Tuesday, May 27th: Seattle

I should write a series of books (I’m sure it has already been done) called “City in a Day” and allow others to replicate extremely insane day-adventures for barely any money. Take today for example….

Stop 1: Pike Place Public Market. Watch the really happy Pike Place Fish Company toss some fish, grab a cup of coffee at the original Starbucks, wander around the stalls and wake up to light breeze off the Bay and the sounds of the market. (Free. Coffee purchased with a gift card — about $2).

Stop 2: Seattle Art Museum. Walk the two blocks over to the SAM and check out the suspended and illuminated cars in the lobby. (Free)

Stop 3: Pike Place Hillclimb and a Waterfront Stroll. Walk back to the market and down a poorly marked series of steps to the waterfront. Learn about pier life as you walk along the waterfront. Great fact: Piers in Seattle are angled on a 400-degree arc (as opposed to perpendicular to shore) because the bay is a deep water bay and in order to create stable piers there needs to be an angled arc….or something. (Free)

Stop 4: Olympic Sculpture Park. The SAM has a new outdoor sculpture park with works by some favorite sculptors: Calder, di Suvero…you know, the normal folks. Check out the enormous construction cones (the traveling exhibit) and eat lunch you packed sitting on the chairs overlooking the piers and the Bay. (Free….plus whatever you packed in your lunch).

Stop 5: Stroll through Seattle Center. Home to the Space Needle, an amusement park, a science museum, some neat public art sculptures and some green grass — the Seattle Center was a great place to people watch. Wander around and look at all of the things other people are doing. (Free).

Stop 6: Experience Music Project, the most expensive thing I did all day. A three-story music museum with active displays, music memorabilia, a great Jimi Hendrix exhibit, a guitar cone sculpture thing, an informative introduction to the Northwest music scene (the Louie Louie debate through The Presidents of the United States of America) and a room where a computer teaches you how to be a great rock musician. Pick up the ipod audio tour and you can listen to mentioned tracks and famous musicians and scholars on the tour. Definitely a museum built for music-loving adults ($15 admission to museum, $5 audio tour).

Stop 7: Break under the Space Needle. After some serious time in the EMP, it was time for some sunshine. Grab a book and lay on the green grass under the space needle for a bit. Then walk back up Denny Way to the apartment (an incredibly uphill walk….watch for the public art everywhere).

Stop 8: Happy Hour. Seattle’s got some great Happy Hours and the kids here knew just how to find them. We found a pub downtown— the Blarney Pub? I’m not sure what it was called — and had some pre-baseball snacks and drinks. ($10 – fish and chips, beer)

Stop 9: Safeco Field for a Mariners Game. The Mariners were playing the Red Sox (Mariners won 4-3) and it was an amazing match. There were barely more Mariners fans in attendance than Red Sox fans, the shortstop for the Red Sox got ejected, a home run was hit, the fans were absolutely and completely into the game beginning around the fifth inning. I might have been more excited than Megan and Abby.… Unlike AT&T Park where there were many angry fans, these fans knew their baseball and were passionately loud. Lots of families…..lots of garlic fries. ($10 bleacher seats…mooched the food).

Stop 10: The Walk Back. And….if you weren’t exhausted already, Seattle’s public transit leaves a bit to be desired so we trekked back to Capitol Hill on foot. Uphill. The entire way. We went past the Central Library, the new Courthouse, a Court TV van, and some really drunk Red Sox fans (poor losers). (Free)

Summary: Over 4 miles of adventuring covering most of downtown Seattle. $25 ($27 if you include the morning cup of coffee). 50 pictures. 1 tired kid.