28 years later...I went home

Hello everyone!

I had a really fun weekend. I left work at 3:30 Friday afternoon and drove straight up to Seattle. Adam was there from Minneapolis for a work conference. I've known him since the 8th grade and he's married to my dear friend Greta. It was the first time we'd ever hung out on the west coast though! He was staying at the Westin Hotel right in downtown Seattle. The view from his room was incredible...the city, Elliot Bay, Bainbridge and other assorted islands and the snow capped Olympic mountains in the distance. We met up with one of his co-workers and walked around the Belltown neighborhood to find a place for dinner. Adam and I were both craving sushi. We found a Polynesian/sushi place and put our name on the waiting list. We had about a 30 minute wait so we walked around and grabbed a beer at a Mexican place up the street. We walked back to the restaurant and had some yummy sushi. We then walked back to the hotel. Adam & I decided to walk around some more and get a drink somewhere nearby. It was great to be able to walk everywhere!

Saturday we woke up to sun and blue skies. We made coffee in the hotel room then went to get my car from the parking garage. Adam really wanted to check out the Filson flagship store. They make really high end outdoor clothing/gear. He left his Filson jacket there for them to make some repairs and they'll ship it back to him in Minneapolis. From there we drove over to West Seattle. We got a little turned around and ended up along Puget Sound. We figured out our way around though and made it to our destination...824 S Southern St...the house I was born in! As many of you know I was born at home, quite purposefully, not in a hospital. My dad caught me! It was just a small rental house. My parents bought a house and moved shortly after I was born. It was interesting though to see the house were I came into the world. It was something I've been wanting to do ever since I moved to Portland so I was really happy to find it. It was great to have Adam with me because he took my picture!

After that we headed back into downtown and parked my car again. We walked down to Pike Place Market and found a pub to eat lunch at. Adam's co-worker met up with us. We had a great view overlooking the entrance to the market with the fishmongers tossing salmons and the street entertainers hoola hooping while playing the guitar and harmonica. Adam and I both had halibut fish and chips and some tasty beer. It was really great. After lunch we walked around the market before heading back to the hotel. In the lobby we met up with another of their co-workers and the four of us walked down to the Seattle Center. They wanted to go to the Experience Music Project (EMP). I had already been there and didn't want to pay the hefty admission fee so they went in I entertained myself by walking around the Seattle Center. I took lots of pictures of the Space Needle and the EMP which is a crazy building designed by Frank Geary (he also did the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain). There's tons of carnival rides and great people watching. I watched part of the Washington Jr Teen Talent competition which was very entertaining.

Adam called me when they were done and we met up again. We stopped in a glass blowing studio on the way back to the hotel. Back at the hotel Adam & I relaxed and watched some TV. We also just soaked up the view. It was great to watch the evening light change on the water as the ferries went back and forth and pontoon planes took off. Such a great view!

Adam and I went out to dinner at a great Thai place near the hotel. The food was great! We then walked back to the hotel room and watched an episode of Globetrekker. I decided to head back to Portland late Saturday rather than leaving Sunday morning since his noon flight didn't give us time to really do anything Sunday. Adam and I said goodbye and I drove the three hours south back to Portland...at least there was no traffic!

It was nice Sunday morning to wake up in my own bed and have the whole day. In the afternoon I rode my bike over to Gina's house and downloaded all my pictures off my camera. We then walked down to Thatcher's to get lunch (no good no good!). I rode my bike back home and watched movies and went through old negatives to make reprints for cards.

So that was my weekend! I had so much fun in Seattle with Adam. It was such a treat to stay right in downtown on a sunny weekend. I'll be posting lots of pictures of course. Please let me know what you've been doing and how you are!

xoxox,
carolyn