It's 1222AM in the morning and we just got back to the hotel room after a long and successful day in Seattle. I can pretty much say we conquered this town in the past 16 hours. We started off our day with a very bad complimentary breakfast at the hotel. Alexandra got the scrambled eggs and I warned her that they did not look too appeasing but as usual she takes my advice sparingly. They ended up tasting more like hard boiled eggs to her, but luckily I made a large waffle for us and as usual saved the day.....just an wfi I am joking and really don't think that highly of myself, but I guess I do because I am writing a blog. hahahaha
After breakfast, we headed to one of the most popular and well known destinations in Seattle...Pikes Market. Pikes Market is a huge market filled with most delicious looking sweets, fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, candies, and assortments of fine foods that you could possibly desire. The atmosphere was absolutely fantastic and the place was packed with people. I highly recommend checking this area out when you are visiting. We also visited and made sure to take a picture of the very first Starbucks. It's the Starbucks that either ruined and marginalized coffee or saved and distributed it to the masses depending on how you feel about the company. In my personal opinion, if Starbucks can successfully sell overpriced coffee to the world then more power to them......thank God for capitalism and mass market chains in America!!!! I mean who doesn't want instant satisfaction at their fingertips; it's what makes this country so awesome. Anyway, we spent the rest of the morning wandering the streets of downtown and discovered such interesting places like a monument waterfall Park dedicated to UPS employees and a memorable commemorating all the servicemen and women killed in Washington State since 1941. The names of those fallen in Iraq and Afghanistan particularly hit me hard; I am constantly reminded that I by the grace of God I am alive today while so many of my brothers are not. God Bless all of them!
In the afternoon, we met up with Alexandra's friend Connor who lives in the Ballard area of Seattle. Ballard is this trendy, hippster spot in the city with really cool restaurants, shops, cafes, and bars. We stopped at the waterfront where you can watch ships leave and enter the waterways by a complex canal and lock system. I can't really explain this amazing marvel of engineering but its pretty much like the Erie or Panama canal where walls close and open the sea water to the ships. By that time we were getting pretty hungry, so Connor decided to take us to this amazing little hole in the wall called Paseo. Its a Cuban sandwich shop that has been featured on the Travel Channel. Apparently the owner, fled Cuba when he was eight years old with a group of children. They ended up dropping him off in Seattle, and that's how you get a Cuban shop as far away from Cuba/Miami as you can get. We both enjoyed a delicious Cuban sandwich and endured a little rain storm as we ate our food, but thats the northwest for you. We ended up getting some homemade ice cream at Molly Moons in Wallingford. A background story on Molly, she started the ice cream shop a year ago, took on the recession, and is doing fantastic business. Molly and this Cuban immigrant are just one example of what makes this country strong and so vital. This is a trend we are seeing throughout the road trip, Americans who conquer adversity, chase their dreams, and live life to their fullest potential. I have a feeling that we have just scratched the surface of these sentiments and mindset and we will continue to explore it as we journey on.
After we indulged in the ice cream, our gang of three set for Gas Works Park which is an area of land situated right on water. It used to be an old refinery of some sort and the remnants of the previous era can be seen all over. It's a really cool example of urban renewal. That evening we traveled to Capital Hill for some local coffee and tea at Bauhaus and had a night cap at the Hazelwood bar in Billard. Today turned out to be absolutely incredible. One more shout out to Connor who was a terrific host; many laughs were had by all. You rock brother!!! Tomorrow begins a new day.......still trying to figure out which National Park we want to attend but I guess we will have to check the weather channel to see what our best bet is. Anyway, Happy Easter to all our friends out there!!!