Space Needle

When my grandma died a couple weeks ago, I expressed to my family I desperately wanted to attend the burial in Seattle instead of the funeral in St. George. Richelle said she wanted to go with me...and I told her she kinda had too. We were able to use two "buddy passes" Mike & I were given by our friend Cristina. They were about to expire, and it was the perfect way to get from here to there.

I met Richelle at the airport after my procedure. We checked our bags and headed for the gate. We talked about everything we wanted to accomplish in the 24 hours we would have there...we talked about the IUI...we talked about everything we could come up with until we boarded the plane. I've been fortunate in my travels...I'm not sure I've never sat at the very back of the plane. I am usually an emergency exit row kinda girl (if first class is full...haha) or forward (poor Mike is too tall for the tiny seats...). The only row available with two seats next to each other- the VERY last row. I didn't think much of it, until Richelle made mention the seats did not recline...in fact- I think they may sit more upright than the other seats. I also think they aren't as wide as the other seats. We laughed it off and enjoyed the free flight.

Luckily, we made a pit-stop in Sacramento. It was a quick 20 minutes to change planes and get back in the air. The second flight was much more comfortable and seemed a lot shorter than expected. I could feel myself getting excited to finally be back in Seattle. I have wanted to go back since I was nine years old. We spent an amazing summer there with my mom when I was nine...It's where she grew up, so it holds a significant place in my heart. Unfortunately, she's been gone for so long the place is somewhat empty because I haven't had stories or memories to fill it up. Until now.

As we flew in I was amazed at the amount of beautiful green trees...GREEN everywhere!! And water too...I was happy. I wanted off that plane so we could get out there and see it all. We landed, picked up our rental car and headed towards our hotel.

(Side note: I decided I would copy my only brother and try out priceline.com. I wanted to stay somewhere nice, but didn't want to pay for it. I decided I had nothing to lose, so I went for it. I told the computer I wanted to spend $80 a night for a 4-star hotel in downtown Seattle. I was quite nervous as I hit the confirmation button- there was no turning back now. turns out my brother isn't quite the moron we all think he is (Well- he is, but ya know...this one thing worked out) (love ya Bro). We stayed at the Sheraton Seattle for $80...$99 with tax. We were happy with our...I mean Priceline's choice.)

We checked in and headed for the Space Needle. It was sooo close...I had literally been waiting since I was nine years old for this moment. When my mom took us to Seattle, we planned to go there. We even drove to the Space Needle...then she saw the entrance price. I didn't understand at the time, but she said it was just too expensive. It was $8 a person. I was devastated. I wasn't mad, I was heart-broken. (I was nine...what can I say?)

I have wanted to go back ever since.

We found our way to the Space Needle. Bought our tickets. Waited for the cool capsule shaped elevator and finally took the ride up. We were about half way up when I realized I had never actually thought about the height of the top of the Space Needle. I don't have a fear of heights, per se. I have a fear of falling...which heights does not help (and no matter what Mike thinks...it's perfectly normal). I looked at Richelle the rest of the way up and it turns out we didn't die.

We walked around most of the perimeter, but the wind was crazy cold...so we went inside and looked at all of the cool stuff they had to play with. They had the history of the Space Needle...how it came to be and how it was "rejuvenated" for the millennium. They also had a really cool interactive "map" of Seattle...there were question marks you could touch and a blurb would pop up and give the information on that location. Very cool.

When we were done, we wandered around the gift shop and then drove back to the hotel. We took our stuff up to the room and realized it was almost 9 0'clock!! It was bright as noon...we were starving, but had NO idea how late it had gotten.

We quickly cleaned up a bit and walked toward the fish market. The concierge told us the restaurants were open until 11pm, so we figured we'd find something. On our walk down Pike Street, I realized we probably wouldn't be walking back. There were some questionable characters that made my instincts act up...and I don't like that (esp on vacation. vacation = no gun).

We got to the market and everything was closed. Everything. We stood and looked at each other for a few minutes trying to figure out what to do...when a market employee told us to walk down the stairs, through the alley (the dark alley with nobody close by to hear us scream), and out to the street where we'd find more restaurants on the water. We decided to walk with two Canadians who were headed that direction.

On the way down, they told us they had just eaten at a great place called Ivars. We walked past numerous restaurants...all closed for the night. It was only about 9:30...we were bummed. We finally found Ivars and they were open, so we went in, sat down and ordered a lot of food. I enjoyed King Salmon & Dungeness crab legs and Richelle order a stuffed chicken breast. We also had an appetizer of crab cakes (yum), shrimp cocktail & calamari. By the end we were stuffed.

We took a cab back to the hotel (dessert to-go in hand) and headed for bed. Richelle was so funny...so excited to sleep in her own bed with nobody to kick her, snuggle up to her, snore, etc.