{"id":1263,"date":"2013-06-03T20:05:11","date_gmt":"2013-06-04T01:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.maryjoandwill.com\/?p=1263"},"modified":"2013-06-03T20:10:33","modified_gmt":"2013-06-04T01:10:33","slug":"special-guest-post-seattle-visit-day-3-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maryjoandwill.com\/?p=1263","title":{"rendered":"Special Guest Post \u2013 Seattle Visit Day 3 – Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

SUNDAY AFTERNOON<\/span><\/p>\n

Have we lost anyone yet?\u00a0 I know it\u2019s grueling but we only have one and a half days left of our vacation so let\u2019s make the most of it.<\/p>\n

After a little dozing, we are off to our Harbor Tour.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know where I thought we were going to board the tour.\u00a0 Maybe at the Space Needle?\u00a0 I guess I hadn\u2019t thought about it, but if you\u2019re going on a \u201charbor\u201d tour, Seattle must have a\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n

\"01\"<\/a><\/p>\n

WATERFRONT\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026.with a wharf and piers just like San Francisco; just like Fishermen\u2019s Wharf.\u00a0 Why have I not hear about this!<\/p>\n

We had a little time to walk along, visit some shops, and get coffee before we boarded our cruise ship.\u00a0 We went into one really gross shop.\u00a0 It had a mummy, heads of odd animals like a two headed calf, other animal heads, and odd weird stuff for sale.\u00a0 Joni tried to make me buy dried edible crickets.\u00a0 When that didn\u2019t work, she tried the dried worms.\u00a0 I declined both of those suggestions.\u00a0 GROSS!<\/p>\n

\"02\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I did not take a picture of the boat, but it had three levels.\u00a0 We sat inside for the cruise which was fine with me because it was just a bit chilly and I imagine windy up on the 3rd open deck.\u00a0 So here we go along the Seattle shoreline, out into Puget Sound, and back along the shore line in a big circle.<\/p>\n

\"03\"<\/a><\/p>\n

See that cruise liner?\u00a0 That was from Norway.\u00a0 Seattle built a place to dock those big luxury cruise ships and for four years, not one ship came.\u00a0 They finally started coming and now have 200+ ships in each year.\u00a0 I\u2019ve heard several people say that they started their Alaskan cruises at Seattle. This is probably the place they were talking about.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s the Space Needle again.\u00a0 We must have seen it from all sides now including from top to bottom.<\/p>\n

\"04\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There was a big Monsanto grain unloading station and I think it is about here that a canal was dug between Puget Sound and Lake Union that we were on in the duck boat.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure on that because why would they mix the seawater with a fresh water lake?\u00a0 Well, no matter.\u00a0 We are starting to swing around in the circle now.<\/p>\n

We saw some sea lions lying on a buoy.\u00a0 Now get this!\u00a0 The tour guide announced that these were really CA sea lions.\u00a0 They were the less dominate lions so they swam up to Seattle to spend the summer getting bigger and stronger so they could swim back to CA and try to become the dominant sea lions.\u00a0 Really?\u00a0 REALLY?\u00a0 Who in their right mind would believe that story!\u00a0 So all the sea lions in Seattle are male animals?\u00a0 Really?\u00a0 And all the sea lions really belong to CA?\u00a0 I was quite miffed that he would think I was going to believe that story and I did not trust one word out of his mouth after that.\u00a0 (Maybe I\u2019m too easily miffed?)<\/p>\n

So then we swung by this:<\/p>\n

\"05\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s one of the big cranes that take the cargo containers off ships and set them on the docks.\u00a0 The guy said this was fully constructed in China or someplace, bolted on to a ship, moved here fully put together, and then set on the dock with another big crane.\u00a0 OK, so maybe he could be right on that.\u00a0 But he said this place where the freight docks are is a man-made island thing.\u00a0 And it was so well built that it is the only remaining man-made island of its type still in use; all the other ones around the country have fallen apart and washed away\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..well, maybe.<\/p>\n

Then the tour guide said something that I do believe and it was very interesting.\u00a0 \u201cIf you want to know what a trucker needs, then just ask one\u201d.\u00a0 He said it was a regular everyday trucker that proposed using a standardized container that could be filled, put on a ship, lifted off, put on a truck or train car and delivered to its destination.\u00a0 Before he thought of the idea, cargo was shipped in every imaginable box, bag, mix-matched metal things, barrels, and Lord knows what all.\u00a0 Imagine the time and effort saved by packing stuff once in a container from origin to final destination.\u00a0 Can we find out who that trucker was?\u00a0 Great idea!<\/p>\n

Next we went by Safeco Stadium, home of the Seattle Mariners that the Twins just beat today 10-0.\u00a0 The Link Light Rail runs just on the other side of Safeco Stadium and suddenly, the train stopping at \u201cStadium\u201d Station and all these young people getting out at 5pm on a Friday afternoon started to make more sense. And that completed our harbor cruise.<\/p>\n

It was about 3pm so Will led us across the street, by the Public Market, up a hill, to this fabulous restaurant.\u00a0 I had the most delicious bowl of clam chowder I have ever had in my whole life.\u00a0 You must have him take you there when you visit.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know the name of it, but you can use this picture as a point of reference.<\/p>\n

\"06\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I took this picture from the booth I was sitting in.\u00a0 Eldon and Joni had wonderful looking fluffy cod and Will had some kind of chicken.\u00a0\u00a0 All the food looked\/tasted so good.\u00a0 (Look at all those people packed in the Market!)<\/p>\n

We headed for the University District where Joni works.\u00a0 So she comes driving her bike up to this building where she teaches some classes. (Eldon\u2019s family always said that \u201cdriving a bike\u201d not riding a bike.)\u00a0 Of course the building was all closed up on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\"07\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Then about 2pm, she walks up about a block to this building and teaches some more.<\/p>\n

\"08\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Just a few doors down from here is a frozen yogurt shop.\u00a0 We stopped in and Will and I had our dessert.\u00a0 The yogurt is sold by the pound -21 flavors to choose from, fresh fruit, sprinkles, syrups, and toppings and you make it up yourself.\u00a0 I had half cheesecake and half key lime flavors with some fruit and crumbled cheesecake particles on top.\u00a0 The University campus started just a block over from this street.<\/p>\n

We went back to Fremont and are down by those dinosaurs again.\u00a0 This little cement center thing is just to the left of the dinosaurs.\u00a0 As mentioned earlier, there is the bike trail that Joni gets on and the canal.<\/p>\n

\"09\"<\/a><\/p>\n

See how Eldon is being very careful on those steps and Joni is keeping an eye on him?\u00a0 That\u2019s because the steps are the same shape as that smooth piece of cement you see in the lower right hand corner of the picture.\u00a0 So as you step down, you may have 6\u201d to put your foot on or you may have 3\u201d to put your foot on.\u00a0 And I believe one side of the stairway is about 4\u2019 long and the other side is about 2\u2019 long.\u00a0 Again, artsy Fremont decided to design the steps to match the flat slab in an attempt at balance and visual pleasingness\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026 or the designers were drinkin\u2019 that day \u2013one or the other.<\/p>\n

So we got down to the canal and Joni promptly sat down and put her rain boots in the water to test them for waterproofness.\u00a0 I looked to my left and the Fremont bridge was about to go up.\u00a0 They blow a horn to warn drivers before lowering arms to stop the cars.<\/p>\n

\"10\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There is a sailboat coming through.\u00a0 This may have been where we saw the young people yelling, screaming, and partying on a boat too.\u00a0 It was such a beautiful evening.<\/p>\n

We walked along the bike trail for a while and then went back to the apartment because we had to get to the Fred Meyer.\u00a0 Now, I was confused\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..or deliberately misled.\u00a0 It was my understanding that we were going to the Fred Meyer to get some grocery item.\u00a0 We got in the car and drove about 4-5 blocks; not very far and with little traffic. (There is a community theater right by the Fred Meyer that the kids have gone to.)\u00a0\u00a0 When we walked in, I discovered the Fred Meyer is actually like Wal-mart.\u00a0 Yes food, but also clothes, shoes, everything.\u00a0 By now it was about 7pm so they would not let me look around the store.\u00a0 I guess we did look at coffee pots.\u00a0 We had to get our thing and rush home again.\u00a0 Just one more reason to make a return visit to the kids\u2019 home.<\/p>\n

We had an evening light luncheon of crackers, cream cheese & smoked salmon, and bing cherries.\u00a0 Eldon and I walked back to the hotel.\u00a0 That must have been about 9pm because it was starting to get dark.\u00a0 And that concluded our Sunday in Seattle.<\/p>\n

**I want to publicly apologize for my shortness and rude remarks about the harbor tour guide, who was only trying to do his job.\u00a0 He just wanted to make the tour interesting\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026even if he had to make stuff up.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SUNDAY AFTERNOON Have we lost anyone yet?\u00a0 I know it\u2019s grueling but we only have one and a half days left of our vacation so let\u2019s make the most of it. After a little dozing, we are off to our Harbor Tour.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know where I thought we were going to board the tour.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maryjoandwill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1263"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maryjoandwill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maryjoandwill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maryjoandwill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maryjoandwill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1263"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.maryjoandwill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1275,"href":"https:\/\/www.maryjoandwill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1263\/revisions\/1275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maryjoandwill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maryjoandwill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maryjoandwill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}