Seattle, Washington

This is over EIGHTEEN MONTHS late, but you know what they say. During the quarantine or whatever, I really have no excuse for not finishing this. And you have no excuse for not reading this. Or at least looking at the pictures.

In 2014, a horde of Hawkeye fans traveled to Washington, DC to witness the Hawkeyes' first visit to the University of Maryland.  Then in 2016, the horde visited New York City to witness the Hawkeyes' first trip to Rutgers University.  Since we had such a great time, we decided to make the trip to a college football game along with site seeing in a major city a biennial event.  For 2018, we decided on Seattle to see the University of Washington.

Here's the crew:

Me (Des Moines, IA)

Garv and Lindsay (my brother-in-law and sister; Des Moines, IA)

Mom and Dad (Remsen, IA)

Ron and Jeanne (Garv's aunt and uncle but they're like family; Okoboji, IA)

Brandee (Ron and Jeanne's daughter; Las Vegas, NV)

Jean (Dad's sister; Des Moines, IA)
Bryan and Jessica Humphrey (friends; Kansas City, KS)

Mary and Dick (my aunt and uncle, mom’s sister; Idaho Falls, ID)

Pam (my cousin, Mary and Dick's daughter; Seatttle, WA)

Jude (Pam's son; Seattle, WA)

Nick (Garv, Lindsay, and my friend; Des Moines, IA)

Brett (Nick’s son; Des Moines, IA)

Tim (Nick’s dad; Waterloo, IA)

Dave (Nick, Garv, and my friend; Des Moines, IA)

Traveling to Seattle: Thursday, September 27, 2018

The Des Moines and northwest Iowa crew flew out of Minneapolis because flights from MSP-SEA were significantly cheaper than DSM-SEA. The Des Moines crew arrived at the airport at about 7:45 pm and the northwest Iowa bunch almost drove onto the runway and through about six parking garages before finally finding us. Regardless, we were all plenty early which gave us a little time to get the vacation started at the airport before our 9:50 pm departure.

The guys

Jean, Janeene, and Jeanne enjoying Miller Lites

We landed in Seattle at about midnight Pacific time, ubered to our hotel, and greeted Bryan, Jessica, and Brandee who had arrived before us. Then it was lights out because 2 AM body clock time is late for this crew.

Site seeing in Seattle: Friday, September 28, 2018

Right across the street from our hotel was Peet's, a coffee shop that isn't Starbucks, so most of the group got their start there every morning. Seattle is know for coffee, after all.

Garv explaining the weekend's plans to Ron and Jeanne.

Here's our hotel.

After coffee, we made our way to the waterfront with pitstop at a popular breakfast place called Biscuit Bitch. At the waterfront, Mary, Dick, and Pam joined us.

Here's a picture of a biscuit covered in a lot of stuff.

The crew eating biscuits.  So far, you'd think Seattle was know for biscuits, too.

 Then it was time for the Seattle 101 walking tour, guided by Jake, of Seattle Free Walking Tours. He was an excellent tour guide and we learned about Seattle's climate, geography, American Indian History, founding as logging town, Great Seattle Fire of 1889, role in the Klondike Gold Rush, importance as a port, and Starbucks.

Pioneer Square Totem Pole. Coast Salish Indians did not make totem poles.  The original that this replica is based on was originally stolen in Alaska, burned by an arsonist in the 1938, and a new one built in the 1940. See link for more information.

Don't get hit in the head by a thrown fish.

A group picture after the walking tour

After the walking tour, we walked to the Chihuly Glass and Garden which features the blown glass of Dale Chihuly. Before visiting, I was of the mindset that blown glass would be ho-hum. I was wrong. It was incredible. Here are some pics, which don't do it justice:

Chihuly Glass and Garden is right by the Space Needle. None of us went up to the top of it, but I did take some obligatory pictures of it.

The original plans for Friday were to go to a Mariners game, but the weather was so nice that we called an audible and took a ferry to Bainbridge Island, across Puget Sound from Seattle. Before the ferry ride, however, we stopped for happy hour at the Owl N' Thistle, which was a place recommended to us on the walking tour. Also, according to the walking tour guide, Seattle is known for its happy hours (coffee, biscuits, the Space Needle, and happy hours if you're keeping track of what Seattle is known for) as a way to keep commuters in the city a while longer before driving to the suburbs. Though not commuters, we took advantage of the food and drink deals.

Ron enjoying a locally brewed, Rainier beer, which he first tried when stationed in Washington when he was in the army.

After an enjoyable ride on the ferry with the commuters returning home, we walked along Bainbridge's main street. It was a very quiet and affluent community. We found a wine bar with a great name, Eleven, and enjoyed a few bottles and then went to a highly recommended restaurant.

Yes, we are from Iowa.

The girls on the ferry.

Ignore the old guy photo-bombing.

After a great meal, of which I don't have pictures, we took the ferry home. But I do have a great pic that could be part of Grey's Anatomy B roll and some pics of the crew sleeping on benches

Bee is out.

Dad catching some Zs. That's the sign of a great day.

Game Day! Saturday, September 29, 2018

Since the game was a 5 PM local start, we had plenty of time to enjoy the morning.

I think I went for a smoothie, but don't have photographic proof.  Here some other things I have photographic proof of: 

Lindsay and Jess went for a run.  Which is something that happens every morning that they're together. You don't even need proof, it's just guaranteed. Death, taxes, and their runs.

Some of us checked out the Seattle Public Library in honor of Mom.

There's more action here than in northwest Iowa.

Ron was able to have coffee with his cousin who lives in the Seattle area.

One of the reasons for attending different games is the opportunity to experience a unique game day atmosphere.  For this game, we took the city bus to a restaurant called Ivar’s that offered an all you can eat seafood buffet AND boat ride to the game. It could not have been a more perfect arrangment.  We ate seafood for a couple of hours. Yes, hours. Or at least I ate seafood for hours. 

The group before we gorge ourselves at the seafood buffet.

Some of the delicious seafood.

 Arriving on a boat to the game is highly recommended!

The girls on the boat

The Hawkeye fans on the boat!

The first glimpse of the stadium? Or a picture of a random guy taking a picture?

 As for the game, Washington crushed BYU 35-7.  It's always better when the home team wins, but a more competitive game would have been fun.

The guys

The girls.  This is where the action was.  They almost got in a brawl.  Seriously.  Ask them.

Here come the Huskies.

The band

Family Brunch, Tea, and Happy Hour: Sunday, September 30, 2018

On Sunday, we had brunch at my cousin Pam's, who lives in Seattle. After brunch we walked around her neighborhood and talked about the exploding price of real estate. Thanks, Pam, for hosting!  

Brunch.  I may have eaten half of this salmon.  Don't tell my mom or sister.

This house was worth $6,000 in 1990.  Today it's worth $32,983,084. Or something like that. All prices estimates.

After leaving Pam's, we walked around the International District.  The two most notable things we did there were have a tea tasting and visit the Panama Hotel, a museum dedicated to the personal histories of those affected by Japanese-American Internment.

In this single hour, I consumed more tea than I had in the entire rest of my life.  The owner also tried to sell my mom some $100 tea or something.

The most important thing to remember about Japanese-American Internment is that the people who were interned were CITIZENS.

 The last event of our day was a final walk through the Pike's Market area and Sunday night happy hour.

Our dwindling group: Bryan and Jessica had departed earlier that morning.

I think that's me.  And I think those are mussels.

The first Starbucks!

And another group selfie at the end of the night!

Leaving Seattle, Monday, October 1, 2018

For our last day in Seattle, we bought some snacks, visited a museum, and ate some Poke!

Aunt Jean and Mom in an Amazon Go store. Just download an app, grab what you want and walk out! And insure Amazon has a record of your face and buying habits!

This is the only picture I could find of the Museum of History and Industry, which is unfortunate because it was a really well done museum.  Here I'm posing in front of an exhibit to the HISTORY of the beer INDUSTRY in Seattle.

Because there are no Poke food trucks in northwest Iowa.

This is someone else's Poke bowl.  I ordered something from a Thai food truck, but I was able to clean up plenty of Poke bowls. 

Urban dining

Conclusion
And the food truck meals ended the trip.  It was a great trip! And it feels great to finish this blog!  Details on the 2020 trip will be coming soon...maybe....