2007 End-of-Summer Vacation

This journal is intended mostly as an excuse to post pictures for our friends, family and most importantly our unborn child Optimus.  I will, however, try to highlight some of the must-see and wish-we-did-different aspects of the trip, in case some random person is trying to get ideas for a similar trip.

After waking up in the wee hours of the morning to get to our favorite airport in Long Beach, we arrived in Seattle and took the Gray Line shuttle to our hotel.  As you can see, the leg room was phenominal.  It was a nice relaxing way to get to the hotel, but in retrospect we probably should have just taken a cab.

 

We checked into the Westin, luxuriated in the leg room and the view, and headed off to begin our Seattle adventure!
 

 

 

We walked across the street to the monorail and headed down to the first destination of our vacation: the famed Space Needle!  I serenaded Cori with a beautious rendition of "Monorail" from the Simpsons (Is there a chance the track could bend?  Not on your life, my Hindu friend!), and all I got for my effort was the most impressive eyeroll I have ever seen.  Oh well!

The Space Needle bears the distinct honor of being the tallest pointless building in the world.  Our mistake may have been going to the Needle immediately after landing at the airport, since we had just seen very similar views from the plane. 

 

Since the Needle was so unimpressive, I asked Cori to pull a "Hank Pym" and destroy the Needle and maybe Key Arena if she felt up to it.  After she supersized herself, she started saying that she was tired and needed pizza, and that was pretty much the end of that.  Worst.  Rampage.  Ever.

 

We wanted to eat at the Needle restaurant, but we were so disappointed with the Needle (and the wait was so long), we decided to just head downstairs to eat.  We wandered over to Michaelangelo's Grill in the Seattle Center where we had a very respectable calzone and salad.  It was an odd dining experience, because the food was fine, the restaurant looked nice (although some sort of renovation was occuring), but there was nobody there.  When asked where everyone was, the waiter mumbled something about "soylent green" and "to serve man" and quickly wandered off.  All in all a fine restaurant, but missable.  Wait a minute...soylent green is people!?!  Well it was yummy, either way.

 

We wandered around the Seattle Center, people-watching, enjoying the crazy boob fountain, and looking for the Experience Music Project.  I know that the Supersonics are trying to leave Seattle, and I don't know what transportation/parking is like, but I really liked this area around Key Arena.  Perhaps it was just my New Vacation High.

The Experience Music Project (EMP) was enjoyable.  The highlights included a history of hip hop and the electric guitar.  The lowlights included Cori uttering the words "wiki wiki wild" while "scratching" (as the kids say...destroying a perfectly good record, as my dad says) and the history of Seattle music.  Being from L.A. , it was slightly underwhelming.

We probably could have squeezed more sweet sweet vacation juice out of this, our first day, but I was tired after staying up late cleaning, and Cori was tired after spending all day creating Optimus, so we decided to head back to the hotel and take a nap.

PS, Cori forgot to bring a bra, so she had to buy one.  I asked if she was paying for it from her personal "clothes money," and she told me that unless I wanted to spend the rest of my vacation with Angry "Hank Pym" Spouse Cori, it would be covered by our vacation fund.  And I happily agreed.

By the time Cori woke from her hibernation and baby-growing, it was too late to get a reservation at most of the restaurants in which we were interested.  Instead, we hit the street, walking around downtown until we found a good spot.

Our "good spot" was the Taphouse Grill.  It seemed to cater to a younger crowd, although the people to our left seemed to be a little too old to be as cuddly/make-out-y as they were.  The food and service was perfectly fine, and the beer selection was superb.


After dinner we wandered around downtown a bit more before heading home to watch part of a movie and pass out, our first day of vacation an absolute success!

Things to add - We originally wanted to check out the Seattle Public Library after the EMP, but decided to take a nap and bra-shop instead.  I ALMOST convinced Cori to check out the Science Fiction Museum, but she remembered at the last minute that she's not a complete loser, so we had to skip it.

Things to miss - Boy, that Needle.  Sure is...um...needly.