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¡Vaya Con Dios! Bobby Fisher:Seattle, Day 1
So began my long weekend trip to the Pacific Northwest.
5:50 AM Woke Up
6:20 AM Arrived; Bus Stop - Belmont and Greenview
6:30 AM Almost froze waiting for the damn bus
6:34 AM Boarded bus; Belmont 77
6:47 AM Arrived; Blue Line Station - Belmont
6:48 AM Boarded Blue Line train destined for O’Hare
7:08 AM Arrived; O’Hare Int’l Airport
7:17 AM Found my way to Terminal 3
7:20 AM Checked in at an e-ticket machine
7:30 AM Made my way through security
7:40 AM Enjoyed McDonald’s breakfast
8:00 AM Arrived at gate H12 an hour before boarding started.
9:06 AM Boarded the plane.
11:54 AM (Pac!) Touched down at Seatac airport, Seattle/Tacoma, WA
Save the long, cold wait for the bus, the trip was as headache-free as possible. The process of check-in, usually a nightmare took about 3 minutes, as there were a plethora of e-ticket kiosks, and no lines. Gorgeous. Security was very painless. More than enough time after that for a quick biter. By the way, the McDonald’s Bacon Egg and Cheese Biscuit still has no equal in the fast food breakfast world. I saw a man sitting across the way with an attractive accomplise and some very nice looking baggage that really looked like Lavar Arrington. Hard to say for sure, because it’s impolite to stare. Anyways I arrived at the gate and realized my ipod was flat out of charge. I was able to secure a seat by the only outlet in the gate (I remember walking around wondering “Where the hell do the cleaning people plug thier vacuums in?) and got my recharge on so I could do some music during the flight. I mean, let’s face it, flying over the Cascade Mountains isn’t nearly as cool as flying over the Cascades listening to Boards of Canada. I was pleased to find that someone at American Airlines got the memo about coach seating being inadequate in the legroom department: I was greeted by a non-exit-row seat with borderline luxurious space accomodations. And if that doesn’t make a flight better, I don’t know what does (okay, except for Jack Daniels). So we departed on time, got two, count ‘em two, rounds of free beverages, and arrived on time at Seatac.
It was really a beautiful day in Seattle, with 50 degree weather and sunny conditions. Mindy got me at the airport and we drove into the city; there we got some quality chowder at a joint called Duke’s. The rest of the day was walking around sight-seeing, including the ridiculously cool Seattle Public Library. I was astounded by it’s beauty and elegance in design. The architecture was designed in part by Wired magazine guest editor and all around neo-architect monster Rem Koolhaus (and he’s Dutch too, booyah). Beyond the books, Seattle has a gorgeous downtown, although it may aptly be named “The City on the Slant”. Most of the roads have some crazy 18 degree grade or something like that. Walking becomes hiking becomes downhill skiing depending on where you are. Great landscapes though.
The waterfront market is really a site to see. People yelling and throwing fresh fish around, street performers, the first Starbucks are all there. One guy with an outlandish hat performed a ring trick while reciting a parody of the Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe. The view of Puget Sound is nice, although it’s ultimately not much different than other city-on-the-water type views (see: San Francisco, NYC, etc. etc.).
In the early evening I was able to accomplish one of the objectives of my trip: hook a cool custom messenger bag from the Re-Load Bags shop in the city. I got a sweet bag with a rising sun pattern on the flap. I’ll post a picture later. Re-Load makes high quality, custom bags in many shapes and sizes with an unparalleled array of colors, and will do basically any pattern the buyer asks for.
Which brings me to the present, sitting in Cafe Vita on Pike. The rumor about Wi-Fi being “so everywhere” is true. They have it freaking everywhere here. Cool beans, if you ask me. So I’ll recap whatever goes on later this evening, well, later. I’ll also post some pictures when I get a chance. I got a bunch of cool shots with Mindy’s digi camera; they should satiate even the hungriest of n.o.k. readers.
Later update:
Mindy and I punched out to dinner at a small Thai place called Jam Jamba or something like that. Ate some really tasty curry, as well as some really tasty lime chicken, both with brown rice. The thai do it up right. That’s about all I remember, because at some point during the meal I hit the wall and entered into a world of delirium. I passed out like 5 minutes after we got back. A long day.
Posted February 19, 2005 09:07 PM
Comments
this is by far the most detailed blog entry on the entire site. post the pictures already, jon! tell mindy hi for me! have lots of fun! use lots of exclamation points!
Posted by: Cyndi at February 20, 2005 12:45 AM
i hope you're having a nice time. your already missed because i have recieved some sweetness from powell. I'll give you a hint........
chicago nite
Posted by: bobby fisher at February 20, 2005 12:12 PM