Speedy Seattle Siteseeing

One of the lures of going to the Laid Back Attack event in Seattle was a chance to see the city. I've only been there once for a four hour layover at the airport. That wasn't very fun.

My San Antonio peeps offered to let me tag along on Thursday as they ventured into the city to see some of the action. We started on the light rail at one end as our hotel was right next to the airport and ended on the light rail at the other end. Then, it was a monorail ride to our first destination.

It sure looked tall.

The idea was to have lunch at the restaurant in the Space Needle. The reality was that we should have made reservations way ahead of time. The line just to go up was super long so we made ourselves feel better that "our" towers were taller. Of course, my tower was in Berlin and theirs was in San Antonio.

For the record, we were justified in that feeling of superiority. The Space Needle is 605 feet tall, the Tower of the Americas is 750 feet and my TV Tower dwarfs them both at 1,207 feet.

We decided to head back towards the water to have lunch. But, first a beer stop was in order. After all, it was past noon! I was so thirsty and not alone in that feeling. We walked by an establishment and turned like bloodhounds towards the smell of hops and barley.

Thank you, Blue Water Taco Grill, for having Dos Equis Amber on tap!

We ended up eating out on the patio at The Fisherman's Restaurant and Bar. The food was good, the company was delightful and the view was great. 

I wondered what the poor people were doing at this time.

After lunch, we started roaming around in what felt like a random fashion to me but there was some planning involved. We walked along the water and saw the outdoor markets and learned that parking is dear down there.

The original Starbucks.

There was a line out the door to the first Starbucks. Crazy people waiting to shell out their hard earned cash for overpriced coffee just to say they've been there. My Dos Equis cost less than a grande, mucho macho largo whatever with flavors to make it not taste like coffee drink so I think my money was better spent.

We HAD to watch them toss some fish!

We walked through the Pike Place Fish Market and perused some of the wares. We also saw them toss a few fish back and forth at the famous Pike Place Fish Company. Fun!

Walking back to the light rail took us on more of a city tour than expected because we went up the wrong street and walked two blocks further than we needed to. For the record, I was not in charge of the route.

Our ride home took us past CenturyLink Field and Safeco Field again so I get a different view of both but no pictures. It was after 5 PM and I'd been up since 4 AM traveling and then walking (again with all of the walking) so it was all I could do not to completely snooze in my seat. Oh, and I had some beers in there, too.

Some of the gang did more touring on the other days, including a guided tour of the underground tunnels. They said it was great but I was more than happy to try to catch up on some of the sleep I lost in Germany and be ready for the live music that started at 11 AM. 

The site I saw the rest of the weekend.
It didn't suck.

My only regret is not seeing the Gum Wall. We were so close! I'm sure I would have found it disgusting but, hey, it's famous.

I know I only scratched the surface so I would love to go back and spend several more days exploring not only the city but the surrounding area. Putting that on my to-do list for when I have both time and money to do so. 2019, maybe?