Seattle Adventure...one last Traveling Salmon vacation!!!

Hey Everyone, Mandi is off to her mission trip in South Africa, so I'm stepping in to give you the low-down on our recent jaunt to Seattle.  Last time we were in Oregon we didn't make it up and we knew we had to this time around.  I went to Seattle in High School and loved it, and Mandi hadn't ever been before...so off we went!

We stayed at this amazing hotel called the Inn at the Market.  It is right  next to the famous Pike Place Public Market and is right in the middle of all the action.  It was ranked as one of the top 100 hotels in the world a few years ago!  It seemed pretty amazing when we booked, but it really jumped a big notch when we got a free upgrade to a two-floor suite that was 1100 sq feet...amazing!

The view out of the second story windows in our "room."

 

Beautiful room, huh?!?

The famous market and a fantastic restaurant we found on our first night.  It was highly recommended and right across the street.  As another blessing, we were there during restaurant week and a 3 course meal was only $25...tasty steak and my appetizer was a piece of pork belly that was both crunchy and soft and so so good.

We went on a cool tour of the city with a fun narrator.  They have a crazy looking modern museum of all glass and steel triangles that juts out over the road as well as sculptures throughout the area including this "forest" of blue trees and another thing Mandi hopped into for a fun shot.

A salmon ladder for fish moving from the ocean back to fresh water to mate...and a Salmon posing in the rain!  We toured the locks that separate the Puget Sound and the inland rivers/lakes that run throughout Seattle.  Even saw some baby fish trying to fight the current.  And a boat took the water elevator down in less than 1 minute (there's a 30ft difference from salt to fresh water!).

This character is the Fremont Troll, a statue that was built by the fun people of Fremont (a neighborhood in Seattle that believes it is an independent entity of free thinkers - aka hippies).  The legend is that he grabs cars going over him on a major bridge if he is angry.  The car under his hand is a real VW Beetle!

Our second day was beautiful, sunny and no rain for at least 4 hours (big in the Northwest where it statistically rains over 200 days a year), and we headed to the Space Needle.  It was impressively well kept up for being 50 years old and has amazing panoramic views of the city and nearby islands.  Definitely one of my favorite spots on our travels.

Some of Seattle's famous floating homes and a marina.  The only city with more floating homes is Amsterdam.  The one at the end (which you can't really see very well) is the house from the movie Sleepless in Seattle if anyone remembers that one.

One of Mandi's goals in our travels has always been to go to Tiffany & Co.  She loves the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's (and pretty much anything Audrey Hepburn) and if it's her goal then it's mine.  Well, this time we pulled it off and here she is glamming it up for the camera.  The guy inside the store was either barking up the way wrong tree following us around and showing us jewelry or he was barking up the wrong tree following us around to make sure we didn't steal!  Either way it was worth it.

We ended our trip walking around the Market.  It was filled with people and fish as far as the eye could see.  One part did have veggies as far as the eye could see and another had flowers...you get the picture.  The "famous" thing to see is that when someone picks a fish the guys at the shops throw it to other guys behind a counter who fillet and wrap it right then.  No one was buying but they did make a few throws to show off for us tourists.

Us with the landmark, lucky pig at he Market.  Money that is put in him goes to support many charities and he raised over 10,000 bucks in change just last year...oink oink!

The final piece of our trip puzzle was another one near to Mandi's heart.  She is crazy about room service breakfast in bed and so we splurged.  Here are the remnants...I promise it was amazing but no picture time when tasty food hits the bed!

Well guys, that's our trip.  Mandi loved Seattle and I remembered why I did 15 or so years ago.  It is just behind San Diego as two best places we've been during this journey (yes, ahead of Hawaii!).  We'll have to get back in the future if kids and work and such don't get in the way!  Mandi will give you guys a run down of her Mission trip after she returns on the 29th...in the meantime she'd appreciate your prayers for her time and health there and I'd appreciate your prayers for her safe travel by herself in what is apparently the fairly dangerous country of South Africa.

Jason