how much she enjoys rest stops.
Rest stops??! A little strange ... right? But she doesn't actually enjoy the physical structure with its lack of sanitation and cherry-Chapstick smell. It's more of a childhood memory; but not just one memory. It signifies all family vacays she took as a kid. I guess some folks have pleasant memories of family road trips. I actually think that I enjoy road trips so much now because I can determine when i stop, what kind of music, and of course the fact that my car has AC is clutch. Anyhow, after this point lyn decides that we definitely have to stop. Jessica embarrasses easily and she was definitely opposed to us stopping. And even more so opposed to a photo-op in front of the sign. It made for some interesting photos! And those lyn, those you are more than welcome to post to face-space and tag away; because Jess has not fully figured out how to de-tag herself and it will be overly amusing.
Upon arrival in Seattle, we immediately hit up Pike Place Market. Yes. We were tourists. But it's okay; we weren't tourons. And according to some folks (mostly in Alaska) I blend In well wherever I go. So if it wasn't just for this damn camera ...
Anyhow, the market was packed with people, most of whom were tourists. It's the infamous market where they toss the fish from fisherman to vendor. But it was quite intriguing. And one thing I have noticed about the great northwest is that their flowers are amazing! Everywhere you go, the hanging baskets are full and lush. Apparently it's because it cools down so much in the evening thAt they never get scorched or dehydrated. Can a plant get dehydrated?? I'm not sure but it sounds good, right? And Pike Place was no exception. Buckets and bucket of brightly colored lush flowers lined the counters of multiple vendors. Several petite, little Asian women quickly pulled multiple flowers, stripped the stems of their leaves and arranged them beautifully into full color coordinated bouquets, wrapped in white butcher paper, and propped dutifully yet eloquently in front of their stand. I'm not going to lie. I was slightly enthralled as to how swiftly their hands moved making these elegant colorful bunches. I could have sat down in front and watched them work for hours.
Next stop, being the tourists that we were, was the Seattle center: home to none other than the infamous space needle. But remember we're not tourons so we didn't need to go up. Just decided to get close enough to know that we had been there and get a few photos for evidence. Mind you that the chihuly glass museum/park/display thing was in this same area. So we had more than just the space needle to see.
The chihuly glass display was completely indescribable.
Chihuly is this glass blower artist who was born in probably the 40s or so and I think he grew up in the northwest region. I could probably google his name and find out more but that seems like it would take too much effort.
Ok I got curious and googled him. So be grateful. I made all that effort just for you! But seriously for the most part I was right. It's dale chihuly and he was born in 41 in Tacoma Washington which is just south of Seattle. Apparently he studied glass blowing in the 60s (figures right?? He even went study at a glass program at the univ of Wisconsin. Only in Madison) and then continued to learn through working collectively in Venice. But he creates these amazing giant glass sculptures all out of smaller pieces placed intricately together. It was amazing. It was part eccentric, part profound, part dr. Seuss. I was floored. Then we reached the garden section of the display which was a point were I did not think I could be further impressed and then I was. I was already amazed at the floral abilities of the northwest and then to have someone create displays to further enhance these amazing giant (like 10 feet tall giant) glass-blown sculptures, is absolutely phenomenal. All in all I have to say that if there's one thing worth spending $20 on in Seattle, it is this display. And $20 when you're a Couchsurfing, hostel staying nomad is a bit much.
Leaving the chihuly garden and glass display (I learned from google that's what it is called), we decided that it was time to begin our brewery tour. We were determined to surpass our goal of 3 from yesterday. We failed. But we tried. Seattle has some wicked traffic in the evenings. And that traffic definitely deterred us from certain parts of the city, which was a tad upsetting because there seemed to be some awesome breweries around the southern part of downtown. But no worries. We were still going to get our brews in. We began at McMenemins, which turns out to be this huge microbrew franchise throughout the northwest. They have around 50 or so pubs between Washington and Oregon. Crazy! It was good though. I tend to be quite the beer snob (unless I'm broke and then I'm drinking pbr by choice) and so sometimes a breweries beers don't impress me. McMenemins definitely did, which made me happy. After a pint and some food (which I finished all of almost putting myself into a food coma and being made fun of for being so full after a half-Sammy and side salad ... I have a pea-sized tummy and can't eat much in one sitting. It's a serious issue that I'm working on), we decided to move on and find another spot. At this point, we were not real sure if we'd reach our goal.
We find our car and pay the ridiculous parking charges. Seattle is out of control with their parking. It's like $7-12 an hour in most lots!! It's completely absurd. We decide to head north, as to not have to backtrack after the fact. As we are walking down the street the traffic is bumper to bumper. So I tell lyn just go left (south opposite of traffic) and ill get us around. We take a right to loop around and bam! More traffic. Ughhh. At this point, she has decided we just need to take a direct route because we don't know where the traffic will be in other spots and tie way we won't get lost. Well that didn't exactly work out as planned. In trying to head back around we ended up in the wrong lane and couldn't get over forcing us to go north into a neighborhood. It was a cool little detour. I don't think they trusted me to get them around initially, but my navigational skills are pretty keen so I knew we'd be fine. This neighborhood was so well-kept and pristine, full of funky older bungalows that probably sell for $800,000+. But they were fun to look at! Eventually we made our way back to the main road, joined the traffic momentarily, crossed the bridge over, I think, lake union and entered the Fremont neighborhood. Again super cute, slightly funky Lil' neighborhood that I'm sure costs hundreds of thousands to live in. But it's fun to visit.
We hit up the Fremont brewing company and were immediately pegged as tourists. It was that damn camera again! But I'm pretty sure that this also may have been a big neighborhood spot that maybe doesn't get many visitors that aren't intentionally looking for it. This place definitely stood right up against kulshan in Bellingham as one of the best breweries. Similar set up: tasting room/bar and giant outdoor area; great brews and a very friendly bartender (he gave us a free 22 to take home since it was our first time), but it was the same guy who called me a tourist. After finishing our beers, and getting the book up on some merch, we decided that we had failed. There would be no more brewery tours for the day. It was late and we were to have an early start in the morning, so off we headed towards the camper.
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