highroscoe: "Who Stopped Da Wain"

Missing the trees!

So my last few days in Whitefish were pretty much all about skiing. I am gonna miss that place, especially now that I know how to ski it like a local! We pushed out of town on Sunday afternoon and headed towards Seattle. A few things occurred to me as we entered the most Northwestern State in the continuous 48:

1)    That I had just skied for over a month straight… What an amazing experience!
2)    That there was water hitting my windshield – It had not rained on me since I was leaving Louisville, KY. I wasn’t even sure if my wipers still worked!
3)    That this was going to be the best part of my journey. From here on the only city’s that I have been to are Salt Lake & Dallas. Let’s meets some new people!

As we pulled into the city, it also hit me that the last place that I had seen with buildings over 4 stories was Minneapolis, MN. Sarah had decided to take a few days off work so it was exciting to have someone to travel with. First place we headed was the Pike Street Public Market.

Market

Weaving in and out of the narrow maze known as the market, we saw everything from fresh fish caught earlier that morning to magic shops, spice shops, head shops, and pretty much every other shop imaginable. We even saw a small Asian man playing the ukulele while singing “Who Stopped the Rain” with his thick, broken accent. We were in tears as we got further away from him but his voice stayed as flat and loud as when we were standing right next to him. My only regret is that I did not get this fine young man on video.

Space Needle

Next was the Space Needle – Which in 1961 was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River before the rest of the “Wild West” got its head out of its ass and started building some buildings!

It was a pretty nice day for Seattle (meaning the sun was breaking through the clouds) so the city and surrounding areas were very visible. The only thing that would have made the day better was if Mt. Rainier was visible just south of the city. I am going to try and post a picture I took and then find a stock photo of what Seattle looks like on a clear day so the two people who read/skim this blog can see what it’s like!

I did have a moment where I started thinking about how the only downside to me traveling and doing all this tourist stuff is that if I ever come back to one of these places with Friends/Girlfriends/Wife/Kids/Family then I will have to wait in the same long lines again. Lines are not a bad thing if you don’t expect them… but if you have ever been to the Empire State Building in NYC you understand how awful it is to know what lies around the next corner… more lines!!!

All this tourist stuff was starting to make us hungry so we headed to the piers to grab some seafood. We ended up The Crab Pot, a little place that specializes in… you guessed it – Crab Pots! (And they are freaking good at it too!)

Chow Down!

After a few Oyster shooters and some food, we headed back to the hotel to hit up the hot tub (which was located on the 28th floor and overlooked the Puget Sound) and get ready for the evening!
There is a large Russian population in Seattle so it seemed like every suggestion we received for going out was accompanied by a thick, smooth soviet accent. After following the Russians advice we realized this… never trust a Russian!

View from the hot tub

The night was a total bust… either we were pointed in the wrong direction or we started drinking too early. I am gonna go ahead and blame it on the drinking and let the Russians off the hook since we started drinking at 2:30 and were in a cab on our way home by 10:30, 30 minuets before the band/DJ was supposed to start.

The next morning we were moving slow. I have not been hung-over in a while so a nice long Bower (SP??) was defiantly in the cards. For those of you that don’t know… a Bower is a Bath/Shower and they are freaking amazing. That and a few Advil will get you right back to where you need to be.
Our first mission was to find a breakfast place that would not make us feel worse. We found a pretty cool place down in Pioneer Square, I had an Omelet with winter squash in it… it was pretty tasty!

Ole Business sign from Underground

Under the Streets

Underground

After breakfast we took a historical tour of underground Seattle. I know some people might not be into history but this tour was well worth $15 and an hour and a half of my time. When Seattle was founded, the newcomers did not understand what “high tide” means (Kind of like how Bama fans don’t know what “roll tide” means or Tennessee doesn’t understand what “winning” means). Every night when the tide would come in, downtown would flood. After a few years of this, Seattle got a 2nd chance due to a fire that wiped the entire city out. What did they do… build it back the same way that it was before. After a few decades they realized that it was in their best interest to raise the city, put in a sewer, and kiss the tides goodbye. They did this by raising the streets by 12 feet and then raising the sidewalks leaving an underground city full of passages and secret rooms that soon turned into Brothels, Opium Dens and Speakeasy’s. The underground network was so large that the city imposed a “Sin Tax” to help create some revenue. The “Sin tax” was responsible for 87% of the city’s new construction and expansion. So basically sex built Seattle. In fact the reason there is a public school system is because of a $275,000 dollar endowment that came from one of the city’s top Whore’s when she passed away. It was the equivalent of $15 million in today’s dollars!


The Lady on the left was the top hooker in all of Seattle - Left $275,000 and the one in the black dress is a dude (I think)

After the Tour, we went to a brewhouse for lunch and then it was time to put Sarah back on the train to Whitefish. I had such a great time hanging with her for the past month and thank her for everything!

I did come across a kilt store that was pretty interesting. A good kilt will run you about $235 bucks and you can buy an attachment that holds 5 beers!

That night I headed back to the market to pick up some gifts for friends and to hit up the first Starbucks. I spent a little more time there then I expected due to the fact that the barista was pretty cute. I took about 3 sips of my coffee before spilling it all over the front of my shirt while trying to take the picture below.

1st Starbucks

I did come across a group of girls from Ole Miss that were running around with Mustaches on… I snapped a picture of one of them.

The next morning I woke up and hopped on the Ferry to the Olympic peninsula. I have never been on a Ferry so I was more than excited about the experience. Once back on dry land I drove to Port Angeles to grab lunch with my best friends uncle who lives there. We had an awesome lunch and he gave me a little direction on stuff to check out on my way down to Portland. I didn’t know what I was about to get into.

Ferry from Seattle

Driving through Olympic National Park (where the Twilight movies were set & filmed) I was absolutely blown away by how lush and green the vegetation was. I didn’t realize until I was informed at lunch that this area is actually a rain forest. I took my time driving through this area and stopped for a few hikes.

Nothing would prepare me for what I was about to see. The last time I saw the Pacific Ocean I was 4 years old… so I don’t really remember it. I knew that there was about a 10-mile stretch where I would drive along the Washing Coast before heading inland towards Portland. I was absolutely blown away as I turned a corner and caught my first glimpse of waves. I noticed a road that accessed Ruby Beach, so I took it and then hiked down to check it out. I spent about an hour down on this beach… just drooling. I am gonna post a few pictures of this beach since one picture will not do it justice.