Seattle!

I had a conference to attend in Seattle last week, and it worked out that Chris was able to go with me.  We haven't been anywhere just the 2 of us in quite sometime, and we haven't ever been to the West Coast, except for Vegas (if you count that as West Coast).  Shockingly, all of our flights were on time, and we had uneventful flights.  We left the house at 4:45am est for a 6 am flight.  When we got to Seattle, it was only 10:30am pst!  Our hotel was nice enough to let us check in early and we had the whole day to sightsee.  First impressions of Seattle: 1.  Holy moly was it hilly, didn't expect that! 2.  There were a lot of beggars on the streets (I guess I blocked this out from our days living in Memphis)  3.  There is literally a Starbucks on every corner in Seattle (500 to be exact-too bad neither of us like coffee!  We did miss our sweet tea though) 4.  No Chick fil a in Seattle.  Our first stop was Pike's Market, where they throw the fish back and forth when people purchase them.  It was cool.  The market had everything from fish to produce to flowers to pickles to homemade cheese.  They sold cheap things like touristy tshirts to $500 truffles.  Next, we walked down to the waterfront.  You could go on ferry rides, rides the ferris wheel, or buy fish n chips there.  Next, we walked up to the Columbia Center, which is the tallest building in Seattle (higher than the space needle).  We took the elevators up and got a great view.  Then, back to the hotel for a nap before dinner. While at dinner, we saw "Dr. Anspa" from the old ER TV show days! By the time dinner was over and we were ready to go to bed. We had pretty much been up 24 hours!  On Monday, while I attended the conference, Chris became "outdoorsy man."  He went on a charter fishing trip and then went kayaking.  He even brought fresh flounder home!  On Tuesday, I had more conference to attend before meeting Chris for lunch, then more sightseeing.  We headed over to the Space Needle, then went on a tour boat through the Ballard Locks, and saw boats from the "Deadliest Catch" show and the house from "Sleepless in Seattle."  We also had the best views of the Seattle skyline from the Pugent Sound.  Before we left, Alli requested a seashell, so we took a sea taxi to Alchi Island, Seattle's only "beach."  Suprisingly, people were actually swimming in it and the water was only 52 degrees, but apparently that was warm to them!!! Nuts! Their beach was quite different from our beach...it had rocks, and no seashells, so that's what we brought home to Alli along with a picture of the beach so she'd believe us.  Once we got back to Seattle, we shopped a little, then had a nice dinner and headed to the airport where the red eye awaited us.  We had another "celebrity sighting" while on our flight Edgar Hanson from the "Deadliest Catch" was on our flight back to Atlanta.  It was a fun trip, and we apparently brought our SC sunshine with us because it was sunny and mid/upper 70s the entire time!  I'm so glad Chris and I were able to go, and I'm so thankful my mom and dad were able to watch the girls!