One Short Day in the Emerald City

Day 2!!!!! Have you guys seen/heard/stalked/obsessively listened to Wicked? Did you know that Seattle's nickname is Emerald City? Do you know how fitting it is for this blog? I don't know if this link will work, but if it does, you can play the song to put you in the right mood.
*crosses fingers* https://open.spotify.com/track/0fH5j1WldIZXbycGSnHA9h or maybe try this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKJyURMuxds

Oh by the way, I forgot to tell you that we named our car for the week. His name is James. He's a white chevrolet spark that was very easy to parallel park due to his size, but had a hard time driving up mountains.

♪ ♫ One short day in the Emerald City, one short day full of so much to do ♪ ♫ 

    I started the day by figuring out that taking a bus downtown would save a bunch of money on parking and that everything we wanted to do that day would be within walking distance. Our goals were to hit Pike's maket, the piers, Klondike gold rush national historic site, and the underground tour.      Thanks to Rachel's handy-dandy ipad, we figured out bus lines and all that stuff and headed out the door, lunch packed into my backpack, to downtown Seattle. Pro-tip: I thought I'd be fine figuring things out on my phone. However, the iPad was really helpful when things got complicated and wasn't as big or bulky as a computer. Thanks Rach! Our first stop was La Paniere on the north side of Pike's market. We all bough a chocolate croissant and a drink of our choice. It turned out to be Nikki's favorite meal and some of the best coffee I've ever tasted. 

♪ ♫ Every way that you look in the city, there's something exquisite that you'll want to visit ♪ 

    For those of you who don't know, Pike's place market is the most eclectic and bizarre farmer's market you can imagine. It's open every day and has tons of visitors. "It" is basically multiple blocks of stores and stalls that has no rhyme or reason. Pro-tip: You can't walk straight through- you are required to wander. Let yourself get a little lost. There are multiple levels and multiple layers. You can buy flowers, fresh fish, fruit, fashion items, food, fotographs, and a bunch of other things that don't start with 'F'. Seriously, it's a ridiculously cool/weird place. The very first Starbucks is there, so we stopped in and took a picture with a weird little golden plaque thing. We stopped at the gum wall which was probably the highlight of my day. Here's a picture of me contributing to it! How cool/gross is that?! 

 

♪ ♫ There are buildings tall as quoxwood trees........museums a hundred strong ♪ ♫

We walked along the piers that have some neat restaurants and if we'd had more time, we could have taken a boat cruise. It's a beautiful area. Before I talk about our next stop, I need to explain something. When I was 0 years old, my parents bought me a passport at Independence Hall in Pennsylvania. In this passport, I collect stamps from different national parks and historic sites. We have been all over the country (explaining why I've been to 49 states) collecting stamps from different places. As I've grown up, I actually enjoy learning about the park or site instead of just being excited about the stamp. I have over 150 stamps. Since I don't know the next time I'll be in the pacific northwest, I dragged my friends along with me to a couple of places to get another stamp. Pro-tip: If you want to travel all over the place, a passport is a great way to give you an excuse to go everywhere. You learn something new, you see something new, and you can feel accomplished.They were very understanding and patient with my strange hobby. In this particular instance, we went to Klondike Gold Rush National Park. Seattle was a stop for people who were heading north for the gold rush, so we got some learnin' and more importantly, I got a stamp. 

♪ ♫ It's all grand and it's all green! ♪ ♫

Can I just say that everything I've heard about Seattle being cold and rainy is a lie? It was 75 degrees and sunny the entire time we were there. Also, I mentioned yesterday that it's a very green city with trees on every street and all of the balconies on tall buildings have things growing. Also, we found out that there is a fine for people if they don't recycle and compost. Anyway, we stopped for lunch in this courtyard we found that had cute tables and chairs with food carts surrounding it. There was live music playing, and there was this area that had a giant version of jenga and chess, a book cart for people to pick up a book to read during lunch, and a couple of sculptures that made a great photo op. I wandered into a bookstore that had a rolling ladder. It's on my bucket list to swing on a rolling ladder in a bookstore like Belle in Beauty and the Beast. However, the person in charge was grumpy and the sign said employees only. I almost asked him if I could just to check it off my list, but I chickened out.

♪ ♫We're three good friends, sharing one wonderful one, short daaaaaaaayyyyyy!♪ ♫

 The next stop was the underground tour which was recommended to us by a couple of different people. It's located in the park's historic business district. The tour covers about three city blocks of underground passageways. The whole tour is the story of how these were formed and why. Here's my very very very abridged version: The whole city was built on sea level which didn't work because the sewage would be poured into Puget Sound and then be dumped back in the city during high tide. There was a huge fire that destroyed 33 city blocks of buildings. The buildings were rebuilt quickly. The city then decided to raise the entire city up by one story. They filled in the streets so now the ground level was basement level. The buildings still owned the sidewalks, so underground passageways were formed. Prostitutes basically funded it.

Tada!!!! If you want to hear the whole fascinating story, check it out the next time you head to Seattle. Totally worth it. Shout out to Betsy our tour guide. After this, we headed back to James (our car if you forgot) and started to head south. We met a friend of Rachel's for dinner at a restaurant called Wildfin. I was very glad because I had almost left Seattle without eating any seafood, but I redeemed myself with some seafood fettuccine alfredo. 

Our next AirBnb was 7 miles outside of Mt. Rainier National Park. It was an adorable bed and breakfast that had snacks for us and breakfast packed in our fridge. We also ground our own coffee beans. You should stay here. We almost took advantage of the hot tub, but once again, we were wiped out. Once again, we went to bed before the sun set. 

Breakdown of Day #2

Favorite moment: Contributing to the gum wall

Bonding moment: Laughing hysterically while slap happy when playing cards right before bed

Scariest moment: When driving to our AirBnb, Rachel, sitting shotgun, gasped when Mt. Rainier came into view. I seriously thought I was about to run over a small child or something equally terrible. 

Breakdown of costs:

• Bus tickets $2.75 each way
• Chocolate croissant and coffee $5.50
• Underground tour $15
• Dinner $25ish

I will be posting day #3 soon. Another great day coming up!