I arrived on Sunday evening, around 7PM, to the Seattle airport. I was delighted that it wasn't raining, and surprised that it wasn't as cold as I thought it would be. While waiting for my friend to arrive, I was people watching and caught myself several times thinking I was already in Canada. Not sure why that was, maybe because of several travelers with Canadian tags on their bags. Not a symbol we see very often in Texas.
On the way to our hotel, I was again pleasantly surprised how clear the air was. The Seattle city skyline was nicely visible for miles. Sometimes the best view of the city can be at night. It took us a bit longer to find the hotel, which is just few hundred yards from the iconic Space Needle. It was nice to see it all lit up at night, and I am glad I was able to see it in person and take pictures of it, but I don't see yet what's the big deal about it. It's really not as high as I thought it would be. After checking in, we drove downtown, which is just a few blocks away, to have dinner. We were looking for this Asian restaurant, Wild Ginger, that was recommend to my friend as one of the good eats in the city. The streets are somewhat confusing here because they are not perpendicular at all, and many of them are one way. We had the directions, but not the map, so after missing the first turn it took us a while to find our way back because of all the no-turn signs. We asked for direction few times, and even called a friend for exact intersection location, and finally after an hour (which should have been just 8 minutes ride) we found a spot to park and headed to the restaurant.
The air was much colder by this time, which was almost 10 PM, and the light wind in our face was making it even more uncomfortable. Since it was Sunday evening, there were not that many people on the street, and the cold temperature was not helping either. When we finally arrived at the restaurant, which was very poorly marked, a big crowd, apparently some sports fans, were at the door. There was a private party that evening, and they were letting in only people with invitations. I tried to talk our way into it, but the ladies checking the invitations were not giving in.
Argh.
I suggested we try the sea-food place we parked next to, so we walked back up and down couple of blocks. Seattle reminds me of San Francisco a bit, with some very steep streets and cars parked sideways. The other restaurant was nice, and we at least warmed up a bit, but their kitchen was already closed. I asked for some suggestions on where we could go, and their first one was Wild Ginger. :) They also suggested McCormick and Schmick, but I didn't want to go to the same chain restaurant we have in Austin. Then a couple at the bar suggested BOKA restaurant/bar at the Hotel 1000, just a couple of blocks away. So, finally, around 10.30 PM we ordered our dinner and were able to sit, be warm, and visit. At one point during the meal I found what appeared to be a piece of hair in my bowl of muscles, but I continued to eat it. When I mentioned it to the hostess at the end of the dinner, she didn't charge us for my entree.
Since Seattle is 2 hours behind Austin, I was hoping to be able to go to sleep early and get up early to use most of the day time, but this first night we didn't get back to the hotel room until just after midnight. Luckily, I woke up at 6 am. :) It is about 50F outside, cloudy, but again, no rain. I am thinking our first stop will be a coffee shop. Hmmmm, coffee!
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