Things To Do In Seattle

Lobby shot. Yes, those are actual trees in the lobby. I think there was at least a city block's worth of space in it. Every time we walked through it we did a LOT of staring, whether at the trees, the people lounging around them, or the architecture. There were four elevator units in this area alone. Yes, we probably did look like total yokels, pointing and gaping and chattering exitedly. Fortunately I was the only one in the family who came anywhere near to realizing this, but I'm okay with that.

It was also weirdly clean. We all noticed how clean it was, casting no aspersions on my housekeeping skills, of course. While I like a tidy house, I don't particularly like being the person keeping it tidy. Ask my family - they will all agree with me.

Look at the top of this shot. Can you see the beginnings of a curved roof?

Here's what was perched on top of that curved ceiling.

Don't ask me how I got this shot because I will then have to confess that I lay down on the floor right there in the lobby, and even then I couldn't get the entire window in the frame.

And no, not ALL my children were embarrassed by the sight of their mother laying on the floor of a fancy hotel. Only one of them was, but the next day I caught him doing the same thing, trying to get the same shot. Besides, it was really early in the morning (and the floor was weirdly clean).





This glass sculpture was hanging in another part of the hotel. It was 3 parts wildly beautiful and 1 part creepy looking. At one point we were all standing underneath, taking photos, and we must have all had the same idea - WHAT IF IT FALLS? - because we all ran to the wall at the same time, then laughed immoderately at the symmetry of our paranoia.

A floating bridge. Do I sound like a total hick when I say that we were all absolutely AGOG at the concept of driving on a floating bridge? It went on for so long that we all became quite blasé, except for those of us who wondered whether we could see Bill Gates' house or not.






A water tower. You can walk to the top of this structure and walk around it, whilst reading instructional panels about the area (Capitol Hill). The whole time we were doing this there was a bike race going on, so we were accompanied by a) an AM radio DJ narrating the race, and b) FDPG and Dominic dashing from side to side narrating their view of the racers.

Nothing like two 9 year olds, absolutely thrilled with themselves, shrieking and thumping around on a wooden floor, competing with an AM DJ. While their mother struggles with her acrophobia.

We managed to empty the tower of sightseers in about, oooh, maybe 4 minutes?




After wandering around Capitol Hill, wishing we had a monster house (and pretending we didn't notice the miniature yards and serious algae issues), we drove over to this place. I've only ever seen their products over the internet, so it was a thrill to be able to see it all in person. Instead of shrieking with laughter at silly things on the computer screen, we could all shriek with laughter while HOLDING the thing. Perfect.

The teenager was ever so slightly mortified. The idea of his mother buying a can of Uh-Oh Underpants while laughing really loudly was too much, I guess. But he did have a peek at the 5¢ Glow In The Dark Marvel ("An Attraction Without Parallel"). And I got myself a fortune from the Talking Sailor Fortune Booth (love these things). According to old Salty:

"You are a strong believer in fate. You feel you have no control over your destiny. Fortunately you are destined to be very happy indeed. You are somewhat irresponsible and this has caused you some hardships. You have a neat and tidy nature and can't tolerate slovenliness around you. Since you demand this of yourself and other you will always live in a tidy atmosphere."

Gosh. I don't think I could have written a more apt fortune for myself. It covers ALL the bases, don't you think? It's true: I can't tolerate slovenliness.

And here is another weird thing we noticed: all the kids sat around with Toonies in their eyes. We later learned that it was Wear A Loonie Day.

(this may or may not be my child)







Next installment: a serious tour of a perfectly respectable conservatory, with no one acting silly at all. Well, not very silly, anyhow. Or maybe I won't show those photos. Who cares if we all pretended we were Livingstone in the jungle? No plants were injured in the making of this post.