Bruce, myself, Chris, Candice, and Brandon are off to Seattle area to spend the Holidays with Erich and family. So excited to be off. The plane ride wasn't too bad, long but within expectation. Once arriving at Sea-Tac Airport, not so good. We landed a bit late, it was extremely busy at the airport and it took a long time to get our luggage. Then off to the car rental. I had reserved a mid-size but apparently, they felt we needed more than that. Probably right so we upgraded, at a price, and got an SUV. It was raining very hard even for Seattle standards so the drive to Erich's was a little nerve-racking but as always Bruce delivered us safe and sound. Erich was wondering where we were because it was getting so late, but we finally made it. Thank goodness they had pizza waiting for us.
On Friday, Erich and Yogini had work and the boys had school. Since we were on our own, we went to breakfast at the Egg and Us and then drove up to the Snoqualmie Falls. With all the rain we figured it should be pretty spectacular and it was.
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| Even the professionals were there. |
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| Tuckered out. |
On Monday we wanted to play tourist. Especially since this is the first time that Chris and his family have been to Seattle. Unfortunately, Seattle was living up to its reputation of rain, but we did our best to act like a Seattleite and just carry on. The parking lost was near Erich's office building. Then we strolled through Pioneer Square.
The next stop was the Seattle Underground. Bruce and I actually toured this several years ago with Anita and John George when we visited them. Erich hasn't had a chance to see this so it was great to take them all there. The tour started in a nice room with a stage and we learned a lot of the history of Seattle first. Then we broke up into two groups and began the actual tour. We had a very fun and energetic tour guide.
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| Down to the Underground. |
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| Skylights in the sidewalk above. |
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| A Crapper. |
We really enjoyed the tour. Just a funny note. At one point Deven managed to lead the group and he announced to all that he was the leader. Even the tour guide has to laugh.
The next stop was MOD pizza for some lunch. Great little artisan-style pizza place. Our next stop was the Pike Place Market. By now Deven was a bit wore out so Erich and Yogini decided to head back home while the rest of us continued on. We were really hoping to show Brandon the fish tossing guys there. We did manage to see them toss a fish, but it was the smaller one they do throughout the day. I was really hoping someone would order a big one, but at least he got to see it. We stopped and bought a couple dozen little donuts to take home. It was extremely crowded and by now we were pretty chilled through and a bit tired ourselves, so this was a short visit.
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| View from the top of Pike Place Market. |
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| Fish Toss. |
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| Riding the brass pig. |
It is now Christmas Eve. Erich has tickets for all of us to attend Enchant Christmas 2019 at T-Mobile Park. This was a winter wonderland filled with Christmas lights and sculptures everywhere. But the best part was watching my boys take their boys ice skating on the rink built here. What a great way to spend Christmas Eve.
We were all very tired and cold when we got home, but there was still that Christmas Eve present to be opened and milk and cookies to be put out for Santa and a carrot for the reindeer before bed.
The big day finally arrives.
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| Building Deven's kitchen. |
All good things must come to an end. Early Thursday morning we had to take Chris, Candice, and Brandon to the airport for the trip back to Maryland. But we still had a week to enjoy.
We just chilled for the next few days. On Saturday, since we turned in our rental car on Thursday, we borrowed a car and went looking for some quirky stuff. We started out in Bellevue at the Yacht Club where we found a giant Tiki Head.
Our next stop was the South Bellevue Community Center where we found a Temple of Stones, a Stonehenge-inspired outdoor artwork.
We then drove to Renton where we visited a unique way to deal with a sewage water treatment plant. Waterworks Garden, a lovely Sewage Plant Grotto. There were some nice artistic environments and nice walking trails. We did not walk as much as we would have liked to because it was rainy and being Saturday the area was really quiet with no one around. We got a little spooked and moved on.
Back in Issaquah, before we had lunch at Dickeys Barbecue Pit, we stopped to see an old bus. It was a little creepy for me but something I wouldn't have wanted to miss. We all know when the music died, and this bus had a lot to do with it. The Buddy Holly tour in 1959 used several tour buses. This was one of them. The buses were cold and many on the tour were feeling effects of the cold weather. This caused Buddy Holly to charter a plane to their next venue. The plane crashed killing him, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens.
The rest of ou time in Sammamish with Erich and Family was spent just visiting. We did talk Erich and Yogini to go out for a while on New Year's Eve for some adult time while we stayed with the boys. We had a quiet New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Watched a few movies and just chilled. It was finally time for us to pack up and off to the airport on Thursday morning. Our flight home was uneventful and Chris was waiting for us in Baltimore for the rest of the trip home. Now it is time to start planning what we can do in 2020.
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