from Seattle, with "Whoa!"

Monday. What a day.

We woke up early in Kent, and were all pleased to hit the town while the sun was not yet high. We headed up the 405 North, which I spent mostly pondering music, analogies and the use of numbered highways in songs (Route 66 is to who as 405 is to Death Cab for Cutie and as 101 is to Phantom Planet and 85 is to Outkast?) and wondering what a song about 76 through Clemson would sound like.

We parked at a garage in Seattle at Elliot and Vine and hiked it up to the infamous market, which was definitely in high gear by the time we arrived shortly after 10am. The scenery was pretty spectacular. Bakeries and flower shops galore, wildly legit street music, dudes throwing fish, all enjoyed under a bright blue sky with the cool and crisp northwestern air in our lungs. We met up with a couple of Leigha’s buddies, Chris and Bracken who turned out to be great company. Chris lives in the city and attends Seattle Pacific University. Being the most experienced, he took up the job of tour guide and proved to be great at it, as you will hear. Bracken went to Clemson for a semester but now attends Queens in Charlotte. She’s pretty excited to be wherever she is all the time, which makes her really fun in a group. (aside: as I just typed that, I heard her shout from the back of the van, “I want to be a pirate!”) We piddled around the market a bit, and the pics and vids below are my puny attempts to share a bit of the experience.

Jammin' outside the original Starbucks

Crazy fish throwin'

In the flower market

After meeting up with Adam Schanz (affectionately referred to as “snap-bandit” by St. Lew), we hopped on a ferry across the Puget Sound to Bainbridge Island. The gentle breeze turned quite a bit stiffer, and in protest I defiantly wrote my name and dated the orange rescue buoy on the bow of the ship. We split up for lunch, myself being one of the six who enjoyed a bit of uber-delicious Thai cuisine for lunch and a round of Singhas outside next to a boat yard. Conversation varied from Church to political rhetoric to how Chase can’t hold his spicy food like Leigha. More than once someone commented on how peaceful the moment was. It was a pretty sweet time. After boarding another ferry ride and a short pow-wow, we went back into the city center where we stopped in a really cool music shop full of harps, hammer dulcimers, sitars, among other instruments that I didn’t know. A few of us sipped on some White Dragon Well and talked to a man named Ben in his local Chinese tea bar, which proved tasty and informative. I could talk more about the city, but I don’t have much time now.

St. Lew looking back at the city

The view from lunch

Group heading back from Bainbridge Island

As the day was ending, we headed to Golden Gardens Park, an incredible spot northwest of Seattle to enjoy more of a real Seattle experience, away from what one local described as “square downtown.” (btw: will some English composition minded person comment on whether that second quotation should be outside the period, because it just looks really awkward to me? Kerry? Elaine?) It is essentially a beach spot on the Puget Sound full of firepits with an incredible view across the water of the Olympic Mountains. We played some mildly competitive volleyball and threw some disc around, but the real reason anybody would go there is the view, and we had primo seating for the sunset across the Sound. There is a lot I want to say about this night right now, but I will have to unpack my thoughts later when my battery has more juice. Please stay tuned.

Sun going down over the Olympic Mountains at Golden Gardens Park

A bit later

And suddenly, a UFO