Sunny Day in Seattle

Well, it appears that my sightseeing time in Seattle has ended. I am at the conference hotel now… it’s a nice enough hotel, a Doubletree… but it’s literally right next door to the airport, and when you’re coming from the swank W Hotel downtown, well… it’s quite a change. The cool thing, though, is I have a sweet view of a lake right out my window. If I look to the left, I can’t even see the trailer park on the other side! (For real! :))

This morning I got up and followed my nose straight to Le Panier for my pain au chocolat (or chocolate croissant for you non-Francophiles) and a giant baguette to tote around with me all day. It was another beautiful day, and I strolled down the waterfront to the ferry terminal, where I paid less than $7 for a roundtrip boat ride across the Puget Sound. Destination: a little place called Bainbridge Island. Like everything around here, it is a beautiful place, with lots of green trees and beautiful flowers EVERYWHERE. I was particularly entranced by the hydrangea there… to die for! I thought to myself that if I lived here, I might actually be able to plant something and keep it alive!

I wandered through the town and headed for a little restaurant on the marina called Doc’s, where I had the best fish & chips I think I’ve ever had. YUM. And the view! Check it out:

Before heading back to the ferry, I stopped by the Bainbridge Island Historical Society. I figured while I was there I should probably get in a little history. What did I learn? Well, the native Americans used to come there in the summer, then once this area began to be populated by whiteys, they did a lot of logging and creosote-making there, and also like many areas here there were lots of Japanese and Japanese-Americans there when the US government decided they were all terrorists back in 1941, and all were taken away. That part of the history here is quite sad… :( To think that happened so recently in our own back yard is a bit disgraceful, really…

But I digress. On the ferry ride back, I got my first views of Mount Ranier. It was hazy all weekend, but you can see the ghost of the mountain if you look real hard:

Once I was back in Seattle, I headed down to Pioneer Square for the Underground Tour. Did you know that after the Great Fire of 1889, they basically leveled out part of the city down to the Sound, essentially covering up one to two floors of the buildings closest to the water? Crazy stuff, no? I also went up to the observation deck of Smith Tower, which was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River until the mid-sixties. Pretty good views of the city…

And then I hopped in a cab and headed to the whole reason I’m here in the first place: business. I guess we will call this the “relaxation” portion of my trip, since there ain’t jack to do here!! :)

Except eat, which is what I am going to try to do now... except the bar that I encountered first is super smokey (ie, gross, disgusting, unappetizing), so I gotta wander and see if they have anywhere else to eat in this joint. If not, I'll just head back to my room and eat the rest of my baguette! :)