Sleepy in Seattle... (Part 2)

 ...for about 60 hours.

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by PAM

The second day of our visit to Seattle was a 'lazy' one.  The adrenaline rush on our first night in the city that kept us awake until very late the night before and our sleep deprivation the night before

Day 2 of our visit started with a fine Seattle morning -
viewed from our window at the Westin.

 our flight had caught up with us.  We woke up at about 8:00 in the morning but we had no desire to get up and venture out towards the Pike Place to finally pickup that Starbucks latte, especially that the weather forecast indicated rain all day.  So, we ended up ordering brunch from The Relish at the Westin lobby.  I had an 'All-American' breakfast, which was so huge that, after eating, the bed had never looked more inviting than ever before, a tumbler of coffee notwithstanding! Aaarrgh... and then we opened the window, and an inviting view greeted us!

Naturally, the nice weather pulled us out of bed, and into the streets of downtown Seattle!  Our original plan was to visit the Seattle Museum of Art and the Aquarium, and smaller places in between, and then the Space Needle in the late afternoon to evening to watch the city lights. Given our late start, however, we decided to prioritize the Aquarium during the day thinking that it should be interesting to visit the aquarium of a harbor city like Seattle.  So, from the Westin, we headed to the Union St. along 5th Ave. towards the Alaskan Way.  The towering building that is the former IBM Seattle HQ beckoned us to walk further along 5th Ave. towards University St. before

Very happy to see some of Seattle's not-so-hidden gems
as we walked around downtown.

turning towards Alaskan Way.  We were glad that we did so because, not only is the Seattle Museum of Arts along University St., the  Fairmont Olympic Hotel and the Benaroya Hall - home of the Seattle Symphony, were also in that street.  And, the Garden of Remembrance was also located in the area, and we were so happy to see it because, to be honest, we did not expect to find it there.  The understated monument was meant to honor some 8,000 residents of Washington State who fought in different wars, from World War II to Afghanistan.  There were passages from poems and personal letters exchanged between the soldiers and their families.  We found two names of soldiers who were stationed in the Philippines... and it was quite sobering, given our surging vacation spirits.

After checking out Garden of Remembrance, we crossed the 2nd Ave. towards the Harbor Steps.  The little city 'nook' was in between two condominium buildings with cozy-looking little coffee shops, and many little places to sit, read, work, and just admire the harbor below towards Alaskan Way. A gentleman was walking his dog, a very cute and friendly rough collie named Annie.  She spontaneously ran and jumped with happiness towards me when I said hello to her.  It was a cheerful and warm little moment in a supposed 'cold' city, and I loved it!

The tour of the Seattle Aquarium was a competition for space with a 'multitude' of screaming, giggly or nerd-out kids and kids-at-heart... and those include the marine lives themselves!  Until now, I

Experiencing the homey and fun Seattle Aquarium.

 cannot figure out whether that was a good part of the Seattle trip or not.  Good because the displayed collection was not bad at all and the volunteers who enthusiastically guided us did more than a satisfactory job; 'not' because I have already been to the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland, the Aquarium at Monterey Bay, and that one in Singapore... and those set the bar very high!  They may not have a dolphin show in Seattle, and that's a shame, but I did have a lot of laugh just watching the sea otters and the seals do their thing.  They are hilarious creatures - without even trying.  I also loved the kids' reactions towards the colorful fishes in the pacific habitat.  "Neemo, where are you?  I'm here for you, Neemo," said one - with real feelings.  Another said, "Mom, this is stressful, there are so many Dorys here! Which was is the real Dory?" I swear, the kid was not kidding.  My sister had fun playing with the sea urchins... I did, too!

From the Aquarium, we went walking back to the Pike Place.  We sort of given up on getting a latte at the original Starbucks but we were determined to eat late lunch-early dinner at the Pike Place Chowder.  As it was 3:30 pm already by the time we reached Post Alley at the Pike Place where the

Sampling the very popular clam chowder of the
Pike Place Chowder and chocolates of Gosanko Chocolate.

 world-renowned eating place was, we thought we'll find a little place to sit and enjoy our chowder. Boy, we were so wrong!  The little place was bursting to the seams.  So, we decided to buy our food there instead, and then headed back to the hotel to enjoy our chowder experience. We also swung by the little chocolate shop at the Post Alley, Gosanko Chocolate, to get dessert.  The variety of chocolates in that place was insane... and we went 'crazy' that we ended up spending more than what we planned to spend!  Oh, well... it's chocolates.

People who recommended the Pike Place Chowder were not kidding.  Their clam chowder was DE.LI.CIOUS, I could cry!  And, I do believe that we made the right decision to bring the food to our hotel room.  I am quite sure that the coziness of the room added to the flavor of the New England

Sleepiness made us settle for this view rather than the
360 deg view of Seattle from the Space Needle.

 clam chowder in Pike Place Chowder's very own hall-of-fame recipe.  It was so rich and so filled with chunks of clams; and the balanced flavors enhanced by herbs and spices were quite unforgettable.   

So, yeah, it was great!  The only thing is, after eating the clam chowder and half of our lobster rolls, the invitation of our cozy beds prevailed... we took a nap!  By the time we overcame sleepiness, it was almost dark, and we had to reschedule our visit to the Space Needle.  Rather than watching the Seattle lights from the famed tower, we settled for watching a little part of Seattle from our hotel window... until sleepiness once again took over.  Oh, well... 'tomorrow is another day.'

To be continued....

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Photo credits:  All the photos used in this entry are mine.