Thursday, May 15, 2008

We slept great - got up, took showers and got ready to check out. We called for a cab and rode downtown to the Empress Hotel. Becky stayed with the cab and went over to the Clipper office and checked in our luggage. Then she walked back over to meet us. We didn't want to pay $50 to have high tea at the Empress so we walked through it and around it looking for the advertised Miniature World and couldn't find it. We asked someone that worked there who was neither friendly nor knowledgeable. So we went across the street to Sam's Deli for lunch (another one of Larry's recommendations).

After lunch Mom said she would sit at a table outside and people watch while Becky & I walked up and down Government Road. We checked out a couple different stores, including a bookstore and talked to a local author who had originally come from Australia. We walked back to Mom and found out she had gone shopping in the nearby stores and bought herself a new cloth shopping bag.

Then we took our walk along the harbor across from the Empress. We stopped several times along the way to watch street musicians and one particularly entertaining man called "Plaster Man." He was covered completely in white "plaster" with a plaster bucket in front of him to collect tips. He stood on top of a box like a statue until someone dropped money in his bucket. Then he would move, stepping off of the box and scaring whomever dropped the money in.

We walked a couple blocks farther down to get a carriage ride around the city. Mom requested a white horse so we got Dylan with driver Mike. He was another character that kept us laughing (he might have been related to Larry).

We went by the house of Emily Carr - a very eccentric painter. She kept a pet monkey and dressed him up in clothes and pushed him around town in a baby carriage. The chairs in her parlor were hooked up to pulleys - if you left the room and she didn't like you, when you came back all the chairs were on the ceiling and you had to leave.

After our ride we still had time before the Clipper left so we stopped at another place and got something to eat. We got to the Clipper office right at 6 p.m. with departure set for 7. As we got our boarding passes I was finally able to say something that I always wanted to. When asked the usual question, "Do you have anything to declare?" I immediately said, "We had a lovely time visiting." She just smiled, she's probably heard that before.

We finally got on board - everything was full for this return trip. Absolutely every seat was taken, but weather was clear and we were able to see everything. Seattle has an impressive skyline that was worth watching as we got closer. We got through customs, Becky walked a couple blocks back and picked up the car to come and get us. We found our way back to The Moore and this time used the parking garage across the street for $19/24 hours. We were checked back in before 11 p.m.