Monday, September 26, 2005

Washington Canada Trip Part 6 of 7

Heading to the top, man. <:-)

Thursday September 1, 2005 at 10:00 A.M. Trip to Seattle

The first morning activity was take pictures of the view from Steve's Dad house. Steve and I saw the part of the harbor that was on fire yesterday. The wood was warped and twisted. Looking with binoculars, there were people on the outside watching, TV news crew, emergency vehicles, construction equipment, a tug boat, and rubber-necking cars. The information Steve's Dad received on the cause of fire was a boat exploded.

Nothing to eat in the house, we went to McDonalds for breakfast at 10:30 A.M. Steve went to Wells Fargo Bank first to make a deposit and withdraw spending cash.

After breakfast, we drove to Downtown Seattle. The expected weather was sunny with a few clouds for the day. Great weather. Not too hot. It was a little more on the humid side which was O.K. for me. During the drive on Interstate 5, I got a better look at Downtown Seattle including SAFECO field, Qwest field, and the Space Needle. The Space Needle stood out among the other buildings and sports dorms.

Thursday September 1, 2005 at 12:15 P.M. Arrived At Seattle Center

We arrived at the Seattle Center where the Space Needle is located. Fortunately, we visited Seattle Center on Thursday because Labor Day weekend, the Seattle Center hosted the 35th annual Bumbershoot which is an arts festival. The booths were being set up throughout the center. Before we visited the Space Needle, we went to the Center House to go to the restroom. The Center House is a food court, and the foot court is the biggest I have ever seen. THE BIGGEST!! The place was not busy; however, there were plenty of places to eat and places to sit down.

Thursday September 1, 2005 at 12:45 P.M. Space Needle

Skipping lunch, we arrived at the Space Needle. The ticket price was $13.00. We went up the elevator all the way to the top. During the elevator ride, parts of Seattle Center can be seen. The view at the top of the needle was hard to describe in detail. Every point was an awesome view of Seattle, the canal, the bay, Mount Rainier, SAFCO field, Qwest field, downtown . . . basically anywhere I could see, the view kicked ass. Having binoculars helped a little. There was too much to view. I took too many pictures of the view XD

We stayed at the Space Needle for an hour. Fortunately, I didn't get sunburn. I get sunburn really easy. On the elevator ride down to ground floor, additional part of Seattle Center can be seen. We stopped at the gift shop were I purchased some magnet souvenirs of Seattle. Steve showed me the menu of the Space Needle restaurant named Sky City. Reservations and formal attire are required. Sky City rotates in a circle for guests to view the entire scenery of Seattle—just like The Simpsons episode where Principal Skinner dated one of Marge's twin sisters (who I forgot . . . damn, how embarrassing) and went to the restaurant for dinner. And, yes, the prices are expensive and the minimum food charge is $25.00 per guest. The Prime Rib is $44.00!!! Steve is going to eat at Sky City for his birthday.

After the Speed Needle, we visited the arcade for about 15 minutes. Steve and I played air hockey. Steve won 7 to 6. It was close.

Thursday September 1, 2005 at 2:30 P.M. Downtown Seattle

We took the monorail from Seattle Center to Downtown Seattle. The ticket was $3.50 round trip. The monorail ended at Westlake Center, a multi-level shopping mall. We skipped the shopping mall because most of the stores are clothing stores.

We exited the mall and headed down Pine Street and walked towards Elliott Bay to Pike Place Market, an open market selling food, flowers, plants, arts, crafts, and T-Shirts. During the walk, the buildings and surroundings reminded me of Downtown San Francisco. The major exceptions are little crowds, cleaner, and almost no hills; however, during commute times the traffic is heavy. There are developments with high rise office buildings under construction.

We arrived at Pike Place Market and just walked around. The parking meters are computerarized meaning the meters accepted cash, coins, and credit cards. When paid, a receipt is printed and must be placed on the automobile's dashboard. Talk about advance parking meters. Where are those parking meters in the Bay Area?!?

The first shop was an ice cream parlor. We each purchased ice cream cones. The rest of the shops we visited were used book stores, a magic shop, and a store which had rare science fiction toys and games. Steve wanted a picture of Darth Vander and a Stormtrooper which are man made costumes seen in anime conventions and science-fiction conventions. Steve also wanted a picture of Han Solo frozen in carbon from Episode V and Episode VI. Whoever made the Han Solo did a great job. The detail is excellent. I took pictures for him. As for books, I purchased the World Poker Tour "Shuffle Up and Deal" book and Steve purchased "The Worldly Philosophers."

The final stop at Pike Place Market was the world-famous Pike Place Fish Market. The market is well-known for the happy and enthusiastic workers who toss fish around and entertain the customers who walk around their store.

Thursday September 1, 2005 at 5:00 P.M. Late Lunch

We arrived back at Seattle Center's Center House and had a late lunch. I ordered a hamburger and Steve ordered spaghetti. We left Seattle Center around 5:45 P.M.

The last stop in Seattle was Pioneer Square which is located next to Qwest Field. The only store we visited was The Elliott Bay Book Company, a multi-level book store with wooden floors that creak when you walk and wooden shelves as if the wooden shelves are the originals built in the 1800s. The book store is a true, old-fashion book store. Everywhere you walk, you feel like you are in a book store in the old days (gee, whatever that means =__=) The basement is a café with books on the shelves where the customers can pick up a book and read while drinking coffee or eating a meal. After the book store, we walked around an open plaza area where there were vendors selling their arts, crafts, and paintings.

We enjoyed a relaxing drive leaving Seattle and heading back to Gig Harbor. We stopped at Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner at 8:30 P.M. Then we stopped at QFC supermarket to purchase soda. QFC stands for Quality Food Centers. There was a 2 DVDs for $10.00 special on selected movies. Steve and I thought about it and choose to wait for tomorrow if we choose to purchase a DVD each. $5.00 for a DVD is terrific.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Resume? I don't need a resume. Here is my resume: Innovator. I'm available to innovate for hire.

No comments: