Seattle

After the snafu with the hostel in Seattle, I find myself here at the Sleep Inn near the airport (with free shuttle to said airport) and my very own room. Yes, my very own room! Don't get me wrong, I loved the hostel in Vancouver, but after the Seattle hostel and feeling like a homeless person carrying around my back pack most of yesterday (I couldn't check in until 3:00 p.m.) I couldn't wait to take a shower. And nothing says "tourist" like a person with a huge backpack on their back. Did I mention I had the best shower EVER! :0)

I spent most of the day touring downtown Seattle (yes there's a Starbucks on just about every corner) and found myself at Pike's Place Market. Totally awesome! My first stop was the famous fish market and, yes, I saw flying fish. It is definitely a fish market with character. There are tons of shops in and around the fish market with everything from t-shirts to produce and everything in-between.

Entertainers abound everywhere in the market area. Just across the street from the market is the original Starbucks. There were five men singing beautifully in front of the store and were drawing quite the crowd. Didn't catch their group's name, but did enjoy the music.

Another group that was drawing attention were the pirates. They were awesome. About a dozen guys dressed up as pirates walked through the market up to the street above and eventually boarded a duck boat (like at the Dells) named Moby Duck. I understand this is an annual celebration, but I do not recall the story on it. They were also giving out "pirate coins" and I did receive one. One of the pirates posed for my picture; he reminded me of the guy in the Capital One commercial. Although the market was crowded, when you heard "Pirate coming through with a sword" people moved, and fast. :0)

I also stepped out by the water's edge across from the market (well, as close as you can get in Seattle as a highway runs parallel to the water) and found a gentleman playing the bagpipes. Beautiful. After looking over my pictures from the day last night, I almost got my Seattle pictures confused with my Vancouver pictures....that's how much alike the cities are.

Today is my last day here in Seattle and early tomorrow morning I come home. Until tomorrow.....toodles!