Seattle - Labor Day

Chris, Charles and I decided to go to Seattle to visit Laura (or Catherine depending on which part of the country you are in) and David. Luckily, Nick in San Francisco was able to join us.

Let me say that Seattle has to be one of the coolest cities I have even been to. The one word that comes to mind is REAL. Bohemians unite in Seattle. It is so down to earth. Unfortunately, like much of the West Coast, it is very expensive to live there. The Northwest in general rocks!! It is so beautiful.

The ORIGINAL Starbucks! Here is where the world domination began....

The ORIGINAL Starbucks!
The ORIGINAL Starbucks logo!

Here were a bunch of guys performing outside the Starbucks.
Here is Starbucks Cofee Pig. This pig is part of the Pike Market Foundation campaign which raises money for their free medical clinic and the various charities and non-profits they support!

Pike's Public Market is amazing! The freshest anything that you can imagine for pretty cheap. If I lived here, I would be at this place everyday!
Fruits and vegetables at the market.

Laura, Chris, Laura Beal and Chuck.
Nick, Laura and Charles departing a bar where we had a few drinks and enjoyed some interesting sights inside. But what could Charles and Laura be looking at outside?

Chris and Alyssa being silly in front of a massive wall of chewed gum.
Chris and Alyssa do their best to blow gum bubbles with Trident gum. That is a challenge - Bubblelicious is preferred! :-p

Alyssa leaves her legacy and her gum on the wall.
An awesome shot of the space needle!

Nick, Laura and Charles heading home from Bumbershoot. Bumbershoot is an annual festival in Seattle with lots of music,art and fun!
Laura and Alyssa waiting for the next band!

The last day there was a parade through the festival! They had dragons and all sorts of characters.
More characters!

This guy was so cool! He was definitely my favorite!
This guy was a close runner-up!

This fish's scales are all made from plastic, soda cans and other recyclable materials!
Nick, Laura and Chris at the parade. After the parade, we would get to see the Red Elvises - a Russian rockabilly band! They were awesome! My favorite song was "I am a closet disco dancer" They guys were dressed like Elvises and were hilarious! They really played to the crowd.

Postcard shot!
Moses (a friend of Laura's) and I pick wild blackberries in Discovery Park. These are just like the blackberries you buy in the store. Aparrently they run rampant here. We passed several people with buckets who were picking as many as they could!

Still in Discovery Park, Laura and I prepare kites and Charles looks on.
Trying to get the kite going,we walk up the beach to find some wind.

Still working on getting that kite in the air!
We gave up on the kite and sat on the rocks to enjoy the view.

Another shot of us hanging out on the rocks!
Isn't this how we all see Charles?

Chris joking around with Laura! He is not pulling her hair that hard....
Another day we crossed the Sound to the island across the way. This house was facing the water and was absolutely breathtaking with all of the flowers.

They invite people to sit in their hanging chair and have a drink. The even have a fountain for animals! How cool!
Gardeners everywhere, eat your heart out!

While in Seattle, Laura took us to see some history. Well, when the city was first founded, one of those in charge of the city attempted to flatten all teh streets. Apparently, more dirt was moved into Seattle to accomplish this than was moved out of the Panama Canal!! What is so amazing is that even with all that - the streets are still very steep - remind you of San Francisco a little.
David, Laura, Nick, Charles, Alyssa and Chris wait on the pier for the boat that will ferry them back to Seattle!

David is not very fond of boats. He was pretty much holding on for dear life here.
Nick and Charles hang out outside the boat enjoying the fresh air and waves!

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

The ORIGINAL Starbucks! Here is where the world domination began....
The ORIGINAL Starbucks!	The ORIGINAL Starbucks logo!
Here were a bunch of guys performing outside the Starbucks.	Here is Starbucks Cofee Pig. This pig is part of the Pike Market Foundation campaign which raises money for their free medical clinic and the various charities and non-profits they support!
Pike's Public Market is amazing! The freshest anything that you can imagine for pretty cheap. If I lived here, I would be at this place everyday!	Fruits and vegetables at the market.
Laura, Chris, Laura Beal and Chuck.	Nick, Laura and Charles departing a bar where we had a few drinks and enjoyed some interesting sights inside. But what could Charles and Laura be looking at outside?
Chris and Alyssa being silly in front of a massive wall of chewed gum.	Chris and Alyssa do their best to blow gum bubbles with Trident gum. That is a challenge - Bubblelicious is preferred! :-p
Alyssa leaves her legacy and her gum on the wall.	An awesome shot of the space needle!
Nick, Laura and Charles heading home from Bumbershoot. Bumbershoot is an annual festival in Seattle with lots of music,art and fun!	Laura and Alyssa waiting for the next band!
The last day there was a parade through the festival! They had dragons and all sorts of characters.	More characters!
This guy was so cool! He was definitely my favorite!	This guy was a close runner-up!
This fish's scales are all made from plastic, soda cans and other recyclable materials!	Nick, Laura and Chris at the parade. After the parade, we would get to see the Red Elvises - a Russian rockabilly band! They were awesome! My favorite song was "I am a closet disco dancer" They guys were dressed like Elvises and were hilarious! They really played to the crowd.
Postcard shot!	Moses (a friend of Laura's) and I pick wild blackberries in Discovery Park. These are just like the blackberries you buy in the store. Aparrently they run rampant here. We passed several people with buckets who were picking as many as they could!
Still in Discovery Park, Laura and I prepare kites and Charles looks on.	Trying to get the kite going,we walk up the beach to find some wind.
Still working on getting that kite in the air!	We gave up on the kite and sat on the rocks to enjoy the view.
Another shot of us hanging out on the rocks!	Isn't this how we all see Charles?
Chris joking around with Laura! He is not pulling her hair that hard....	Another day we crossed the Sound to the island across the way. This house was facing the water and was absolutely breathtaking with all of the flowers.
They invite people to sit in their hanging chair and have a drink. The even have a fountain for animals! How cool!	Gardeners everywhere, eat your heart out!
While in Seattle, Laura took us to see some history. Well, when the city was first founded, one of those in charge of the city attempted to flatten all teh streets. Apparently, more dirt was moved into Seattle to accomplish this than was moved out of the Panama Canal!! What is so amazing is that even with all that - the streets are still very steep - remind you of San Francisco a little.	David, Laura, Nick, Charles, Alyssa and Chris wait on the pier for the boat that will ferry them back to Seattle!
David is not very fond of boats. He was pretty much holding on for dear life here.	Nick and Charles hang out outside the boat enjoying the fresh air and waves!