Saturday, May 17, 2008

Becky was up early and walked down to Pike Place Market. She found the first Starbuck's in the U.S. and got coffee for her and Mom. She also found a French Bakery next door and picked up warm pastry for breakfast.

We ate our treats and started taking showers. We found out the water hook up in this shower is backwards - you had to pull out the shower faucet and turn to the right for hot water. The faucet in the sink you turn to the left. Becky said the weather was warm already so we finally dug shorts out of our luggage for the day.

I wrote out my postcards to mail and forgot them on the table when we left around 9 a.m. We walked down Stewart Street. It's very steep. There were 2 stools sticking out of the side of a building that Mom could rest on. Then we went into Pike Place Market. The flowers were beautiful - huge bouquets for $10.

There was a cheese festival at Pike Place, set up in the street in front of the Market. There was so much to look at inside that we really didn't look at any cheese.

Wonderful fruits and vegetables. We bought 1/2 pint of raspberries for $5. A box of strawberries was $5 also. The berries were so huge it looked like they were packed 3 in the bottom layer and 4 on the top layer. Asparagus was running $1.99 to $2.50 per pound. Morel mushrooms were $39.95/lb; we had to take a picture for Dad. We can pretty much walk out in the woods back home and pick them so this price was astonishing.

In the center of the market is "Pike Place Fish" famous for it's flying fish. When anyone buys a fish the clerk throws it to the next clerk calling out "One Salmon, Going to Wisconsin" or whatever. This keeps on until all the workers have caught this fish and the last one is packing it up to go. It was fun to watch and there were a lot of people there for that reason.

About 10 a.m. we went upstairs to Maximillian's so we could sit out on their patio and watch the harbor.(I think it was Elliott's Bay) We just ordered cold drinks. We looked across the bay to the Bremerton Shipyard - I remember Lindberg used to have a lot of equipment there.

We finished our drinks and went down another corridor and down some steps. We found a place Mom could sit with a quilt shop nearby. Becky & I went down 3 more floors to look at the different shops.

We picked up Mom and went out a back door (and, yes she did check out the quilt ship), down another block to Alaskan Way, which is where all the docks are. We had decided it was going to be hot enough we would spend some time inside and went to Seattle's Aquarium ($15/each, we had $1 off coupon and Mom got a senior rate too). We asked about a wheelchair and got one so Mom could sit because we kept telling her she had to walk back UP all the streets we came down earlier(just kidding). We took in a couple of educational talks and watched them feed the native Washington fish under a glass dome. Later we watched them feed the otters and sea lions.

Becky had been talking about eating at Ivar's since Day 1, it's her favorite place. We finally convinced her that, yes, we could walk that far if we took our time and stopped when Mom wanted to rest. It really was only a few blocks. On the way I stopped at a sidewalk vendors and bought T-shirts for the grandkids.

We got to Ivar's around 4'ish and opted to eat inside for the air conditioning. It was truly wonderful! Now we know what Becky has been talking about. Becky ordered one of her favorites, "Acres of Clams." Mom & I ordered Giant Prawns and chips - Delicious!!

On the dock side of Ivar's, the seagulls were going crazy. Other places we ate at had signs telling people to NOT feed the seagulls. This picture tells you what Ivar's has posted. A fire station is right next door - fire trucks on the street side and fire boats in the water.

We walked around several different shops and picked up more postcards. We thought we would get a cab back to our hotel for $7. We started looking at the bus schedules for $1.50 each. A Seattle native saw us and told us which # bus to look for. Then we found out that the ride is free in the downtown area. We were dropped off 2 blocks from our hotel but on a relatively flat street for Mom - no more hills to climb up.

We were back around 6:40. Becky went out for Pepsi's, we were all thirsty. Mom called Dad - he's doing well on his own with friends and family stopping in to visit. Mom & Becky played cribbage with Becky being soundly beaten. She said that was enough. She and I walked over to the parking garage to plug more money in and I remembered to take along the post cards to mail.

We had to walk 2 blocks to find a box. Then we walked another block just because the weather was perfect! we were now on 3rd Street, one block away from our hotel. This was the first time either of us felt uncomfortable. Lots of people on this street - bag ladies, people in doorways, meeting in alley's, one homeless person sleeping in wheelchair with all his possessions. We were both thankful it was still very light out and just zipped along until we were on our street again. It's amazing what one block's difference can be!

We got back to our room and I beat Mom in cribbage - Yeah!! She asked if I wanted to go again. I declined, saying I wanted to hold onto the good feeling for the moment.