Saturday, October 30, 2021

Seattle Halloween

I had the solemn honor of showing Viry and Lolo around our fair city today.


The view on the 520 floating bridge across Lake Washington can be pretty amazing. There's plenty of water, some skyline, and on a clear day you can see the mountains of Olympic National Park behind it all, and this was a very clear day.



I think we have the most rundown looking Hard Rock Cafe on the planet. Like the one in Guyana looks better than this.







We were headed to check out the space needle but we had to take quite a lot of pictures first. Tourists, I tell ya.







As you walk up to the elevators that take you to the top, there's exhibits about the history of the structure covering the walls. They are in kind of an annoying spot because I feel like I was rushed through them, and you can't go back for more afterwards.











The view is amazing anyway but today was an exceptionally clear day, especially considering that Seattle is known for its constant gloomy cloudiness. We could see Mt. Rainier clearly.





There's a little bar at the top which was fun.



This wine wasn't quite done yet.



I showed up my new night workplace, Climate Pledge Arena.











There were even a few selfie stations provided that took pictures and emailed them to you. So convenient.

Another fun part of being up here was watching the seaplanes take off and land.



One floor down from the top is fun because it has a glass floor and is rotating.















Pike Place Fish Market is well known for throwing fish at each other and other antics.



Checked out the gum wall.


It was Halloween and I think there was a bit of a shortage of costumes due to covid supply chain issues. Anyway I had nothing to wear to the costume party. I grudgingly decided to be lame and recycle a costume from a past year. I had a shark and hotdog costume to choose from... but I couldn't decide and decided to be a shark eating a hotdog. 


We did a pregame shot before going to the party. Viry already had her vampire fangs in and decided to drink hers with a straw.


It did not go well.


Our Seattle friends Andres and Marcela always have the best food spreads at their parties. 


There was pumpkin carving.


Lydia tried some fancy stuff.


I stick with the classics. Classic me.




"The great pumpkin is the world's first imperial pumpkin ale! It's packed with pumpkin and roasted pumpkin seeds, and spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice."




Afterward we popped back over to Wilde Rover Irish Pub in Kirkland. It seemed like the Halloween place to be last night.


The ladies said they'd never seen a shark eating a hotdog dance so beautifully before.




The costume... was hot at times. Peeing in it was also not fun. Luckily there was a lot of fabric to soak it all up.






There was group of girls all dressed like Mr. Clean complete with bald caps, and they had booze in a pretend bleach bottle. I don't know.

Friday, October 29, 2021

Viry and Lolo Come to Town, the Friggin' Sky Makes Me Frown

Our friends Viry and Lolo from St. Louis came to visit us today which was super fun. I think they were stuck outside of the country due to some visa issue when we had our very rad going away party, and they were so nice about missing that that they said they needed to come see us in person. Friends are the best!



We had dinner in Kirkland at burger joint Coastline Burgers. Kirkland has so many walkable food choices it's amazing.





Once we met up with our buddies we checked out some Kirkland bars. First we hit Bottle and Bull. Truffle oil fries were had by all.




We hit Wilde Rover Irish Pub and there was already some Halloween partying happening in there. I love me some Halloween. This year we tried our "swing by Target and see what's on sale" move for costumes but the place was picked clean. I think that there's been some supply chain issues due to the dreaded covid.




Viry and Lolo went to sleep in our guest room, but not I. I had received word earlier today that the elusive aurora borealis would be visible tonight. The northern lights and I have had beef ever since we went on a night tour in Iceland looking for them and came back empty handed. I never forgive. I never forget.


So while Lydia snored in the passenger seat I drove around north in rural Washington to some areas that I heard were far enough away from civilization that their light pollution wouldn't affect my viewing pleasure.


I saw a lot of stars which was nice but no northern lights.



I did gain some hard won wisdom and experience though. It turns out there are apps that can tell you were the space magic is before you go driving around in the middle of nowhere at 2 in the morning. Sort of takes the fun out of it but I'll be checking this next time.



You can't escape me forever. I'm going to flip off the sun for wasting my time in the morning.