Hello Seattle!

Before I begin this post, let me start by saying that there is something special about true friendship. In the last couple of days, I've been witness to several instances of this type of true friendship. True friends can reunite after living on two different sides of the country and hang out and joke around like nothing ever changed. True friends will tolerate going around town with their buddies despite having allergies bad enough to put someone out of commission, and on top of that, still find the humor in it all. True friends can be knocked on their ass, get up, and laugh about what just happened instead of fighting about why it happened (you went for my pivot leg Foss... I wasn't expecting it, haha). I've been lucky enough in my life to share these moments with friends that I know I will have until the day I die. Thanks for a great weekend in Baltimore fellas, I look forward to the next one....

Well, a couple of days later, a few flights more, and I find myself in a different city, on a different coast, on a different journey. The flight to Seattle was 100x better than the Delta experiences of the previous weekend. Southwest airlines is still the airline to beat. I had an entire row to myself, my bags could fly free (and not get lost...I'm still sorry about that shit show fellas), and we landed 20 minutes ahead of schedule. Seattle's airport might very well be the cleanest and nicest airport I've ever been in. It looks more like a mall than an airport. As soon as I landed I hopped on the light rail (Sound Transit - it's Seattle's new light rail that stretches from the airport all the way north to Westlake). Apparently they kick it old school and rely on the honor system, because I never really had to show my ticket to anyone, I just hopped on and hopped off. No gates, No scanning tickets. The only mistake I made was getting off a couple of exits too soon, which really wasn't all that bad as it gave me a chance to take in most of the downtown / waterfront area. My hotel sits right on the waterfront, and thanks to Foss and his dad, I managed to get a great deal on the room. My room overlooks Puget Sound and Alaskan Way (Alaskan Way is the highway / road that runs along the coast). After getting a chance to drop off my bags and freshen up a bit, I quickly took back to the streets of Seattle to grab a bite to eat. I was surrounded by a million choices, but ulimately decided on The Crab Pot, a rather large crab restaurant sitting right on the pier. I decided to sit in the atrium along the water to get more of the effect, and ordered the crab / crab combo (that's right...3 different types of crab for one individual). The dish was basically a crab steam pot. They bring out the meal in a huge metal bowl, dump it on the table, give you a wooden mallet, and let you go to town. It reminded me a lot of Steamworks in Durango. The crab combo has the crab, corn on the cob, and red potatoes all thrown together with seasoning added. DELICIOUS!! I washed the meal down with a Portland root beer that was made with honey instead of sugar, which was quite delightful.

After finally getting a full stomach, I hit the streets of Seattle to do some site-seeing. The first place to visit was Pike's Place market. I'm sure you've all seen the famous fish market where the guys throw the fish around. I got to see that in person, which was pretty cool. Pike's Place market has a very hippie-ish vibe about it, with fresh fruit stands, herbal stands, and fresh fish stands everywhere. I was pretty surprised to see the abundance of flower stands. I grabbed a quick cup of Starbucks to keep the energy up (not the original location...I'll visit that tomorrow morning) and headed back toward the waterfront to take all of that in. I went from pier to pier, at each point stopping to just stand there and enjoy the cool air, calming flow of the water, and the beautiful city-scape behind me. The entire day was overcast (can't say that I was surprised by that), but I'm actually glad that it was. I've always had this image of Seattle in my head, and I must say the weather kind of matched. Despite the lack of sunshine, there is something very peaceful, very beautiful about Seattle. I must say, I'd live here in a heartbeat if I could. Everywhere I walked, I was always stepping to the side for a jogger or biker. Everyone here is outside and doing something active, which is awesome. If I lived here, I'd be running along the picturesque waterfront also!

After walking, and walking, and walking some more....it was time for me to start thinking about getting over to Safeco Field to catch the baseball game. I took the light rail from Westlake to the Stadium stop (which was incredibly convient, easy, and cheap....only $3.50 for a roundtrip ticket). I got to the stadium pretty early (about an hour or so before the game), which was fine by me. I always enjoy walking around the stadium before the crowds get there to enjoy it for what it is. I must say, Safeco Field is a beautiful, modern baseball stadium. Its sandwiched between the waterfront on one side, and train tracks on the other, with Qwest Field (home of the Seahawks) right next door. Safeco Field does have one really cool feature that sets it apart from most baseball stadiums. It has a retractable roof that rolls over and away in a matter of minutes. When I got to the Stadium, it was open, with the roof actually over the railroad tracks (which made it look like an awning or something of the sort over the tracks. Once the game had started, the roof was completely over the stadium, with the only open parts being on the sides.

The game was awesome. It featured the Baltimore Orioles (which I thought was pretty funny, considering I just came from Baltimore, but couldn't see the Orioles because they were out of town) and the Seattle Mariners with newly reacquired Ken Griffey Jr. I was very excited about this latter point. As a kid growing up, I really got into baseball primarily because of two players. The first being Mike Piazza, who I watched bounce around from the L.A. Dodgers, to the Florida Marlins, and finally with the New York Mets (and he is also the primary reason I'm a New York Mets fan to this day). The second player was Ken Griffey Jr., who is arguably the greatest baseball player of this era (and a damn good argument too, considering he's the only candidate who hasn't had his name tarnished from the steroids scandal.....In fact, one would argue that he has proven his innocence in the steroid scandal with a career that has been injury plagued over and over again). I grew up playing Ken Griffey Jr. video games and I have always admired his playing style and his ability to stay true to his fans. Griffey had two hits in the game as a designated hitter, and the Mariners won 3 - 1.

After the game, I caught the light rail back to the Westlake Station, and enjoyed an evening stroll through downtown Seattle, and eventually back to my hotel. Tomorrow, I'll begin my drive to Portland, Oregon around 2 pm or so. I do want to visit the first Starbuck's and possibly have breakfast at a place called Beth's Cafe. I saw it on Man vs. Food, and they are famous for their 6 or 12 egg omelettes! It's quite a distance from the hotel, so I'll need to figure out if I can pull it off. If not, there's plenty of stuff to eat around the waterfront.

Peace, Love, Respect,

Jer