Seattle, Pike St, Bodies & Brew

1) Driving into Seattle against a threatening sky 2) Looking East up Pike St from the Market 3) The Fish Market 4) Seattle night time sky line Tuesday morning came quickly. I was up at 7:30am PT. Mindy got up moments later. I loaded the coffee maker and then broke into exercise. I made quick work of my routine and enjoyed a glass of pine apple OJ and a cup of coffee before heading out on my morning run. It was a rainy drippy run. The sunshine of Monday was long gone. What’s more, there’s little chance that we’ll see much if any sunshine through the duration of our trip. The weather forecast calls for rain, rain, and more rain. And all that rain translates into snow in them there mountains. Today’s plan calls for a trip to Seattle for some sight seeing and more specifically, three major destinations. We plan to hit the Bodies Exhibit at the Washington Convention Center, Pike Street Market, and then the Space Needle. We originally talked of heading out at 9am, but given our 7:30am rise time, run, and breakfast, that wasn’t going to happen. But we’re on vacation so not one of us was too concerned. We left Glenn’s at 11am destined for Seattle. We hit cloud burst after cloud burst along our trip – it’s a 160 miles almost exactly. After about three hours, Seattle was in our view. Along the way you pass through the state capital – Olympia, and then Tacoma. Seattle has a most impressive skyline. The sky had brightened significant as we drove into the city. But hanging out over Puget Sound were deep purple clouds. By the time we found parking and made it to the streets, thunder began to rumble and a driving rain hit. The locals told us that they get thunder and lightning up to three times a year. We experienced it as soon as we exited the car. Anyone who’s been to downtown Seattle knows that the east to west streets run down steep hills towards Elliot Bay. We walked down one into the driving rain with umbrella’s launched. Glenn’s umbrella was destroyed in less than a minute. Somehow I managed to keep mine from busting, although due to the strong wind, it inverted several times. We could take no more. We ducked into a Starbucks and ordered some hot coffee drinks and then used their john. We hung in Starbucks until the rain lessened. We knew it wasn’t going to stop entirely. We made our way to the Bay and to the many gift shops. We stopped in The Ole Curiosity Shop – a landmark gift shop. There they have an interesting display of shrunken heads and a couple mummies – Sylvester and Sylvia. After some purchases we stopped in Ivar’s, a famous clam chowder house, and ordered some chowders. We enjoyed them in their covered patio as we peered out into the bay. After Ivar’s we found our way to the Pike Street Market. Mindy was looking forward to seeing the Fish Market, especially. We had to walk up several flights of stairs to get there but it was worth it. This is one of the coolest open markets in the country. Their produce and fresh seafood is unparalleled anywhere else. We hung out at the market for about an hour. And any trip to the Pike Street Market isn’t complete without a stop at the original Starbuck’s which sit directly across the street from the northern most end of the market. It’s quite small, plain and unassuming. We left the market area and walked about eight blocks to the east towards the Washing State Convention Center which houses the Bodies exhibit. Seattle has a beautiful down town. You’ve got to see it to appreciate it. Soon we were at the exhibit. As it turned out, this is probably one of the most significant exhibits I have ever witnessed. There were bodies donated t o science is full form and figure as well as all the various pieces and parts. Each of the bodies systems were amazingly separated form the rest and displayed for educational value with an artsy spin. We saw a circulatory system, digestive system, nervous system, skeletal system, muscular system, isolated organs, and then a body of skin only. It was very moving and insightful. Words cannot do it justice. If you want to be educated and amazed, find a way to see this fabulous exhibit. We left the Bodies exhibit after about 2.5 hours. It was nearly 7pm. We made a quick walk to the monorail system where we planned to take a ride over to the Space Needle. As it turned out, the monorail had just shut down – 7pm. It was raining significantly still and we were all hungry and tired. At Mindy’s prompting, we opted out of the Space Needle and instead headed to our car and then to dinner in the sports district. We drove to the Pyramid Brewing Company directly across from Qwest & Safeco Field. There we enjoyed a couple quality beers along with some top notch pub food. I had a Reuben. Glenn had wings and Mindy had … I can’t recall. After dinner we left Seattle and headed towards home (Vancouver). I fell asleep almost immediately. I felt bad for Glenn, thinking that if he were anything close to as tired as me, he would be suffering for all the driving ahead. We were home in just under 3 hours. I woke just as we exited the freeway and came to a stop. Funny how that works. Glenn and I stayed up and watched a little TV and had a beer before going to bed.