I've finished Summer school and Nuwan is well and truly settling into work. I've got a few more weeks before I head back to windy Sydney and see all you wonderful people. Phew....madness.
Our house looks like a house now, about two weeks after we moved in our furniture and other worldly possessions arrived. It was like discovering old friends as we unpacked all 127 boxes and pieces of furniture. Everything arrived in one piece except poor Nuwan's 10 year old study desk, thankfully all it'll take to replace it is a trip to Ikea!
We've been lucky enough to enjoy the last few weeks of summer with some great friends.
Sandeep visited us 3 weeks ago, arrive late on Friday night from work in California.
His timing couldn't have been better, boy did Seattle put on a show. Not only was the temperature consistently above 90 Fahrenheit but it was Seafair weekend.
Pike Place Market and Starbucks
So what is Seafair...more on that later. First let's talk about what we did over the two days!
We headed to the city the first day and explored Pike Place Markets. We watched fish being thrown and headed over to the first Starbucks ever...still proudly standing at Pike Place markets.
We did buck the trend though and decided to indulge in non-coffee drinks! Of course the boys we far more amused by the giant that was standing in line infront of us, I came up to his elbow....apparently this was hilarious.
Olympic Sculpture Park
We then headed to the Olympic Scuplture Park, part of the Seattle Art Museum. In retrospect we might have appreciated it a little more if it weren't so hot.The sculptures are all huge and outside, you walk along a path and just absorb the sculptures. No David's here, it's all abstract.
For example, Sandeep is standing between a four-legged orange, metal sculpture. We all guessed, dog, giraffe, cat....apparently it was an eagle.
Here's a photo of the city....just for kicks.
Two daughters sitting at a fountain celebrating father and son
Museum of Flight
On Sandeep's list of things to do was the "Museum of Flight". Located a little ways out of Seattle it's like a chronology of flight. We walked around exploring for a little while but had the most fun when we signed up a 1/2 hour tour. We were guided around the huge museum by a former pilot and scientist who had unlimited knowledge about all the planes, the changes and even the great aviation companies of the day. It was totally free, and went for double the allotted time, score!
SR-71 Blackbird
We headed home, exhausted by the heat and food and general activity. Are we getting old?
I was exhausted, but the boys were up for more, heading to a Jazz club for big bang musical show.
The next day we headed to Seafair -
It’s Seattle’s traditional summer festival.
A month-long, region-wide barbecue, that brings an entire community together in
celebration. For over 60 years Seafair has been about community events,
parades, Miss Seafair, the Navy and Coast Guard, amateur athletics, airplanes
and of course, boat racing. But most of all, Seafair has been about people and
it continues to be.
Getting to Seafair was a drama in itself. We parked in the city, caught a light rail (did you know Seattle had light rail....we certainly didn't) and then a shuttle bus to the park where Seafair was at.
We got there around midday...I got a snowcone and then we found a spot by the water to watch the Blue Angels.
The Blue Angels is the United States Navy's flight demonstration squadron. It was formed in 1946,[1] making it the second oldest formal flying aerobatic team (flying under the same name) in the world, after the French Patrouille de Franceformed in 1931. The Blue Angels' six demonstration pilots fly the F/A-18 Hornet in more than 70 shows at 34 locations throughout the United States each year, where they still employ many of the same practices and techniques used in their aerial displays in 1946.
The boys got up close and personal, I found a shady spot, finished my snow-cone and watched the planes fly by. Even I had to admit they were pretty impressive.
It was certainly an action packed weekend!
Niki came the next weekend, a little later than originally planned: a 7.30pm flight ended up arriving at past 9:30pm! That didn't stop us all sitting down to a later dinner and discussing Niki's travels over 6 beers or so.
In the morning we had a problem....you see Niki is a coffee drinker....Nuwan and I don't even have coffee in the house. When Niki woke up and asked for Coffee, Nu volunteered to do a Starbucks run. There was an unexpected benefit of this trip, poor Niki who has been drinking filtered coffee for 3 weeks finally found out that the long sought after "long black" was called an Americano this side of the Pacific.
We started the morning off with a trip to the markets (it's a good thing we like this place) and Starbucks!
Then we went out for lunch....and boy was it an experience.
Being a fan of Man vs Food, Niki had all the Seattle spots down as must dos. First on the list was the Crab Pot.
The Crab Pot is located on one of the piers on Seattle harbour. The tables and chairs are plastic and the menu quite limited. In the middle of the colourful menu is the 'feast option". Here you have 4 different seafood smorgasbord options; crab, salmon, prawns, mussels, clams, oysters, sausage etc. You choose for the table and some magic seafood fairy inside steams the seafood with a mixture of spices and brings it to your table. They then pour is straight onto the plastic table, laid with butcher's paper. You get a board, a hammer, a fork, some lemon and clarified butter. That's it. Trust me...it's enough.
Niki enjoying a beer
Lunch.....oh so good!
Oh...I forgot about the bib. Kinda critical
I can't describe how amazing, fresh and delicious the food was. The crab was kind of the best part, juicy, white and plenty of meat.
After lunch we headed up to Kerry Park, a lookout point on top of Seattle to get a good vantage point for a photo and a little exercise after eating a gallon of ghee!
We spent that night eating yet again, but this time french baguettes from the french bakery, italian salami, french cheese and olives from the Pike Place deli. Arnotts crackers and a delicious drop of white from right here in Washington!
The second day of eating saw us heading to Red Mill Burgers....the home of the best burgers in Seattle. I tend to agree. Despite having to wait in a line heading out the door of this tiny shop and then having to wait another 1/2 hour for our food the burger was the perfect balance of vegetables, meat, mayo and sauce. This is the kind of burger dreams are made of!
So here's the deal, our spare-room is empty, we've washed the sheets, aired out the pillows and it's feeling a bit sad. Hopefully now you'll decided to come and visit! We can take you to Pike Place Markets, the Crab Pot, Red Mill burgers and if we love you a lot we'll even take you to Starbucks!
xoxox
Chath
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