Seattle Redux

This last weekend I went to Seattle to visit my good college friend that I haven't seen in over a year.  Wait, the fact that I've been out of college for over a year is making me feel old.  Anyways, on this visit my friend and I decided to find places in Seattle that we hadn't been to before.  This wasn't too hard for me.  When I was in college I rarely went out and explored new things without a lot of encouragement from someone.  If I could drag myself out of my apartment and go to the grocery store on the weekend I would give myself a pat on the back.

When I arrived in Seattle Friday we went to Red Robin, a restaurant that for some reason the both of us only visit when we hang out.  I indulged in an egg burger.  It had a fancy name, but I refer to all burgers with an egg on it as an egg burger.  Egg burgers are delicious.  Go find one and eat one.  Now.  Then, whenever you have a burger you will long for it to have egg on it and when you find a place that has an egg burger you will make a fool of yourself in your display of excitement.  Again, that may just be me.

Saturday we went to the Seattle Art Museum.  Lots of interesting art to see there.  We spent over an hour exploring the maze-like wonderment of the museum displays.  I enjoy most forms of art. That was until I saw two blocks of wood piled on each other that I assumed was part of construction, but, to my surprise, this was part of the art exhibit, taped off with a plaque and everything.  You can't tell me that's art.  There's a whole pile of logs in the garage, can I display that at an art museum?  I guess I'm not cultured enough to enjoy a couple of two-by-fours.

We then went to Pike Place Market.  I haven't been to Pike Place Market since I was a kid.  It was a lot bigger than I remember and a hell of a lot busier.  It was near closing time on a Saturday and trying to even look at any of the stands was impossible.  My main goal was to survive and keep the antisocial, introvert in me from completely losing it.  My friend seemed to be enjoying it however, and I had a crepe so it wasn't a complete loss.

Lens glare.

Sunday we decided to do a marathon of cool places.  We started with the Japanese Gardens.  Absolutely stunning.  Have a look.

I have 4 trillion other pictures if you're interested.

We then went to volunteer park and climbed a gorgeous old water tower.

Lens glare working its magic again.

There were around 170 steps up to the top.  I don't know about you, but when I go up or down long stretches of steps my eyes start to go all wonky on me and I try to skip steps and end up looking like a blundering idiot.  Thankfully there weren't a lot of people on the steps so not many people witnessed my embarrassment.   

We then went over to the Asian Art Museum, took a quick look around since we got in for free with our Seattle Art Museum passes.  Then we checked out a Dahlia garden and watched some LARPers having a beanbag battle of epic proportions.  We also saw some people dressed like fairies in another part of the park.  It felt like I was transported into some medieval fantasy world. 

We decided to see Gravity at the Pacific Science Center IMAX 3D before I had to catch a ferry home.  We checked in an hour before the movie, planning to go grab something to eat before the show, but the woman helping us said that we should stand in line instead, since it was sold out.  We grabbed popcorn and my friend went on a burger run so we could brave the hour wait in line.  It felt like there should have been a fun ride at the end of all that waiting.  At least Gravity was a great movie.  I even wrote a review on it, which you can find here.

Sorry for my long posts.  I enjoy rambling on it seems.  And I can never limit the number of pictures I put in the post.  I need you to see them all!

Seattle I love you, but you're bringing me down.

pic credit: (tripadvisor.com, 12bosox, Nov 2006)

I'm trying out this "Schedule" thing to post while I'm out of town for the weekend. I will not fail with the Ultimate Blog Challenge!  I was mulling over what would be best to write an entry about and since I will be in Seattle when this posts (hopefully), then why not write about Seattle?

I've lived in the Pacific Northwest all my life, just a short trip from Seattle.  I'd been to Seattle many times, but it wasn't until I attended the University of Washington that I actually got a chance to live there for a couple years.  I developed a unique relationship with the city of Seattle during that time.  City life had its ups and downs.

The positives.  Everything was within walking or busing distance.  I didn't need to drive, and since I have a fear of driving, that works out nicely.  When I lived in the U district I had four Starbucks within a 5 minute walk from me, takeout restaurants all around, a nice shopping center next door and I could walk to the grocery store easily.  It was nice.  If I was going somewhere new, just check the bus schedule, it was usually pretty easy to get there. I also enjoyed the sounds of the city.  Going to sleep with the sounds of cars, other people and the hustle and bustle of the city might bother some, but it was comforting to me. As long as the drunk kids kept their yelling to a minimum.

On the flip side there were a few sounds that drove me nuts - one in particular.  Cars honking.  Everyone honks constantly in Seattle (and probably every big city).  Hey get out of my way! HONK! The light's been green for a second! HONK! How dare you use the crosswalk when you have a walk sign! HONK!  It started to drive me nuts.  When you're walking and honks are coming from everywhere you start to get a little tense. Are the honking at me?  Why are they honking?  Stop honking!

One plus, but mostly a negative, of living in Seattle is I developed the skill set of being a defensive walker. I nearly got hit by cars and bicyclists frequently.  By the time I got back to my apartment I'd be muttering curses under my breath. Bicyclists really started to bug me.  DISCLAIMER: Not all bicyclists, some are very nice, others are horrible and bring the whole group down. There were the mean bicyclists who didn't follow the rules of the road and would yell at you if you got in the way of their reckless bicycling. Then there are the multitasking bicyclists who are a little amusing as long as they're not nearly taking you out.  A few examples - talking on your phone, carrying your takeout, or sporting an umbrella while biking (if you can master this, I can see the usefulness).  My favorite bicyclist was a guy who had a bike that looked like a banana.  As he zipped past me on the Burke-Gilman Trail I was inspired to find what this strange bike was. I found it here. And for a little under $8,000 you can have a banana bike too!

But even with its ups and downs I find that after living away from the beautiful Emerald City, I miss her, even if Seattle has left me with a permanent case of Bitchy Resting Face. After a year apart - Seattle and I really needed a break - I'm heading back to Seattle to hang out with a good college friend of mine and I'm happy to see the city again.

What have been your experiences with city life?