Seattle, Day 2

I started out my day with a - wait for it - jog!  From our hotel, it was a quick jaunt down the hill to the Elliott Bay Trail.  I ran for about 40 minutes, which is about 40 minutes farther than I'd had run to that point this calendar year.  I'd call it a success, although walking down hill (which there are many of in Seattle) or stairs did become a bit of a challenge for my sore muscles.

The park and trail were so very Seattle, though.  It's organically-maintained, and has separate biking and running paths, which is a wonderful thing!  There is a lovely and delightfully delicious-smelling rose garden that I ran past as well.  Almost at my turning around point, I came upon the Hephaestus, which was sitting in port being unloaded.  The flag on the Hephaestus (in Greek, the god of craftsmen and artisans) was Moldova, and I have to say that I was pretty sure Moldova was one of those European postage stamp countries that only exist in the movies to be made fun of.  Turns out (at least according to Wikipedia, and it knows everything) that Moldova is in fact a real place. Who knew?  Either that, or someone has taken a practical joke very far.

We braved the bus system (which was actually fairly easy to figure out) on our way to the Pike Place Market.  K and I had skirted the edge of the market when we got lunch the day before, but what we saw was nothing compared to the bustling crowds doing their shopping and gawking on this morning. 

In the heart of Starbucks Country

Wait...I thought we had left St. Louis?

The beautiful market flowers

I don't think I've ever actually seen fresh garlic spears for sale about them before.  They were an urban food myth until this day!

Ha! I know the feeli...

I stopped at a produce stand and got a delicious mango which we all shared.  Mango = delicious.  As K and I were leaving the market stalls to have lunch, Mom said, "Hey, there are some cute chicks!"  K and I both turned around to see whom she was talking about, before we realized it was us!  K said "Oh! I was unclear whether we were looking for girls or chickens. Because in a place like this, you never know."

Really?  Does it get much cuter than that?

E's ideal yard art

We had lunch at a place called Matt's in the Market, which had been recommended by a friend of E's'.  I had a delightful pulled pork sandwich, although there was a little too much liquid in the sauce; the bread basically dissolved.

So, we're sitting there having lunch, and out the window behind K I see a warship passing by the market, headed into port.  A little courtesy of the all-knowing answer box informed us that it was the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), which was in town for Seattle's version of Fleet Week, Seattle Seafair.

After lunch, we wandered through a bit more of the market, and we made certain to stop and see the fishmongers throwing fish.

See that flying silver thing?  That's a fish.

I spent the afternoon at Caffe Ladro drinking iced tea in the lovely sun, catching up on a few e-mails and some reading while everyone else napped.

That night, we ventured down to Safeco Field to see the Mariners host the A's (T: "Sorry, but both those teams suck.")  While that may be true, it was an interesting game, dubbed "a night of odd happenings" by the Seattle Times.

First inning...

 Lots of empty seats.

And lots of hot dog...hats.

Oh, and I caught a foul ball!  Well, I didn't so much catch it as I watched it bounce through three other people's hands and land at my feet.  But whatever.  I caught a foul ball.

When the team stinks, you've got to entertain the crowd somehow.

E and I rather enjoyed keeping tabs on the Cardinals' game

...Ninth inning

The weather was lovely the whole evening, probably about 75 degrees when they closed the roof at the end of the game.  And the Mariners won!