Scoping Out Seattle

It's been really fun getting to know the Seattle area a bit more in the last few days. The family I'm staying with, the Petkuses, are doing a fabulous job of selling the region to me. I've spent a bunch of time with their family over the past few days-- going out to dinner, to see the movie Apocalypto (fitting having returned from Mexico recently), having breakfast, and talking over other long hangout sessions--and they've all but convinced me that this truly is one of the most desirable and unique places in the U.S. to live. They tell me, "if you like outdoors activities [yes], music [yes!], great food [um, yes], coffee, and reading [my favorite!!!], this is an awesome place to be." There are a ton of coffee shops, bookstores, arts opportunities, smart and young people, and a wealth of beautiful scenery (lakes, San Juan Islands, British Columbia, Mt. Baker [which, I hear gets the most snow of anywhere in the world!], the Olympic mts., the Cascade mts., Mt. Rainier) within easy exploring distance. They also reassure me that the sunny days on which you have great views of all the surrounding mountains are totally worth the months of rain. And that being wet is better than being cold. A good point. Here's Alex (the oldest Petkus son), his girlfriend Emily, and Brenda hanging out at their house in Bellevue (the "Eastside").

Lesley and David were in town for the weekend for residency interviews at the University of Washington and so we got to hang out quite a bit. While David was at his ortho interview on Saturday, Les and I explored some of Seattle. We first went to the International district, with lots of Asian food stores, shops, etc. It was kind of funny-- Les and I are both so cheap (or money-conscious, let us say-- I hope she's not offended that I said that!) that we were excited to park in a lot by the Japanese grocery store, Uwa Jimaya, because we saw that it would be free with validation from having bought something. So we bought, between us, approximately $7 worth of goods to make the parking free. But we realized that street parking would have been about $1.50 per hour anyway. But at least we got something to show for our money by doing it our way :)
Here's a pic of us by some lions and then the Asian grocery store (I love the dragons!).
We drove by the Seattle Center, which has the Space Needle as well as other attractions including an interactive music exhibition and science museum. David had remarked (and we agreed) that the Space Needle actually looks really small compared to how it appears in most photographs (likely due to its position in the extreme foreground of most photos). And Alex was telling me that it actually can bend all the way to where the top is only 15 ft. from the ground! Hard to believe.

We missed a bridge but then took a trip out to Discovery Park, a large green area on the peninsula between Puget Sound and the neighboring bay. There was a neat lighthouse and great (the pics don't do it justice) views of the mountains. I can only imagine how nice it must be on a bright, sunny day (weather has been a bit cold and rainy).

Seattle has all kinds of neat little neighborhoods with their own "feels," including Capitol Hill, Fremont, Belltown, Queen Anne, etc. It would take ages to explore them all, but we did the drive-by of some :)!

David was done with his interview around 3 and then, after picking him up, we left the U. Washington ("U- dub" as it's called here) area to head toward the Waterfront, where we (luckily) found parking (there was a Seahawks-Cowboys playoff game about to start, which had a really amazing finish, by the way!). We wandered to Pike's Place Market, which I was told was a MUST SEE for Seattle. It was really neat! I always like visiting local markets anywhere I go, and this one was a great one. They have lots of fresh fish stalls, HUGE donuts (I think they've got to be about 9 " in diameter!), jewelry stands, fruit stands, as well as lots of other cool stuff.
Across the street was the ORIGINAL (first) Starbucks store, which is actually not that noticeable or flashy-- Lesley said they've tried to maintain some of its "original" character. Here's a coffee thermos thingie and Lesley ordering some drinks.
We stopped for dinner at this place within the market, the Athenian Inn, where one scene from Sleepless in Seattle was filmed (now having visited the city, it would be neat to watch that movie again). Lesley and I both tried this seafood soup called Sinigang, which was good! We figured that, while in the Pacific NW close to so much water, we ought to eat the seafood.

Some interesting Seattle numbers I got from a magazine:

• 1: Ranking of Seattle among U.S. cities with the largest percentage of library card holders
• 1: Ranking of Seattle among fittest U.S. cities, according to Men's Fitness magazine, Feb. 2005
• 2200: Number of restaurants in greater Seattle
• 1: Ranking of Seattle among U.S. cities where citizens buy the most sunglasses per capita (ask me for the explanation for this one)
• 3: Number of Nobel Prizes in medicine won by Seattle researchers in the past five years
• 25: Number of public libraries in Seattle
• 1: Ranking of Seattle-Tacoma among U.S. metropolitan areas with the most arts-related businesses and organizations per capita, according to Americans for the Arts

Need I say more?! WOW!

Today, the Joneses picked me up and we drove east for a few miles to North Bend, where David's Aunt Viv and her husband Pete live. We went to the church service where Pete is the pastor and then chilled out at their house for a bit, which was nice. They have a fireplace (I LOVE fireplaces :)), and we just drank tea/coffee and "visited." I really enjoy meeting friends' families-- I feel like it lets me get to know them better. And they were so friendly to me even though I was not in any way related to them and was some random person Les and David brought along:)! Anyway, they live right up against these HUGE mountains (Snoqualmie something or other), which, today, were partially obscured with clouds and rainy skies but which, I'm sure, are breathtaking on clear days. We could see snow at the very tops. I had to find a picture because the area was STILL really beautiful despite it being kind of nasty outside today-- this is from a site: rlerallut.free.fr/backgrounds.php. Doesn't it look unreal? Washington is really, really beautiful.

Lesley and David dropped me off not too long ago. Les has her interview at U.W. tomorrow and has to get an early start because traffic in Seattle is fairly horrendous (the one real drawback I've heard so far). I'm pretty tired (I think it's the weather!) and am going to make for myself a low-key evening of reading and probably crashing early. Tomorrow I head down to Olympia, WA (the state capital but a much smaller city) for my interview at St. Peter's on Tuesday.