Seattle & Forks part 1: Seattle

Oh it has taken me a million years, quite literally, to figure out this blog stuff and to actually think about writing anything on it. Figures then that the first thing I would write is about trip to Seattle & Forks. My ultimate fan girl holiday.

First Seattle.


I got there on a Sunday night and had to wait for a couple of friends to arrive. Sea-Tac airport is strangely lacking in useful seats (oh sure, they have plenty hidden in corners, but these are not much use to the likes of me), so I sat on a plinth-ish looking baggage collection thingie. Well, on the edge. I wasn't going around like so much fake Louis Vuitton. :-) I thought it would take hours for the girls to get there, but the slapping of Amanda's excited feet running my way brought me back from the Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (great multi-level YA book) and back to reality. We picked up Amy a little while later and then got the light rail into Seattle. On this point, I'd like to say well done to Seattle. Getting 26 miles for $2.50 with no hassel demands a round of applause!

We checked in the Red Lion (& Lamb, oh the reference!) hotel and started a quick wander about to find dinner. Of course we went in the wrong direction from all the restaurants, but we eventually found a PF Changs and I enjoyed their Singapore Street Noodles. *yum*

Day one of the holiday started with Blueberry French Toast (& a side of the American bacon I'd been dreaming about for months) at the Elliot Bay Book Cafe. The idea was to get right into fan girling with a trip into the adjoining bookstore after breakfast. However, the builders were in and the books were gone. *frown* The breakfast was good though, and I at least got a proper cup of tea.

We wandered around the Pioneer Square area, and I was distinctly not wowed by the historicness of it. I'm a Brit, we have castles & junk. But it was nice, and bizarrely filled with carpets. If you ever need a rug, Pioneer Square in Seattle is the place for you. We made our way up to Pike Place Market and spent a while gawping at the fish stall. I think everyone was just waiting for them to throw the fish. I was hoping it would be a juicy big one, but instead it was a sad looking something which is obviously the throwing fish. *ri ron't row* BUT all the fish and crabs were of pretty big proportions and if you stand there long enough they will eventually throw something a bit more exciting!


The market was really cool, and at the time we went, it wasn't too bad for toursits. I'd say a morning visit is a good time to go, plus there are so many people inviting you to try their fruit, oils and chocolate flavored pasta (!) that you can eat your way through. Right over the road from the market is the Beecher's Cheese shop, which sells the most awesome mac & cheese in the world. So awesome that we went there for it both days we were in Seattle. You can watch them making cheese, and if you are lucky to have your very own bio teacher to accompany you, you can even get talked through the process. *grin*

In the afternoon we went on Bob Speidel's Underground Tour. It took us ages to find the darn thing because the directions I found just said it was in Pioneer's Square towards the SW side. But Pioneer's Square is a QUARTER not a SQUARE! Filled with many roads!!! *grumbles about road taxonomy* It was kind of fun, and I was identified as having travelled the furthest to be there. In fact once they found out I was British, they pretty much said that nothing they had to show me would impress me. I guess cause we have castles. :-) Well, it was ok. I didn't mind the lack of castles, and I applaud how fast Seattle has gone from prospectors, saloons, "sewing circles" (brothels back in the day) and wooden buildings to the sprauling metropolis that it is now. I felt like they were a little reliant on toilet humor, and I was also kind of shocked that I was the only one who knew that Thomas Crapper invented the toilet?!

After the toilet tour we went to Ivars for dinner - the early bird special suited me just fine as by that point it was about 2am in Jen Land. Their clam chouder is nice, and their fish and chips even better. Post-Ivars we walked to the Space Needle and felt very smug about buying one ticket and going up before sunset to wait for the Seattle nightscape. No one needs to pay for two tickets. If you do, you're a mug! I took some pictures which I thought were pretty cool... here's one:

By this stage we'd been up since 7am, walked for almost the whole time and were in a state that can only be described as mildly oblivious. It was in this condition that we decided it would be an awesome idea to walk back to the hotel down 5th Av, which took 40 minutes (of which I can remember about 10 min), compared with taking the monorail at the bottom of the Space Needle which would have taken 2 minutes door to almost door. And we would have been spared the sight of a homeless man pleasuring himself/ someone else. Its hard to tell when your eyeballs are burning like someone poured hot oil over them.

Day two, and we were trying to think how to fit in the library into our itinerary. We never did as it opens at 10am, but if you ever go to Seattle, go look around. It is the most impossibly cool piece of architechture. Instead we went to the Science Fiction Museum *nerd alert sounds* and the Experience Music Project. Of the two, the sci-fi museum was the best. It's filled with stuff to make a trekkie squeal, and boy did I! I'll save you the gory details, but I wish I was cool enough to wear this t-shirt (left) and still attract normal men.

There was also a moment when I was choosing THE trip magnet (each trip I get at least one awesome and different magnet) and found something so funny that I literally snorted and howled with laughter. This would be the top of the two magnets on the right. You've got to be a ST fan to get it, but I loved it. I apparently loved it so much that a previously undecided little boy who was also choosing a magnet also decided to buy it. The actual Seattle trip magnet is underneath. It's a laser gun, *awesome* with a dangly bit. ;-)

I really was quite non-plussed about the Experience Music Project. Other than the fact that you can shorten its name down to EMP which is also short for electro-magnetic-pulse, and THAT'S cool. There were a bunch of guitars and stuff, mostly from Seattle based bands. Disappointingly little Nirvana memorabilia, but I guess that anything to do with Kurt Cobain must be worth a freaking fortune. If you like Jimi Hendrix, then you'd be happy though. Personally, I'm a little "meh" about him.

After the Sci-Fi/ EMP we took the monorail (we learn!!) to the hotel to pick up Christine, who had a considerably LESS smooth journey with the light rail. She apparently got stuck in the ghetto and had to get a bus with 3 old ladies. Sounds like the premise for a short story. We all got some more mac & cheese *dribble* and headed off to the aquarium.


THE AQUARIUM IS AWESOME! It's got the best touch pools ever, and I poked anemones, starfish of all varieties as well as a sea cucumber. The colors of the animals were amazing and I definitely let my bio geek loose. :-D The feeding of the giant octopus (Fifi - WTF?!) was really cool too. Also great that Amanda sat on the floor with the pre-schoolers. *bless* I'm going to reign in the beast about the aquarium, but seriously. GO.

After that, we wandered through Seattle a little, heading vaguely to the restaurant area, and hung out at a Barnes & Noble for a while. I loved this. Sitting in amongst the books we love, talking about them (annoying Amanda while she tried to finish Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr - don't bother reading that one). It was one of my favorite moments. (I'm sorry I put the picture in, as I know Amy hates it, but I love this pic so much. It makes me happy!) I bought a couple of books while there: Beastly by Alex Flinn, Wake by Lisa McMann and Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris. I already have the last two, but like any good fangirl I need my sets of books to match!!

The final morning saw us waiting for Melissa to arrive with our pimped out rental car, and us struggling to pack it. It all worked out pretty well, although Amanda had to sit Indian style in the back as we couldn't quite get one suitcase in the trunk. Then it was time to turn on the sat nav (I got crap for not calling it a GPS, but I'm sticking to my guns on this one!!) and head off for the ferry, Port Angeles and finally, FORKS!!