one last thing before I quit

Day Nine probably doesn't really count as part of the trip. It was just a travel day. Not much to write about...

We got up super early, caught a cab and went down to the train station. After a bit of waiting around, we boarded and started the trek back. It was nice though. The sun was out, everything was blue or green and you could see the mountains. It was a very relaxing ride back to Vancouver.

Our only 'nervous' moment was when we were waiting to go through customs at the train station. They didn't have any real security there. There wasn't an x-ray machine or a body scanner, but they did have a drug dog. Now, this was a little scary, because we had bought a tons of varieties of spices earlier on the trip, and they were in one of our suitcases. It's not that it's illegal or anything, it's just the explaining and trying to prove it's a spice. Fortunately, nothing happened. The dog just sniffed around. I guess they have really good training.

We caught another cab to the airport. It was smoldering hot in the cab, and unfortunately it must have been a good 20 minute ride.

We checked in, grabbed some food, took advantage of the free internet in the terminals, and got on our flight. We had an extremely short flight to Calgary, maybe 60 minutes long, and then we had another hour lay-over until another flight to Winnipeg. It was nice though, with the regular 3-hour flight broken-up. It was a fairly mellow day, but it usual is when one travels. Nothing like an 11-hour traveling period.

The trip is officially over.

Day Eight, the last real day in Seattle. ugh. Time flies when you're somewhere awesome.

After enjoying a delicious apple turnover from a little grocery store near by, we quickly made our way back to Pike Place Market, just so I could pick up two of the hats that Mr. Dan had worked on the night previous. I also picked up another on while I was there, of a few spray cans with the Seattle skyline in side. Stay tuned for a short post on this guy, with pictures, as it'll make more sense then.

After the hats, we took the free bus further down 1st Ave and stopped at the Central Saloon, just so i could get a picture of it. It's the city's oldest pub and where Nirvana played their first ever show in Seattle. From there, we walked a couple blocks to the piers and made our way to the ferry. We had planned to do this at some point on the trip, and we were just waiting for the right weather to do so.

We got on a massive ferry, with room for cars as well, and made our way over to Bainbridge Island. It was about a 25 minute ride, with about 10 minutes for loading and unloading. It was super cheap, about $14 for two people, round-trip even! The Seattle skyline looked gorgeous, and between the trip there and back, we saw the beautiful Olympia National Park mountains in the west, as well as Mount Rainier on the east. As for Bainbridge itself, we were in a town called Eagleton, a nice little cottage-esque feeling and view. We had dinner at a place with not the best service, but it was still ok, because we weren't in a rush. There were a few stores we stopped in, but nothing terribly exciting. We were just looking for a reason to get out of Seattle, and this was perfect. The front of the boat was super windy, which was fun for a while too. The sun was out and feeling nice as well. It was a beautiful day.

We wrapped up the day by just packing our things and we just ordered a pizza in. We had both been craving a pizza on and off during the trip, but figured we'd try to eat more local food, mainly seafood, when possible. But we decided that something quick would be nice, plus we could save a couple bucks from eating out, as well as relax indoors and figure out how much 50 pounds in a suitcase felt like.

Day Seven seems to have stopped by very quickly. We happily decided to go out for a late breakfast / early lunch. Figuring that we'd spend a good chunk of our day at Pike Place Market, we made our way to our new favorite place, Lowell's, for the third time on the trip. Even though we've gone there a few times, we always got something different. It was a nice, reliably delicious place to go, that was reasonably priced and somewhat close to the hotel.

We had been in and out, and spent no more then about 20 minutes at a time in the market, so we after grabbing some grub, we made our way to one end of the market and proceeded to check things out. There was tons to see with a bunch of people everywhere. After looking at a couple smaller nick-nack shops, we found ourselves by one of the big fish stations. The workers had little jingle-ish things that they yelled when they made a sale, got a tip, pretty much when anything happened. They even tossed fish from the front display to the workers behind the counter. It was somewhat exciting. We continued to walk around the market, looking at things ranging from fresh flowers and produce, to wooden puzzles and hand-blown bowls (which Jess bought one of).

But it wasn't until we left the indoors part of the market, and ventured to the little kiosks outside, that I found what I had been looking for. I'll post a longer post in a few days, but here's the gist for now. A local artist did his own drawings and caricatures on hats, shoes, bags, etc. He had things ranging from pop culture characters, to just names and locations. It was beautiful. After all was said and done, I picked up 3 hats, a Michelangelo, a Sloth and a Stay Puft Marshmallow Man one. I'll post pictures of these later as well. The guy was super nice too. That put me in a good mood.

The rest of the market adventure was short. We saw and listened to a couple buskers, admired some of the food on display, watched cheese be made, and then struggled our way back up the hilly street.

We jetted back to the hotel to drop of our purchases, and figured that we should get one last big splurge of shopping done. So we headed back to the business district downtown. This is where more of the box-stores can be found, like Urban Outfitters, Banana Republic and H&M. There were tons of stores, and they all covered at least 2 floors. We proceeded to dispose of plenty of our remaining money, because we like to help out the economy of course.

With the night rolling in, we stopped by the Fox Sports Grill of a quick bite. We each got a burger, easily a good 8 inches tall. It was super good though, and helped fulfill my BBQ craving that i had most of the trip. The night ended shortly after that as we just watched the Mariner's game from the hotel on the team's own TV channel. My only concern was about clearing customs in a couple days.

Day Six. Thursday. Not the best day we've had here. In fact, I'd say it was my least favorite. It started off by us going to Fremont, from what we though would sort of be comparable to maybe Osbourne Village in Winnipeg. We figured we'd take a taxi since it would've been over an hour long walk. So we ventured down the street, walking and waiting for one to come by. About 30 minutes and 20 cabs later, we finally got one. None of the cabs seemed to stop, even though no one was in them. Ugh. It was frustrating. Anywho, we found one by the Space Needle.

So we made our way over there and figured out a little system of walking around so we wouldn't miss anything. We went into a few women's shops, which was fine. I knew that there were two record shops close to each other, which I'd be able to spend plenty of time in. So maybe after 2 hours of waling around, and going up the hill to see the troll, we came back down and grabbed a light lunch. I went to one record shop but I couldn't find the other. We killed some time at the Antique Mall, which was fairly large and had some great old signs. After a few more attempts to find the second record shop, we just gave up and ended up going back to the hotel. It was very disappointing. We checked Google Maps right after, found out where it was, but we think it had to have been closed, because we walked in that area for quite some time, with no luck. Also, there weren't really any guy stores in Fremont, which was another let down. Oh well.

Since we spent less time in Fremont then we thought we would, we made our way back down to the far end of First Ave and walked our way back up it, looking for a few more places to drop some cash. But there was nothing too interesting. I managed to get a look at The Showbox, which was very exciting, despite all of the construction that was being down to the exterior.

We ended up going back to Lowell's for supper, which was once again absolutely delicious. I got the fish and chips and it was well worth the money. Other then stopping by the original Starbucks, we just did the window-shopping tour.

Our day ended up not costing as much as we were planning, but that's never a bad thing. It was, in the end, a more relaxing day with tons of sun and exercise, which was well needed.

Day Five saw us start of the day by going for a nice long walk. Well, it wasn't supposed to be as long as it was. We got a little lost. But it was nice out, so all was good. We ventured out to the Olympic Sculpture Park and spent over an hour walking around the different pieces of art, and then spending some time right off the coast, sitting on some rocks. It was nice and relaxing.

We then continued walking along the docks and stopped in for a quite fish & chips at a little shop. It was very delicious. The fish just melted in our mouths. Tasty!

Then we realized that we had a big problem with one of our other scheduled activities. Before leaving for the trip, we had bought tickets to see Doves play at the Crocodile Cafe. Our only option for ticket delivery, was to have them shipped through Canada Post. But we never got our tickets. We just assumed that we'd then be able to go to the Croc and pick up our tickets there, with our confirmation code. But nope. They aren't a Ticketmaster. Ugh. So we waited til the box office opened up, but they were all sold out. It sucked.

So we decided to go to this little place called Shorty's, which was a couple buildings down from the Croc. To sum it up, they've got a patio outside, a few booths inside and then a bunch of pinball and arcade machines. They also feature a variety of styles of hot dogs. You basically get to grab a beer and a dog, then go spend some quarters. It was a nice change from the usual tourist places we've stumbled on.

After our 'supper', we discussed further options, and decided to go to a Sasquatch! Festival poster gallery. We hit up a cab, and ventured across to a different neighbourhood. We thought we knew where we were going but I guess we didn't. We couldn't figure out where this gallery was, so we just walked around the area, looking for posters or anything that'd help. We ended up finding the statue of Jimi Hendrix that's outside of a record shop, so we took a couple quick snaps and continued on. We made our way to a shoppe called Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream. Knowing two things, one being that they were a little sponsor of the poster show, and two, that they had some of the best ice cream in the entire US, we stopped in. And I have to say, it was unbelievably delicious ice cream! It was very tasteful and so fresh. The waffle cone was also crazy delicious. Anywho, they sent us in the right direction, and we finally made it. Turns out we were at the right corner when we first got there, but the place had no signage and was in the shadier part of the street.

The gallery was moderately full, but there was a lot to see. A bunch of artists were asked to create their own gig poster for a different band, and there were some fantastic ones. We walked around looking at everything, then ended up taking pictures of a bunch of them, to share with our peers when we get back to work. It was a nice, relaxing evening of art.

Following the gallery, we quickly went to the record shop with the Hendrix statue in front and spent a few minutes looking through the vinyl. All I ended up buying was a Van Halen album, Diver Down, for just $3. It's one of my favorites. Day five was a very nice day.

Day Four is here, and it's bittersweet. We've been checking the weather whenever possible since we've been here and for a while it's been saying that there'd be some thundershowers all day. We've got a list of places we wanted to check out during the trip, so we picked two of the indoor ones. Clever us.

We quickly went to a little cafe for a bite to eat. It was called Deli Shez Cafe. It wasn't until the server answered the phone 'Delicious Cafe'. The food was cheap, tasty, and a nice start.

We then walked many blocks and visited the Experience Music Project. Jess and I have been anxious to go there since the first day we planned our trip out. I most certainly enjoy the music history while Jess enjoys the -er- 'unique' Frank Gehry design. It did look nice, and the colors were strangely cool, but it wasn't my reason for being there. After spending a chunk of time taking pictures of the building outside, we ventured in. When we went downstairs to pay for admission, we were quick to notice a display of roughly 10 Pearl Jam posters designed by Ames Bros. I was stoked!! What a way to start off!

We then went up to the 2nd floor and popped into the first room. They've got a 6-week or so exhibit on Jimi Hendrix. They had everything there, from his personal notebooks to lyrics written on hotel notepads and a few of his old guitars to one of his coats that he wore, starting a big trend. They also had iPods set up with what seemed like everything ever recorded, legal and not, for you to listen too. Super cool!

Next up was a large room with basses and guitars spanning from the 1800s to the present. There were many replicas of more famous designs, such as Eddie Van Halen and Paul McCartney's, but everything was a real guitar. There were also a few that were donated to them, like Bo Diddley and Kurt Cobain. It was a nice learning session.

Following that room was a section dedicated to Seattle's musical-imprint. They started with the old Gold Rush days, and continued to the present bands like Fleet Foxes. The grunge set-up was cool, where that just had a ton of magazine covers, comic books, a few LPs, some demo tapes and Nirvana's busted up instruments from the '92 VMAs. There were also some nice old signs from the Central Saloon and Off Ramp. There was too much Heart memorabilia for my liking.

That was pretty much the end to the music portion of the 'museum'. On the 3rd floor, a different kind of exhibit was going on. Hatch Show Print is a legendary letterpress printing company that's been doing event posters since 1879. I knew nothing of this. I was cool to see some of the posters with their actual carved, wood blocks hung up beside it. They've ranged in all kinds of music from the Hank Williams and Bob Dylan to the Beastie Boys and Eagles of Death Metal. It was a nice fit for a music gallery.

By the time we left, it was starting to rain, so we hustled back to a little grocery store, picked up a few items and had a make-shift lunch. We waited til the rain quieted down and caught the practical free bus, and headed down to the Seattle Central Library. This is another spectacle of a building that Seattle's got in their pocket. I don't know how to describe it, so maybe just go here and look for yourself. The inside is extremely open, graphic and modern. Much to what you'd almost not expect from a library. With all of the people inside, it was crazy as to just how quiet it was too. I felt bad for walking and making any noise.

Post-library, we kept the indoor theme going and stopped by a large mall to see what was inside, then just headed out for supper. We went to this Mexican restaurant Mama's Restaurant Kitchen. The food was fast, and seemed authentic. No more then 15 minutes after eating, we were both comfortably full but felt just horrible. Not the best way to end any day.

Yaaa! I just saw this this morning!! It sort of reminds me of a James Bond meets Sleepy Hollow. I love this English era. Gah! Whoo! I can only hope it'll be a great Christmas present for all.



OH! And also, the full trailer for the movie '9' was just released! I had posted about this a while back. It looks like it'll be good, not great. But good is still good! Watch it here.

Day Three in The Emerald City. It wasn't too bad. It started off with a late breakfast at Lowell's. It took a bit of finding, but we managed to make it before the breakfast service had finished. Lowell's is a 3-floor restaurant and bar found in the famous Pike Place Market. It had a great view, overlooking Puget Sound and Bainbridge Island. I also hear that a scene from Sleepless In Seattle was shot there. I certainly do enjoy Tom hanks, but I haven't seen that movie. I'll believe it though. Even though it was just a breakfast, the food was extremely delicious.

Following the good eats, we went to a little shop called World Spice Merchants. They've got over one hundred different kinds of spices and seasonings available, and at a great price. You simply get to walk around, smelling the different kinds of spices in jars, and you just write down how much of what kind you'd like. You then drop off the list and come back in a bit to pick it up. We picked up 5 different orders for people back home, spanning roughly 40 different varieties. I personally picked up 5 different kinds of BBQ rubs.

We left the Pike Place Market area and went up to the business district for some shopping. The business district features more of the national chains as opposed to the local shops. We spent a bunch of time in Urban Outfitters with a super huge bill to finish it off, but it's well worth it. There's always some interesting items there. I even picked up an Arcade Fire - Funeral vinyl. It was just $14 which is well worth it. Awesome.

The night finished off with a nice dinner at Assaggio Ristorante. We had some fresh pasta and shared a delicious coconut sorbet actually served in a coconut! The services was great and the food was even better.

Day three ended with me learning that Mike McCready is playing the national anthem at the Mariner's game on Tuesday. Hmm. I'll have to consider that.

Day Two of my vacation was also the first full day in Seattle. Slept in due to the previous long-ass day, and it was nice. Jess and I walked a few blocks over to a nice restaurant called CJ's Eatery. They've got an all day breakfast and it was really good. Especially the freshly squeezed OJ.

After that, we decided to make our way down to Safeco Field. We're going to catch the Mariners / Red-Sox game. It's one of only a handful of activities that we had planned out in advance. We took a free bus, which is just awesome. There's big area in downtown Seattle that offers free transit, which certainly helps the wallet for us travelers. We finally got there, after the human-sardine-can bus rumbled it's way down and it was wonderful. The stadium looked just beautiful. I can't believe that over 45 000 people can fit AND go to most games. It's just crazy sine Winnipeg's biggest venue is CanadInns Stadium, where maybe 29 000 can fit. Plus it rarely gets sold-out. Anyways, the game was great as it came down to the the bottom of the 9th and 2 out, and the Mariners pulling through. It was certainly interesting to see though, as easily more then half of the crowd was cheering for the Red-Sox. Tons of fun though.

After the game, we just made our way back to our hotel area, went for a nice bite to eat in a poorly serviced restaurant called Amber Restaurant and then went to bed. It was a perfectly relaxing day, following the long travel one we experienced.

Day One was most certainly a long one. We got the airport an hour early, which is fine for a domestic flight. But there was a solid 50 person line-up at the security check-stop. It took some time to get through that, but everything was fine. Our flight went well too. One of the better take-offs and landings the I've experienced. The only problem was trying to stay awake. Nothing like a 7am flight.

We got to Vancouver with 9 hours to kill before we could board our train. We decided to just grab some breakfast and relax in the airport for a bit. We then snagged a taxi and went to the Ikea in Richmond. I had the pleasure of waiting in the entrance with all of the luggage while Jess went shopping. Fortunately I had picked up a couple magazines while still in the airport. More time was killed, and plenty of stares were received from strangers, but we kept moving on.

We caught another taxi and drove down to the train station. I had only ever been in Vancouver for a night, and we only went on one of the industrial scenic tours, but this time we went through the more residential part of town. And this was nice. I always heard of how green Vancouver was, but had never seen it before. The plants were green and lush and it was nice.

Once at the train station, which looked awesomely nostalgic from the outside, we checked our baggage and proceeded to kill 5 more hours. We went for a walk and ended up in an antique store for a bit. They had a large variety but nothing terribly cool. We made our way to the riverside and just sat and read for a while. The best thing in the river that day, was a pirate ship! It totally reminded me of the car in Animal House. Hilarious. We just walked around, looked at random things and just ended up sitting around in the station for the rest of the few hours. The only downside to waiting in the station, was that they tried to keep that old train station atmosphere, which meant sitting on these uncomfortable wooden benches. Oh well.

We boarded the train, after boarding was delayed a half hour. But this was all worth it! I had never been on a train, other then in museums and junk, but this would easily be my top choice to travel! The fact that you can just walk around the whole time, or wait in your more-then-roomy seats (which even had footrests so you could put your feet up) or even sit in the lounge and just mingle with everyone else. We spent most of the 4 hour ride in the lounge, but it went by super fast. The windows were massive and the view with the mountains on one side and the ocean on the other, all with the sun on it's way down, was more then worth the 30 bucks we spent on tickets. While in the lounge, we were sitting beside a lady who was in from London. She had written for the Warner UK and was now doing publicity for bands. And she was going to Seattle to work with PEARL JAM! GAH!! WHAT?! And I knew it was all true because I brought up the Jeff Ament stabbing, and she knew about it. We spent a lot of the ride just talking with her, and another younger guy who had seemed to have lived and traveled everywhere in the US and Canada. It was just nice to meet some friendly people. Later on, there was a younger mother and her friend who brought their kid up. He was just laughing and showing off to everyone, but it was just funny. He was well mannered and listened to everyone, which was crazy to see in a little kid. I forgot to mention that the train was a double-decker. We were on the top level. It was awesome. I'd seriously recommend this to everyone. It was a quieter, friendlier and more relaxing means of travel then anything else I've ever had.

We rolled into Seattle just after 10. The Mariners / Red-Sox game just wrapped up, which meant we had the privilege of waiting an hour for a taxi. It was a long 22 hour day.

I leave for Seattle in roughly 16 hours. I am quite excited. Seattle is a place I've always wanted to go to. It's not New York. Or Paris. Or Sydney. Or even San Francisco. It's just a place that had spawned a lifestyle that I watched as I grew up. At the time, I was a little too young to understand it all, but I feel like I've always had a calling to get out there and see it for myself. Ah! Excited! I'm sure I'll have a few posts related to Seattle history / sites / experiences shortly after the trip. 8 nights in The City Of Goodwill will do me good. Cheers!

It has dawned upon me that I haven't updated in a little while...

One of things that's been keeping me busy is the wonderfully insightful Alan Cross. He's got his own radio show broadcast out of Toronto, and parts get picked up here in Winnipeg. I absolutely love his segments called 'The Ongoing History of New Music'. I remember listening to these back in high school, and I still love them. It's a weekly one-hour special where he'll indulge listeners in different topics, ranging from anything from 'Medical Matters & Mysteries Of Music' to 'How To Talk Like A Rock Star Snob'.

I suppose the big draw to me is the fact that I just love learning about the history of people. I could watch a biography on just about anybody, and it'd keep me entertained. I highly recommend getting your hands on some of his stuff and giving it a listen. He's also written a couple books about some of the topics he's covered.