3 Nights in Seattle

In need of a recharge, we booked a long weekend in a city we've both wanted to visit for awhile.

6:00 out of Milwaukee, quick turnaround in Minneapolis, and there we were.

One thing we forgot to look into was public transportation and we ended up booking 2x$18 round trips from on the Gray Line downtowner. This was our only bad investment on the trip. Take a taxi (faster and less rude) or a public bus (faster, less rude, and cheaper).

We checked into the W to drop our things off.

Plusses: Free apples at the front desk, plush bed, ipod dock/alarm clock, dance party in the lobby.

Minuses: $15/day for wireless, key cards that demagnitize...often.

The Market wasn't quite so busy on Thursday, so we strolled through the street-level stalls and grabbed lunch. It's like a giant Whole Foods, complete with samples. Very crowded, but the selection and prices are great. I ate at the Market Grill while Jodi picked up a slice of pizza.

A bit of interesting shopping at the waterfront...

Nice aquarium for the kiddies. I was too scared to touch the evil anemones.

Restaurant close by the hotel with a fun atmosphere and amazing chicken with no bones.

We got an early start (time change) and walked up to the Capitol Hill area for breakfast. This place was quiet, but service was good, and the chicken sausage and panckaes were excellent.

Some interesting achitecture in the huge library.

A snarky history tour of Seattle, which gave the interesting story of the creation of the city.

A long wait to get crazy varieties of excellent tasting salami.

The "must do" item that was a bit disappointing, especially after the Eiffel Tower earlier this year. It's a big ugly steel tower with a decent view.

Unique way to learn about music. I watched Darryl McDaniel (Run DMC) call Aerosmith's Walk this Way "hillbilly gibberish." A long line kept us from recording some guitar riffs.

Better than expected overview of Sci Fi books, characters, movies, and legends.

The best selection of Euros I've ever seen - and that includes the Source in St Paul and several stores in Germany. Prices are steep but the owner is very knowledgable and friendly.

Beautiful stadium and a rare mariners win.

Hidden behind the bad pizza and decent nachos were Sushi, Edamame, and Sake - the way baseball food was meant to be eaten.

Another long walk up to the University Area. We stopped at this edgy breakfast stop for some pancakes and granola.

On the way we unsuccessfully looked for the grave of Bruce Lee.

A beautiful Seattle day meant a long wait to rent a Kayak so we gave up.

Beautiful and large gothic campus was interesting to walk through.

Middling diner food.

We took the bus up the the Ballard neighborhood. Seattle buses are excellent - timely, clean, and ubiquitous.

Excellent Italian dinner in a cool residential neighborhood.