Seattle
Or: A Comedy of Errors
We had a long weekend because of Veteran's Day, so we arranged to meet the Marti's and "Do Seattle". Here is the original plan, and what we actually ended up doing:
Original Plan Actual Outcome
Leave approx. 10 a.m. Instead, took Wm. for blood draw, Paul worked from home on his computer, left at approx. 12:30.
Meet at Marti's for lunch. Starving. Stopped at McDonald's 1 mile from our house.
Meet Dan Skillings for dinner in Tacoma. A miracle! We met him and had a wonderful meal. (How weird is that to meet Dan in Tacoma? He lives in Bogota, Colombia. We used to see him in Minneapolis every year, but here we were with the Marti's and Dan, having dinner in Tacoma...)
Go to Seattle Saturday a.m. Another miracle! In fact, two miracles, since I pulled out in front of a light rail train, scaring the crap out of all of us, as we left the hotel. (I thought it was sitting still - there were no bells or arms down...plus, I had plenty of room, really!)
Go to see the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Pacific Science Center. After trying since Wednesday to reach the Science Center, found out Friday a.m. that the Dead Sea Scroll event was sold out for the entire weekend.
Park, and take the monorail to the Needle. Parked, waited about an hour for the monorail, and found out that they had cancelled service because of a gas leak under the track. Walked to the Needle.
Enjoy the Needle. Enjoyed the Needle, except Thomas was bored and made it his job to pester me incessantly about how long we had to stay. Stephen looked out every set of binoculars and loved it.
Eat Lunch. Found a Food Court, so everyone got what they wanted - another miracle!
Go to the Waterfront Market. I think we had planned to take the monorail here as well. Instead, we walked part of the way and caught a bus for another portion, then walked again. The market was crowded but fun. It reminded me of China, minus the smell of diesel fuel and sewage.
See the famous fish market. Did it! We watched them throw fish at the famous fish market, where they had a HUGE Monkfish hanging down as part of the display. As Stephen got closer to look in it's mouth, one of the guys behind the counter growled "AAAaaaaRRR!!" and pulled back on a rope attached to the fish's tail. Everyone jumped and we all got a good laugh. Then we waited for someone else to get punked, which they did - even better when you know it's coming.
See the first-ever Starbuck's. Did it! Not sure why this was important, but we were right there anyway...
Take the boat tour of the area. Ha! That is funny! Maybe next time - all that walking had us worn out and there would have been a mutiny if we'd made anyone do one more thing. We wisely chose against this.
Swim at the hotel. Psych! This also worked.
Eat at a restaurant two blocks from hotel. This was ridiculous. We left the hotel, but the road splits into a "Y" and we chose the wrong arm. We walked in the rain for too long, finally found the restaurant, and learned that there would be a two hour wait to be seated and a one hour wait to get food to go. We decided to go get the cars and head for the Interstate, hoping for a halfway decent chain restaurant. So we made a dash for it, got in the cars, and sat in traffic for the LONGEST TIME. As we sat there, we noticed that there was a restaurant serving pizza and pasta with seats available. Since we weren't going anywhere, I jumped out of the car and ran ahead to the Marti's car to see what they thought. They opted out and decided to go home (which ended up being a smart move) and I rushed the kids out of the car and escorted them to the restaurant while Paul found a place to park again. When we got in the place, they said they were closing in 20 minutes (at which point Stephen nearly had heart failure) but they could make our order to go. WHEW!!! Evening saved!
Go to a museum in Tacoma Sunday a.m. We went to the Art of Glass museum and loved it. Downside: they didn't open until 12 noon. However, we were able to watch a visiting artist making pieces in the "Hot House". They had a small gallery (would have liked more of this) and a place to create our own art, where we also spent a lot of time. There was also a bridge outside that has a large collection of Chihuly's work and that was a highlight.
Eat lunch at Marti's on the way home. Well, we didn't leave the museum until 2:00, so that put us back significantly. But the Marti's graciously hung around all day waiting for us and we stopped in and ate cheese and crackers, then left around 4:30.
Drive home while still light. Oh, well. It was dark, and raining, and there were gale-force winds. But we made it back in good time and in one piece. Besides, after our near-death experience with the light rail, a little rain was no big deal.
Enjoy our time with our friends. Definately! Despite all the waiting, foiled plans, and walking, walking, walking, we would do it again any day.
We had a long weekend because of Veteran's Day, so we arranged to meet the Marti's and "Do Seattle". Here is the original plan, and what we actually ended up doing:
Original Plan Actual Outcome
Leave approx. 10 a.m. Instead, took Wm. for blood draw, Paul worked from home on his computer, left at approx. 12:30.
Meet at Marti's for lunch. Starving. Stopped at McDonald's 1 mile from our house.
Meet Dan Skillings for dinner in Tacoma. A miracle! We met him and had a wonderful meal. (How weird is that to meet Dan in Tacoma? He lives in Bogota, Colombia. We used to see him in Minneapolis every year, but here we were with the Marti's and Dan, having dinner in Tacoma...)
Go to Seattle Saturday a.m. Another miracle! In fact, two miracles, since I pulled out in front of a light rail train, scaring the crap out of all of us, as we left the hotel. (I thought it was sitting still - there were no bells or arms down...plus, I had plenty of room, really!)
Go to see the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Pacific Science Center. After trying since Wednesday to reach the Science Center, found out Friday a.m. that the Dead Sea Scroll event was sold out for the entire weekend.
Park, and take the monorail to the Needle. Parked, waited about an hour for the monorail, and found out that they had cancelled service because of a gas leak under the track. Walked to the Needle.
Enjoy the Needle. Enjoyed the Needle, except Thomas was bored and made it his job to pester me incessantly about how long we had to stay. Stephen looked out every set of binoculars and loved it.
Eat Lunch. Found a Food Court, so everyone got what they wanted - another miracle!
Go to the Waterfront Market. I think we had planned to take the monorail here as well. Instead, we walked part of the way and caught a bus for another portion, then walked again. The market was crowded but fun. It reminded me of China, minus the smell of diesel fuel and sewage.
See the famous fish market. Did it! We watched them throw fish at the famous fish market, where they had a HUGE Monkfish hanging down as part of the display. As Stephen got closer to look in it's mouth, one of the guys behind the counter growled "AAAaaaaRRR!!" and pulled back on a rope attached to the fish's tail. Everyone jumped and we all got a good laugh. Then we waited for someone else to get punked, which they did - even better when you know it's coming.
See the first-ever Starbuck's. Did it! Not sure why this was important, but we were right there anyway...
Take the boat tour of the area. Ha! That is funny! Maybe next time - all that walking had us worn out and there would have been a mutiny if we'd made anyone do one more thing. We wisely chose against this.
Swim at the hotel. Psych! This also worked.
Eat at a restaurant two blocks from hotel. This was ridiculous. We left the hotel, but the road splits into a "Y" and we chose the wrong arm. We walked in the rain for too long, finally found the restaurant, and learned that there would be a two hour wait to be seated and a one hour wait to get food to go. We decided to go get the cars and head for the Interstate, hoping for a halfway decent chain restaurant. So we made a dash for it, got in the cars, and sat in traffic for the LONGEST TIME. As we sat there, we noticed that there was a restaurant serving pizza and pasta with seats available. Since we weren't going anywhere, I jumped out of the car and ran ahead to the Marti's car to see what they thought. They opted out and decided to go home (which ended up being a smart move) and I rushed the kids out of the car and escorted them to the restaurant while Paul found a place to park again. When we got in the place, they said they were closing in 20 minutes (at which point Stephen nearly had heart failure) but they could make our order to go. WHEW!!! Evening saved!
Go to a museum in Tacoma Sunday a.m. We went to the Art of Glass museum and loved it. Downside: they didn't open until 12 noon. However, we were able to watch a visiting artist making pieces in the "Hot House". They had a small gallery (would have liked more of this) and a place to create our own art, where we also spent a lot of time. There was also a bridge outside that has a large collection of Chihuly's work and that was a highlight.
Eat lunch at Marti's on the way home. Well, we didn't leave the museum until 2:00, so that put us back significantly. But the Marti's graciously hung around all day waiting for us and we stopped in and ate cheese and crackers, then left around 4:30.
Drive home while still light. Oh, well. It was dark, and raining, and there were gale-force winds. But we made it back in good time and in one piece. Besides, after our near-death experience with the light rail, a little rain was no big deal.
Enjoy our time with our friends. Definately! Despite all the waiting, foiled plans, and walking, walking, walking, we would do it again any day.
posted by Lydia | 2:38 PM
1 Comments:
lol to calling it a comedy of errors. i saw that play in england.
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