It was another early morning as we drove the three and a half hours to Seattle. We dropped the car off in the hotel parking lot (so glad I called ahead because I didn't think they would let us park there until check-in time!) and set off to explore on foot. First stop: Space Needle. We had reservations to be in the first group that went up, which was perfect because it was cool and not too crowded. We walked around the top several times, and we even FaceTimed the other boys so they could check out the view.
After we came back down, we headed to Chihuly Garden and Glass. Honestly, I probably could have spent all day there. I'm not sure Mike and Liam really knew what to expect, but they were both quite impressed as well. I couldn't even pick a favorite, though the big hall where you could see the Space Needle through the ceiling was pretty great.
After that, we took the Monorail to make the obligatory visit to Pike Place Market. I had been there 15 years or so ago when I came to Seattle with my grandparents and other assorted relatives for a family reunion, and I remembered really liking it. I know I bought souvenirs there because I still have them. But WOW has it changed a lot from how I remember it. It was PACKED, for one thing. As in, nowhere to even walk unless everyone moves at exactly the same pace and in the same direction. As in, forget about stopping to buy anything. As in, all three of us were basically mentally screaming at each other, Get me out of here! It wasn't so bad once we made our way to the back where a terrace overlooks the sound, but that was basically because there was nothing to even do back there. Nonetheless, we grabbed some (late) breakfast before setting out for our next destination.
We made our way to Pioneer Square, where we had tickets to do the Underground Tour, and honestly, by this time we were all a little beat and ready to relax for a while. Luckily, Mike was able to switch us to an earlier tour, so we decided to do the tour first, then head back to the hotel to clean up. The Underground Tour is another thing I did last time I was in Seattle (I specifically remember my Aunt Laura doing it with me because we are both interested in history, but I can't remember who else came along). It was fun, but not really a big deal. Well, now it's a big deal. It's basically a whole comedy show with a ton of history thrown in there. We listened to a presentation about the early history of Seattle first, and they explained why there is an underground to begin with (after the Great Seattle Fire, they raised all the streets up one story and required all the buildings to be made from stone or masonry instead of wood). After that, we hit the streets, going up and down into various parts of the underground (it's not a connected system, just block-by-block tunnels between the buildings and the retaining walls the city built). At one of the stops, there was a lengthy discussion about prostitution couched in terms of sewing: City officials noted an unusual number of "seamstresses" in an area that was mostly populated by sailors and loggers and workmen, and eventually they figured out that the men were getting their "tailoring" from the "seamstresses." This led one industrious madam to regulate the taxes paid by her seamstresses in return for officials not looking too closely at the (lack of) actual textiles produced. As soon as we left that section, Liam asked me why everyone was laughing so hard at all the sewing-related puns, so I had to explain the whole thing to him. I guess that's to be expected during a coming-of-age trip, right?
After that, it was back to the hotel, where we all collapsed for a while before venturing out to have a delicious dinner at a Mexican restaurant called Cactus. We asked Liam if there was anything else he wanted to do, but it turns out that by that point, all he wanted to do was rest. Hard to blame him! He did tell us that this was the best birthday trip he could have asked for, so I guess our work here is done (at least until Max turns 13)!
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