Ern Plays Host

Ernie took the Chicago gang to one of his favorite joints: Seattle Aquarium.

They were having an Animal Crossing event.

I've known Brandon since grade school and Natalie since high school, so it was kind of jarring to see them interact with my baby.

There was a fun Gulliver character laying about out of reach. In the game he's always passed out on the beach and needs the player to wake him up.

There was game merch in the gift shop.

We strolled along the waterfront for some lunch at Ivar's Acres of Clams.

A visit to Smith Tower is a touristy thing that's been on my list for a long time, so I was excited to finally investigate.

"Completed in 1914, the 38-story, 462 ft (141 m) tower was among the tallest skyscrapers outside New York City at the time of its completion. It was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River until the completion of the Kansas City Power & Light Building in 1931. It remained the tallest building on the U.S. West Coast for nearly half a century, until the Space Needle overtook it in 1962."

We didn't have reservations but I sweet talked the host guy a bit and boom we got a nice big table.

Dinner was served at Poquitos on Capitol Hill.

St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station

Through some strange turn of events Lydia went to the St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station without me but then bought me a season pass... long story short I have some underwater exploration to do in the coming year.

A new restaurant is opening next door called Pop's Kitchen. The location seems to be cursed with multiple places moving in and biting the dust. I hope this one makes it long enough for me to get involved in their fried deliciousness.

The aquarium plus the Ferris wheel are really giving Union Station another life. I'm glad to see the place thriving again after the whole mall concept came to an end.

Despite the fact that my season pass had already been paid for I had to wait in line with all of these yokels to claim it. Pretty lame.

I did some news reading while standing around.

The aquarium has some pretty cool effects happening.

There's a really cool "train" that travels through time and then goes underwater as well. There's a little vignette that is even narrated by famous St. Louisan John Goodman.

There was some 1904 World's Fair action to be had.

Lord Stanley the blue lobster.

It's a nice place but I think that my main criticism is that it's pretty light on fish and doesn't take long to experience. I don't know if maybe the place will grow over time but for now I think that it's pretty high priced for what you get.

We made the trip up to north city to check out a Jamaican place called Jerk Soul. They've already moved to Cherokee street as of this writing so some part of this experience is not to be repeated.

I wanted to try the oxtail but they were out. More than one customer came in while we were waiting and asked for the same and was similarly disappointed by the answer. So I must have been on the right track.

I went with the curry chicken and was not disappointed. I don't like to brag but I've had oxtail in Jamaica so it's whatever.

Hung out with Seago a little later and watched him suck at Witcher 3. Sad stuff.