Pike Place Market = West Side Market on Crack

Honestly, you could spend the entire day down at Pike Place Market, and we practically did. Neither one of us had ever been there, so on the way down (it's about a 6-block walk from our hotel) we were talking about how similar it had to be to the West Side Market in Cleveland, with its small food stands and competitive prices, a place where you can pick up a shark steak and some exotic fruit within 15 feet of one another. And it was...sort of, but it had so much more. When we first walked in, we were enamored with flowers; tulips, roses, strange hybrids that were fantastic in color, but we also immediately noticed the array of wares vendors surrounding us. All up and down the corridor, the vendors and artists were displaying anything from personal photography, to leather wrist bands, to woodworking and candle sculptures. Honestly, you can wander through there for an entire morning and find the most unique things, all of which have their own story. It was a really cool way to experience the people here.



Upon visiting a few of the vendors that we told ourselves we'd return to after exploring the piers below the market, we ran into the very first Starbucks. I know...there's a running theme here, but honestly I can't tell you how many of these places there are around here. It really is a phenomenon. For the Cleveland people, you know how you walk around down and there are the magazine booths with Scene Magazine and the Free Times on practically every corner? That's how it is here, only with Starbucks. It's almost to the point of being ridiculous, but it's all part of the culture.

We wandered around a bit more and Steph got a chance to get a "Free Hug" from a group of people literally handing out free hugs, just another cool look into the attitude out here. All over the market exists a large hippy and american indian influence. The array of people here are so different from what we're used to, but it was amazingly genuine, especially the street musicians (one guy rolled an upright piano down there and played all afternoon). We could both spend every weekend at the market, sorting through the various wares or just people watching if for nothing else. We want to make it a point to go again next Saturday when we're back in town. Maybe Steph'll get another free hug if she's lucky.

The End of the Universe...

Lewis Black had it right. Once at the laugh stop in Austin, he walked down the street to grab a cup in the local Starbucks. Upon exiting, he looked across the street and saw...yup, another Starbucks: The End of the Universe, which can only occur when all forms of sense loses complete reason. For years I thought this was only a comedy bit. Then, low and behold...

I swear to God, they're not more than 300 feet from one another. Great Lakes should gather a few pointers from their marketing strategy.

1st Night in Seattle

So we got here pretty flawlessly and right now I'm sitting in a Starbucks (imagine that) down the street from our hotel. There was actually one right next door, but it seemed to only be open on weekdays, so i walked another few blocks and boom...another Starbucks.

Surprisingly, there weren't any huge hitches in getting here yesterday. After work, my buddy Mark drove us to the airport and we got everything checked in fine. A few minutes later we headed to get in line for security when we literally ran right into Pete Cordon, one of my best friends from high school that I've pretty much known since birth. We had no idea that the other was traveling that day (he and his girlfriend were heading to Vegas and Phoenix for the next week or so), so after getting over the surprise, we had a few drinks and dinner at Max n' Erma's in the airport, then headed to our separate gates. It was a hilarious coincidence.

The five hour flight was pretty tame, nothing exciting save for our bird's eye view of some spectacular thunderstorms over the Dakotas...Steph was fascinated by the sight. She watched the in-flight movie as I worked on my Mac and before long we were on the ground in Seattle. After getting our bag we got hooked up with this little Chevy Cobalt, a car eerily reminiscent of Steph's, and drove into downtown Seattle. On the way I found out my TomTom is acting up...not sure why, but I plan on finding out today. When you get the "big red X" flashing on the screen, you know something's up. No worries, we have Steph's Garmin, so we got here fine.

Simply put, our hotel rocks. Literally. We're staying at the Hotel Max on Stewart St, right in the middle of downtown, and this place is just freakin' cool. The room is a little small, but we'll hardly be there, so it's not a big deal. For what we're paying and where we're at...we got a heck of a deal. Our door has a huge image of Cortney Love on it, conveniently right next to the room with Kurt Cobain, and the window down the hall has an eye chart etched into the glass. The colors are all heavy greys, oranges, and black. From a designer's standpoint, I love it. I would suggest anyone coming into town stay here at least one night, if for nothing else than the experience. Parking is a little steep, but then again, we have in and out privileges and we ARE in the middle of downtown, so it's to be expected.

Not sure what we're doing today, we'll probably hit the Market and explore downtown a bit. I'll be sure to post something up here either tonight or tomorrow morning for everyone to see, complete with photos and possibly some video. Till then.

The Night Before...

Packing most of the night after work. Steph got home around 6 with a brand new haircut which she'll be sporting shortly here. I of course got distracted with shiny things around the house and the first new episode of "Lost" since early March. We caught up on Laundry yet I still can't find my bathing suit. Had to find some time in there to mess around with Kino too...gotta say, even with the hat the little guy is a damn good sport. The only things left to pack are toiletries and my backpack, which will contain the computer, camera, various cords, our GPS systems, books, journals, etc.

Off to bed now, but will probably start posting again Saturday morning. It's direct flight there, so hopefully we won't run into too much hassle. Famous last words...