18 September 2010

Trip Day 2 — Seattle Day 1

Posted by BaBa under: Travel .

Well it is actually day 2 or to be more precise Day 1 1/2 since we landed last night. However, I won’t count last night as all we did was get to the hotel by shuttle and sleep.

We are off to check into our downtown and are riding the light rail into town. The public transport in Seattle seems to be excellent and the price is good $1.25 each into town from the Airport as compared to San Francisco $8.25 each. We are going to take Caltrain into San Francisco for $14.25 for an 8 ride ticket book.

We had a long day walking Seattle. We arrived from the airport easily and then were given incorrect directions from the hotel when I called them with our location. We were going to take a cab, but he gave us the correct directions and we decided to walk. We were going to take the cab when the trip was up a very long and steep hill, but with the correct directions it was all down hill and then level. It still was a long walk.

The hotel here in downtown Seattle is less than great. It is really one of the poorer properties we have ever stayed in. The staff is not helpful and gives out the wrong information. There is no manager on property as they are all out for the weekend. The general manager has been absent for days. I will not go on about the issues, but will deal with the corporate office on Monday. The place is of lower than expected quality at a higher price than we normally pay and full because every football fan from Nebraska is here for the football game. Nebraska won this easily.

We got our luggage checked in and then headed on the long walk to the Pike’s Market. It would be a short stop as we just were passing through before going onto to the Aquarium. We were hoping to see the fish flying, but did not on this short trip. We did find the doughnuts in the market. We set off from here to the aquarium. On the way we stopped to check out a Chinese tea shop. Here we sampled several types of tea and bought some red apple tea.

We then made it to the aquarium and had a good time looking at the exhibits. We enjoyed the interactive touching pools with starfish and plants. The sea otters, birds and seals were also really interesting. Magoo got to try on a scuba gear top and it was really funny how it was so tight. He looked really fun in the gear.

We left the aquarium and went back to the market where we lingered enjoying the flowers, fruit and fish. We did get to see the flying fish. Magoo thought that was wonderful. He loved the fresh flowers. If we lived here, we would have flowers all the time in the house. The market is such an explosion of sights, colors smells and beauty. A real sensory overload in such a wonderful way.

We finished the day tired.  We had walked several miles up the hills and down.  We even went to the first REI store which is located in Seattle.  No, we did not buy anything as I did not find any bargains.  The day finished with Sheridan saying that he had used up his energy in his bones.

On the way home, we stopped at Whole Foods for some snacks for our trip today to the San Juan Islands and Whale Watching.  I then went out for another mile hike each way to the Subway for dinner.  We were all very tired and as soon as Sheridan stopped talking, he was asleep.  MaMa was not too far behind and I also made it an early night. 

Tomorrow, we are going to the San Juan islands and on a whale watching tour. This should be great fun.

More pictures later. Here are a few iPhone shots for now.

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