Faced with a long Thanksgiving weekend and no plans to return home to visit the families until the Christmas holidays, Susan and I decided to give thanks by taking another trip. This weekend we ventured northwest to give Seattle and Portland a look.
Our trip started Wednesday after work with an afternoon of driving. We made it to the south central border of Washington (Kennewick/Richland) before calling it a night. This would leave us with only a couple hours drive remaining on Thanksgiving day before arriving in the Seattle area.
Drive to Washington
Luckily for us, we have friends living north of Seattle in Everett who allowed us to stay at their condo for the 2 nights in the area and save on the room expenses. Unfortunately, they were visiting family across the country for the holiday weekend so we were unable to actually visit with them personally. Still we were very appreciative of them allowing us to use their place (and the tips they provided via post-its around the condo).
All that said, our first stop upon arrival was at the condo in Everett to drop off our stuff. After a quick cleaning up (long drives make me feel dirty) it was back south and into the city. We parked near the Pike Place Market and walked toward the market and harbor for a bit. Being afternoon on Thanksgiving most businesses were closed (including the market) and the proportion of homeless to tourists on the sidewalk was not in our favor. It was a little uncomfortable at first, particularly when we passed a drug exchange on our way to the piers, but nothing we couldn't manage.
Once on the waterfront the situation had changed and there were some restaurants, arcades, and the aquarium open. We stopped at a cafeteria style fish 'n chips place for a quick lunch before proceeding to the aquarium. The Seattle aquarium is very nice with a lot of exhibits focusing on the sea-life in the region. There are many areas where indigenous animals are housed and the water in their tanks is pumped in directly from the sound...like being in a glass-enclosed extension.
The first major attraction of the aquarium was the touch tanks, where we were informed all about the sea anemonies by an employee who basically said that when we touch them, they are touching back and attempting to poison and eat us...a comforting thought. Thankfully (in the spirit of the holiday) we have a thick enough skin to foil the anemonies' lunch plans. Susan couldn't get enough of the anemony poison, so attempted to touch all of them along with the other fish, shrimp, sea cucumbers, etc in the tank.
After a hand wash, it was on to check out the other exhibits including fish of Hawaii, a giant octopus, and seeing where we measured up with a 6 gilled shark. From there it was on to building 2 and the underwater viewing dome. We spent a few minutes here before heading onto the highlight of the aquarium...the seal and sea otter exhibits. Susan had a field day with her camera and phone watching the animals from both above and below the water. I think I could watch otters all day.
Susan getting a sea urchin hug 
Susan being poisoned & Jeff measuring up 
Nemo
Susan chillin with a sea otter
Once we pried ourselves away from the sea mammals, the aquarium was finished so it was back out to the waterfront where we headed south to the ferry station. As a way to get a cheap tour of the water we caught a ferry to Bainbridge island, a small residential town that is probably very nice for a visit when not closed down for holiday. With it being Thanksgiving though, the main street was a ghost town so just provided a short loop walk before returning to the ferry. The highlight of the boat ride for Susan was her first celebrity sighting when we nearly bumped into Chris Kattan while boarding the outbound ferry. Susan did her best to snap paparazzi shots with her phone to capture the moment. On the return ferry ride, night was setting in so we were able to get a good view of the skyline as we approached the dock.
Jeff with the Seattle skyline 
Chris Kattan on our ferry 
Seattle skyline at night
Back in town and it was a quick walk back to the car where we changed clothes in the parking garage (because we're classy) and then headed East to the Lake Washington shoreline (Leschi area specifically) for our Thanksgiving dinner at Daniel's Broiler. It was a prix fixe meal with crackers with goat cheese, smoked salmon spread, and marinated vegetables as a warm-up; a choice of soup or salad; 4 entree choices; and a few dessert choices. We were seated late so got our bar drinks for free (bonus!), then sat for a nice meal. Though turkey was offered we both went non-traditional... Susan got the filet and I got the salmon, both were excellent. The sides (mashed and roasted potatoes respectively along with broccoli) were prepared well, but were a little bland so nothing to write home about. For dessert, I had to indulge in some pumpkin pie to pay homage to the holiday and it was delicious.
Dinner completed, we were ready to call it a night. Getting out of Leschi proved to be a challenge as that area gets very hilly and residential and the roads were terribly confusing. Luckily our GPS rerouted us until I finally followed the correct directions and got back to the highway. On the drive in for the night, we noticed the roads were the most congested we'd seen all day. It wasn't until we saw the full parking lot of Kmart that it dawned on us the Black Friday shoppers were already at it (at 8:45 on Thursday)...some things I'll never understand.
Happy and full after a fun first day in Seattle
Tomorrow brings another day in Seattle, with more open attractions to visit...
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