So anyways, after work I walked to Union Station, where I boarded my train to head north. It's only supposed to be a 3.5 hour ride, but apparently our train was slow because it took 4 hours. By the time I arrived in Seattle, it was 10:15pm. Justin was waiting and picked me up at the station, and then we were on our way! Before getting to his apartment in Queen Anne (a neighborhood in Seattle up on a giant hill) we stopped at a park about 2 blocks from his place. The view was incredible!!! I could see the water of the Puget Sound, the lights twinkling on the water from West Seattle across the Sound, downtown lit up in all it's glory, and Seattle's signature Space Needle. Breathtakingly beautiful. I wish I could have photographed it, but my camera doesn't like to take pictures at night...so you'll just have to take my word for it that Seattle is beautiful by night.
After dropping off my suitcase, we walked a couple of blocks to a funky restaurant called 5 Spot. Late at night, they serve a variety of meals for only five bucks! Since neither of us had eaten dinner, it worked out perfectly. I ordered a hot turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy...yum! We ended up staying up until around 1:30am, talking and catching up. We had planned this trip when he had visited NDSU during the begining of May...hard to believe that was two months ago already!
Friday was a busy day, full of sightseeing. We began the day by walking to the park with the amazing view of the city, this time to see the view during the day. The local abc news crew was there, doing their morning broadcast live. Don't worry...we didn't do anything crazy like jump in front of the cameraman. Ha! We just took some photos and admired the city and Puget Sound. We continued our walk heading north, through one of the most perfect neighborhoods ever. The homes were massive and had a fabulous view of the Sound...and cost millions of dollars. They were an incredible sight to see. It was fun to walk past all the Mercedes-Benz cars in the driveways, the cobblestone streets, the perfect lanscaping covering the properties. Great way to start the day.
We then headed down the hill, into Seattle Center. This is home to the Key Arena (where the WNBA team plays, and where the band Green Day was starting their tour later that night). Seattle Center also houses what Justin calls the "PermaFair"...a bunch of carnival rides that are always present at the base of the Space Needle. We headed to the Space Needle, wanting to get there early to beat the rush of people that were in Seattle for the holiday weekend. Turns out, it was busy already. Luckily, Justin has a season pass for him and a guest (he gets a lot of visitors, and since everyone wants to go up the Space Needle, it was cheaper for him to buy a pass rather than a ticket everytime someone came). Since he had this, we got to skip to the front of the line (VIP status....yeah!) and made it to the top without having to wait. The view from the top was great...360 degree view of the city! Justin makes an awesome tourguide, pointing out all the landmarks and major sights of the city.
After the Space Needle, we walked towards the Sound, where we encountered a sculpture garden. We walked through this area, and took a few pictures. These pictures are compliments of Mr. Miedema...the one with the eye for design :)
Then we walked the strip along the piers, full of restaurants and small shops, and even a cruise line! We spent a bit of time watching a crew load up a giant cruise ship that was heading out later in the day...they were using forklifts to load crates of potatoes and other food. It was incredible how much was being loaded on to that boat!
Shortly after 11am, we boarded the ferry to take us across the Puget Sound to Bainbridge Island. It's only a short 30 minute ride, but the island feels like its way far away from the city! As we got farther and farther away from Seattle, the skyline grew smaller and smaller. It made for a great opportunity to photograph the skyline! Once on the island, we walked through the small town's downtown...an adorable area filled with cute shops, quaint restaurants, a park with a gazebo, and even a little white chapel with a steeple on top. Perfect. We continued to the marina, where we had lunch outside at a place right on the water. The weather was perfect for eating outside - sunny and around 80 degrees. Now, before I proceed, I must make you aware that this meal was very significant for me. I have adamantly sworn that I will not, under any circumstances, ever eat fish. I just won't do it...too gross for me. Justin was the same way when he had moved to Seattle. However, he's slowly been learning to enjoy the creatures of the sea. If you've ev
er met Justin, you'd know how convincing he can be. Long story short, we ordered calamari (squid!) as an appetizer, and I ate it. I ATE IT! I ate seafood! It did come with pesto dipping sauce, so that might have been cheating a little bit, but nonetheless I ate it. And it really wasn't that bad. Who'd have thought?!
After lunch, we stopped at a candyshop to sample some fudge before we headed back to Seattle on the ferry. Yummy yummy fudge. Of course, we both ended up buying some too. I think it's almost inevitable that once the fudge has been sampled, a purchase must be made. It's just that good!
Back in the city, we were craving ice cream (yeah, I know...lunch, then fudge sampling, then ice cream...apparently we're a couple of gluttons!). There's a place right on the pier that sells giant homemade waffle cones, with two scoops of ice cream, for only $4. How could we possibly pass that by?! So we purchased our massive cones (which, by the way, were amazing) and continued our walk. By now, the temperature was nearing 90 degrees. Gorgeous day.
We meandered our way to Pike's Market...famous for fresh seafood and flying fish. The workers at the fish stands gracefully through fish through the air to fillet it and package it, so that it's all ready to go for the customer. It was fun to watch! The market also is a great source for flowers, fruit, veggies, and a few small craft stands. It was at this market that I experienced another monumental life moment...Justin convinced me to try some fresh smoked salmon. 
And it was delicious :) Absolutely delicious. Maggie is going to hate me when she hears that I've been enjoying seafood...I would always make her wait until a night when I'd be out of the apartment for her to cook fish, because it grossed me out too much. Oh well!Just across the street from the market is the holy grail...otherwise known as the first Starbucks ever! Even though I was way too hot for a coffee, and way too full for a frappuccino, I had to have a drink from this glorious landmark. So I ordered a refreshing shaken green tea lemonade. Perfect for a hot summer day :)
Walking some more, we headed to the shopping district/mall downtown. Here, we boarded the monorail (built for the World's Fair in Seattle back in the 1950s, along with the Space Needle). This quick, quiet trip took us back to Seattle Center.
Just a short walk from Seattle Center, behind Key Arena, we saw a promotional bus for Green Day. We had checked about getting cheap, last minute tickets for the show (since there were still tickets available) but it would have cost us over $50, so we decided to skip the concert. We did, however, hang out 
at a park nearby with a gigantic fountain. We parked ourselves on a ledge and watched people getting soaked playing in the water. It was really neat to see the public space being used by so many people!After a full day of sightseeing, we decided to head back to the "hotel" (aka Justin's apartment) and relax for awhile. We enjoyed a couple glasses of Pinot Grigio while watching men's semi-finals at Wimbledon. Very relaxing. For dinner, we walked a couple blocks to a nearby Italian restaurant (located above a fitness center...go figure!). We both had Italian sodas to drink, and the meal was delicious. After dinner, we walked all the way down the incredibly steep slope of Queen Anne to a movie theater, where we saw Public Enemy. It was a decent movie, but I thought it was a bit slow and too drawn out at times. It didn't finished until after midnight, but we were both awake enough to make the trek up the super steep slope to make it home successfully. As we were walking, we noticed fireworkes going off nearby. So we walked towards the general direction of the park with the amazing view, and got to see a couple more fireworks shoort off. Technically, it was the 4th of July. Just really early in the morning. Haha. Before bed, we spent some time unwinding while watching home shows in HGTV. Another late night...this time 2a.m...but it was a great day :)
Saturday morning I got to sleep in a little bit...Justin had given up his bedroom for the weekend, and was kind enough to let me get a little extra sleep in his amazingly wonderful bed before we headed out for the day.
Day Two in Seattle began with a trip to the locks between Puget Sound and Lake Union. It was really neat to see the boats get from one height of water to another...something I had heard about, but never before witnessed. There were several really nice boats that we watched go through, including two absolutely HUGE yachts. They cost somewhere around $10 million...just a little out of my budget! But were fun to stare at in amazement. Before leaving the locks, we walked to the nearby fish ladder, and walked down below to where there is a glass viewing area. We saw several salmon making their way up the current. There were giant fish, and there were tiny fish. Another neat thing to see that I'd never seen before.
Our day outdoors continued with a trip to the beach at Discovery Park. That's right - a beach in Seattle :) It was a little bit of a hike to get there, but it felt so good to be outside and walking around. Justin carried our picnic lunches and bocce balls in his backpack; I got lucky and just had to keep up. When we made it to the shore, we found a big log of driftwood to sit on and enjoy our sandwiches. Since I'm a bit of a slow eater (apparently), Justin decided to built a sculpture out of driftwood while I finished my
food. After all, he is an architect and has some pretty great design skills.The beach was relatively quiet, which was nice. We were able to play two games of bocce ball without getting in anyone's way. I'd never played on the sand/in the water, and it was a great variation to traditional bocce ball! Even though I did loose both games, it was still a lot of fun.
Back to Justin's, then a quick trip to Trader Joe's (have I mentioned yet that he lives within walking distance of TJ's?! He's so lucky!) for some cherries and other miscel
lanious items, and then we were on our way to the Fourth of July celebration. Since the lake we were headed to was a little crazy (ok, 'little' would definitely be an understatement) and parking was limited, we decided to walk the 35 minutes to Lake Union. A couple that Justin's dad went to college with currently live in Seattle, and had invited us to spend the holiday on their boat at Lake Union. We definitely weren't going to pass on that offer! Immediately upon meeting them, I could tell that they were wonderful people. Incredibly nice, hospitable, and caring.After a tour of the boat and a bottle of water, Justin, Jane (the wife), and I took the dingy out for a cruise on the lake. It was too crowded to want to worry about taking the big boat out of the marina, but the dingy worked great. Justin made a great captian! We spend the rest of the day visiting, grilling, eating, getting to know each other. It was so much fun! A Fourth of July I'll never forget :) When it came time for fireworks, we sat up on the front of the boat and sipped from our glasses of wine as the fireworks show took place in the sky. Fantastic. Everything about the evening was so classy...I had a great time. Jane was kind enough the give us a ride home shortly after midnight. We watched a couple more home shows on HGTV (love it), and then it was bedtime.
Sunday morning, Justin and I went to the service at his church (located just a few blocks from his apartment). It was a nice service...I was really impressed with the Pastor's sermon. I also enjoyed how it seemed slightly contemporary, yet still traditional. The music was great, too. Following church, we crossed the street and bought lunch at a bagel sandwich place. It reminded me of Bruegger's Bagels...so yummy! Drinks were purchased at the Starbucks next door (more shaken lemonade). We enjoyed our meal at an outdoor table on the sidewalk. It was another day of perfect weather...too bad the weekend was almost over!
Two o'clock came around rather quickly, and it was time for me to catch my train back to Portland. The weekend was amazing...I really really REALLY liked Seattle. I will admit, I've already done a little searching around online fore current available pharmacist positions, and there are several in the area. It might be nice if that many options are still available in a few months when I start applying for jobs :) The train ride home was decent, besides the fact that the teenage boy next to me was horrible sick and snotty and sneezy (gross!). Made it back home safely. Can't wait for Justin to visit Portland this weekend!
