Memorial Day Weekend in Seattle

Memorial Day Weekend in Seattle

Todd Swank's Diary Entry for May 27, 2019

The boys were home for college and we had some time before their summer jobs kicked into full force, so we thought it would be fun to take a family vacation to Seattle, Washington for Memorial Day Weekend.

We stayed in an incredibly cool hotel called the Edgewater.  It's actually built on a pier so our room directly overlooked the water. 

We didn't know what to expect looking out the window each day, but were definitely caught off guard when we saw a massive cruise-ship out there one morning.  If somebody would have slammed on the gas, they would have taken us out in a heartbeat.

We did a lot of exploring in the city.  We stumbled upon this famous alley where tons of people stick their gum on the wall for some reason.  It seemed kind of gross to me, but we still took a bunch of pictures there anyways.

We love going to see aquariums whenever we go to a new city and were quite impressed with the Seattle Aquarium.   The Underwater Dome was especially impressive and we enjoyed watching the fish inside being fed by a friendly diver.  At least he seemed friendly,  he could have been faking.

The octopus on display was very cool although I must admit I did feel a little guilty when we were eating calamari later in the trip.

We walked up and down the waterfront multiple times during our stay.  We thought the Ferris Wheel looked interesting, but never participated in a ride on it.  We probably should have done that.

We spent a lot of time taking harbor cruises and ferry rides mainly so we could get pictures of the city from the water.  We also spent a lot of our time on land taking pictures out into the water.  As a matter of fact, we actually spent way too much of our time taking pictures rather than just taking in the scenery with our own eyes and just enjoying the moment.  We really gotta work on that. 

Miss Sheri is not a huge fan of my sunglasses, but at times like these I think they are just super.

We didn't see nearly as many harbor seals or sea lions as I would have liked, but we definitely saw some.  The tour guide told us only male sea lions come to this part of the ocean so they can feed on salmon and bulk up to go back to their regular spot to meet the ladies.   So Seattle is kind of like a bachelor party for the sea lions and I'd like to party with these fellas.

Seattle does a ton of shipping back and forth to Canada and Alaska, so there are massive container ships everywhere.  They're fun to watch get loaded.

On our second day, we took a 12 hour whale watching tour which took us into Canadian waters near Victoria and San Juan Island.

It was amazing to see how many people lived on the islands we passed by with ferries bringing cars and people all over the place.  Some of these people seem pretty isolated, but I imagine they love where they are living.  It's so beautiful.

Eventually we found what we came to see when we encountered a mama humpback whale and her baby.  It was incredible watching them play around at the surface and seeing them dive deep to feed with little flips of their tails rising above the surface as if they were saying so long.  We just love going out to see these incredible creatures.

We were really hoping to see orcas , but since they are wild animals the guides have zero control of what we will see.  Spending an hour or so with the humpbacks was well worth the trip.

We came across a little island full of sea lions that looked a little surprised to see us.  Probably not as surprised as they would have been had we been a boat full of killer whales, but definitely a feeling of being shocked all the same.

Soon enough, we were back on the boat for the long ride home with another fun day under our belts.

On our third day, we ate lunch at Taqueria Cantina.  We were very pleased with the food and service, but were especially thrilled at the end of the meal when our waitress gave us some felt tipped markers and told us to feel free to write something on the walls.  I swear we wrote poetry that day.  You'll just have to go there to read it.

The Space Needle was our next stop and we all overcame our fear of heights as well as glass walls and floors to sit and take some photos in front of the city of Seattle.

Unfortunately it can get a bit slippery up there, so our day was nearly cut short until Miss Sheri was kind enough to reach out and save me from a perilous tumble.

We eventually found our way to dinner at Ohana.  Avery was quick to remind us all that Ohana means family and family means that no one gets left behind.  I thought that was the nicest thing anyone had said to me in quite awhile.  Normally, I think they're all looking for opportunities to leave me behind.

On Saturday, we ate at Planet Java Diner.  The food was great and the various clocks were nice as well.

We went to Pioneer Square to do one of Bill Speidel's Underground Tours.  It took us underneath a variety of buildings to learn the history of Seattle and how it was re-built after a massive fire that devastated the city back in the early 20th century.  It was a fun way to learn how everything was built as well as what a crazy place it used to be around here back in the old days.

Our final stop was Chihuly Garden & Glass where we learned about an artist named Dale Chihuly and how he really likes to blow glass.   He's done a ton of exhibits and we had the opportunity to go and look at a bunch of them.  Pretty colorful stuff.