I suddently realize I never finished writing about our move to Seattle. I guess I will finish that after my wedding in Lake Louise (i.e. who knows when it will happen).
14 OCT 2005 : Friday
My mom and two of her sisters were comng into town for a visit, so I took the day off from work. I spent the morning cleaning up, and left for the airport around 11am. My aunts had arrived early, but they decided to wait in the terminal for my mom. Her flight was late, so I spent the time bumming around the terminal and pacing about. Seatac, or perhaps just USAir and United, does not see fit to update the arrival boards with the current flight status, so I had no idea when my mom would arrive. Fortunately, I had checked the status of the flight before I left for the airport, so I knew it would be late; it just happened to arrive later than anticipated.
The weather was a bit iffy… cloudy and overcast… but not rainy. Unfortunately, my relatives could not see the great view of Mt. Rainier one can get from I5 (they never did get to see it in fact). We decided to check out a bit of downtown and Pikes Place Market before heading back to the apartment as the market would be more crowded over the weekend. During the car ride, we eliminated possible activities: any museums or things that required a lot of walking (my mom’s knees are pretty bad).
We walked about and saw the sights. I actually like the market. My aunts tried to see them throwing fish, and in fact did see a halibut thrown, but it was moving too fast to get a picture. We walked a bit outside the market area, but did not wander very far. I took the opportunity to get some dried porcini mushrooms and mushroom powder from DeLaunrenti. Unforuntately, I still have not found a good place to get them, though DeLaurenti’s is OK.
We then briefly took a driving tour around downtown and Lower Queen Anne before heading back. My relatives relaxed in the apartment while I got the keys for the studio they were going to rent in my building; my apartment has a guest room that people can reserve… convenient and cheaper than all the hotels around here. The studio itself was quite nice, and they just put in new tables as I was checking it out. I later brought up our inflatable mattress and bedding as there was just a queen size bed in the room.
My aunts wanted to see the baseball game between the White Sox and the Angels, so we talked and watched a bit of that while waiting for Amanda to get off work. We briefly considered eating really early (although it was not early for them in East Coast/Central time), but then decided to wait for Amanda.
She happened to be delayed at clinic, so just as we were going to head out for dinner, she called up. I decided to pick her up and then possible get take out food from somewhere on the way back. They wanted to watch the baseball game anyway. We got Thai from Jamjuree on 15th and retired back to the apartment. I was starving by this time as I had not eaten all day; I had always seemed that I would be about to eat something and then something came up. One of those days.
15 OCT 2005 : SATURDAY
Apparently, my relatives all got up at 2 or 3am or something crazy like that. They eventually called us up at around 8:30am. Amanda had to get her hair cut by students at the Aveda Institute in Capitol Hill, so she took them there with her. I napped a bit longer.
Amanda had thought that it would only take half and hour, but since students were doing it… they had to get their worked checked and whatnot… it took a while, so she called me up to rescue my mom and aunts. They were not surprised that it would take a while as they also get their hair cut by students.
We decided to check out the Seattle Center, and Amanda would catch up with us later. We walked about the Center, checked out the International Fountain, and eventually went up the Space Needle. It was much cooler than I thought it would be. In spite of the fact that the day was still very overcast, the view was still great. I thought the fact that the Space Needle was not all that high actually improved the view of the city. Of course, $13 was a little pricey for an elevator ride, but it was a classic thing to do in Seattle.
Amanda caught up with us at the Needle; she caught a bus downtown and then took the monorail to the center. Hunger was setting in, so we went to the commerical district downtown around Pike and Pine for lunch. We ended up eating at the Westlake Center as food courts are convenient when lots of people are involved.
My mom’s knees were a bit sore by this time, so she hung out with Amanda in a coffee shop, while my aunts and I wandered about. They eventually decided to look for souvenirs for family back in Chicago. We met back up with my mom and Amanda and then took a bit of a drive around Seattle, both floating bridges on Lake Washington, and a bit of the Eastside.
After relaxing a home for a bit (and more baseball watching), we headed out to Tango for dinner. The good was good, although some stuff was a bit salty for my aunts (I like salt with is probably why I like Tango). They forgot my oysters, and later my cognac; they do not write your orders down and enter them in by memory which seems a bad thing at a tapas place when you might order gobs of dishes. It more elegant, I suppose, but only good if you pull it off all the time. Anyways, I did not need more food or alcohol really, so it did not matter so much.
16 OCT 2005 : SUNDAY
Amanda made pancakes for breakfast. My relatives seemed to be shocked and amazed that we made them from scratch. Or perhaps they were amazed at our culinary skills.
We headed out to Bainbridge Island on the other side of Elliot bay. We took the ferry, which I had not done before. I was fun… a nice scenic 35 minute ride. Our destination was the Bloedel Reserve, a old garden estate/land conservatory. It is apparently very popular and one must make reservations. We were able to do so on the same day, but I gather during March and April one must make them weeks in advance.
The reserve itself was nice. It was an easy 2-2.5 milewalk through landscaped meadows and gardens and took maybe 2 hours to do. It was a bit long for my mom, but the paths were easily graded and there was the estate house/visitor center in the middle for a break. It was still nice during our blustery grey visit, so I could see how it would be really popular in the spring and summer.
We had brunch at Cafe Nola in Winslow while waiting for the ferry. Afterwards, Amanda and my aunts went walking about Winslow looking at knitting and scrapbooking stores, while my mom and I relaxed.
The ferry ride back was uneventful (although later I did read that the Bainbridge ferry terminal’s timbers were rotting). I whipped up a mushroom sauce for dinner with premade store bought raviolis and Amanda made a berry dessert. My aunts were quite impressed with the mushroom sauce; I admit I thought it was a bit mediocre.
My aunts were taking the red eye back to Chicago, so after dinner they packed up. We sat around talking until I took them back to the airport. My mom would not be flying out until Tuesday.
17 OCT 2005 : MONDAY
Work. My mom walked down towards downtown in the morning and walked back. She later met up with a friend from high school who lives in Shoreline. Amanda and I had dinner at Taco del Mar. Exciting stuff.
18 OCT 2005 : TUESDAY
Work. I took my mom to the airport in mid morning. She eventually made it back to to Virginia Beach at around 11pm eastern time.
Amanda and I had dinner at Blue C Sushi with a few of her Harborview family medicine compatriots. We briefly considered going to see “Ukrainian punk/folk music” with some of her other R1s, but decided to go home.
19 OCT 2005 : WEDNESDAY
Work.
20 OCT 2005 : THURSDAY
Work.
21 OCT 2005 : FRIDAY
Work. Who knows what the evening holds?
Time for some exercise now though.