Festivals and food babies

Another busy day in Seatts.  We started off our day at the Northwest Folklife Festival--it was great. It was like the Raspberry festival times 22, on drugs (i.e., marijuana . . . I could smell it everywhere).  People were performing everywhere (a lot of bands like what I would imagine James would join if he didn't ever shower) and there were many booths.  There were actually bagpipers, and when they started performing Aubrey began doing the fling.

Part-way through, we went to a sushi place nearby for lunch.  And naturally, I spilled soy sauce on myself (I don't think the trip would be complete without me spilling something)--but don't worry, I cleaned it up.  The sushi was so delicious.  Yum.  Most satisfying thing I've eaten all week.

We went back to the festival for a bit after lunch.  (There was a lady who had a little baby wallaby!!)  And then started our journey through town on 1st Avenue to Pioneer Square.

Space Needle's 50th year

The library. 

I really enjoyed seeing all of the cool architecture in the older part of town.  Next was the coolest part of the day--and Underground Tour of Seattle.  It was AWESOME!!!  A lot more to explain than I have energy to type right now, but if you look up the history, you'll understand why.  And our tour guide was hilarious, so that made it all the better.

After the tour we went and sat on the pier for a little bit before dinner.  Dinner was at a New Orleans restaurant where a jazz band was performing--super awesome as well.  We had delicious shrimp and oyster jambalaya that made us very full (hence "food babies" in the title . . . we're laying on the ground of her apartment right now, still extremely full).

After dinner we went and bought some food for tomorrow.  And that was the day!!  Tomorrow we'll just go to church, explore a little bit, and then take the lightrail to the airport.  It's been such a wonderful trip--I'll be sad to go.  But don't worry, I'm excited to see you.

A day at the market.

  "The greatest treasures always take a while to find."

                                                                         - French lady in a bookshop

What a day.  After the gym and breakfast, I made my way downtown while Aubrey went to French.  As I mentioned, I spent a bit of time in the Nike store and then I wandered around by the shops.  (I also had someone think that I was from Seattle--they said I had "that Seattle vibe" about me . . . whatever that means.)  After that I went to Pike Place where Aubrey met up with me.

I LOVE PIKE PLACE.

I'll write what we did first and then just add all of the pictures.  We basically just wandered around--I spent a lot of time near the flowers (I bought an oriental poppy, it was so cool)--and looked at shops.  We did stop in a book store again and went to this place that Audrey recommended for lunch.  The sandwich we ate was delicious--salmon with rosemary mayo, lettuce, and tomato.  (I really like rosemary.)  Before Aubrey went to the chiropractor's, she showed me the famous gum wall; and then I went and tried out a famous cheese place just for you and wandered around to other places.  (I found my way to another book store with a crazy employee, but that's a story for another day.)

Chocolate pasta!

Everybody loved my poppy.

My next stop was the waterfront.  I went into a little antique shop for a little bit, and then waited on the pier to meet with Aubrey.  We then went over and got on the ferry to Bainbridge Island.

Because we went to Bainbridge later in the evening, a lot of the shops were closed--but we still had a good time walking around and seeing what we could.  (We may or may not have eaten ice cream again . . .)  We had a good time chatting and got a couple of cokes and sat up on a balcony and just talked while the sun set.  Before getting on the ferry again, we explored around the neighborhoods and found a trail down to the shore.  It was beautiful and wonderful and started raining lightly as we made our way back up to the ferry station.

We really liked this hand-made gate.

Thought you'd like this picture of me.

We walked back to the apartment and grabbed some "street meat" along the way (basically greasy hot dogs with cream cheese spread on the bun--Stephen would love it).  Now we're just relaxing on Aubrey's bed and watching Swing Kids--just getting some rest before the long day ahead of us tomorrow.

Love ya.

Sleepy in Seattle

My sweet mother dear,

I decided to make posts about Seattle just to give you the full visual-anecdotal experience.  (And also because my feet are dead and we're in for the night with some time to spare.)  So here's what happened yesterday and today, step by step:

First, Aubrey picked me up from the airport and we dropped off my things and then walked around campus.  They have a cathedral on campus, so we stopped in there first.  There are SO MANY gardens!  It's beautiful.  They even have herb gardens on campus for people to pick from . . .and they have COMPOST bins!!!!  I really like how environment-friendly this university is--if I have time I'll try to find a way to change BYU. 

After that I went to class with Aubrey--it was one of her African studies classes so I really wanted to go.  And it was SO COOL.  If anything, it just made me want to go to Africa all the more.  And also drop statistics and get a minor in African Studies . . . would that be okay??  I would love it.

 

The documentary we watched in class

After class we stopped by Aubrey's work and then she walked me back to her place and showed me how to get into the building with her keys.  After looking at maps for half an hour, I ventured out onto the streets on my own (I was just walking to Trader Joe's to buy her some groceries).  On my way to the store, I walked past this little pizzeria and decided to have some dinner there.  I sat out on the patio by myself and enjoyed every minute of it.

Once I made it to Trader Joe's I wandered around trying to decide what to buy (and I accidentally wandered into the alcohol section and didn't want to look stupid so I pretended that I was browsing wines).  I finally gathered a few things, made my purchase, and walked out into the rain with a huge smile on my face--I felt so . . . something . . . as I walked down the streets of Seattle with a large paper bag full of groceries.  It was great.  And then once I got back I laid in bed and watched Sleepless in Seattle.

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Today, Aubrey and I went on a run in the morning to Volunteer Park.  I loved it.  We ran past all of these really cool houses and the park was lush and beautiful as well.  We ran up to the top of an observation tower there as well to get a view of the entire city.

After our run, we came back and ate, showered, read, etc.  Then we made our way to a wonderful book store where we spent a long time just browsing.  (I love book stores probably a little too much.)  AND, they had the HORATIO SERIES!!!  I almost bought them, until I realized that the book would either ruin the shows or not live up to them. 

 

After that, we went to a wonderfully delicious ice cream place and then walked around in the sun while we ate.  We then went into this record shop where we once again spent a lot of time browsing.

Next, we went to Aubrey's fiction writing class and it reminded me of all of the reasons that I wanted to major in English/be an author/be an editor.  I really enjoyed it.  After that we went to a small art show and then made our way back to Volunteer Park so that I could take pictures.

We spent a lot of time just walking around the neighborhoods and streets (especially on Broadway street) and then finally made our way to dinner at Honey Hole (this delicious sandwich place).  By the time we finished with that, my feet were aching--so we came back to rest and give Aubrey time to work on homework.

So that's been our past two days!  We made our plans for the rest of the weekend today and I'm super-unbelievably-it'sgoingtobesoawesome excited.  (I'll give you a few hints: waterfront, ferry, festival, jazz, seafood, markets, etc.)  So stay tuned.