As mentioned before, one of my reasons for coming here was to see people I hadn't seen in awhile. One of those people was Adam Bettcher. Adam was someone I had met when he came to our church for the first time. He had found us because some of our kids gave him an invitation and he decided to check us out. I'm very glad he did. He wasn't in Cleveland too long because he got offered an architecture job in Seattle and accepted it. My other friend, Nick, had to work again so I had planned on spending the morning and early afternoon with Adam.
Adam and his wife Lisa picked me up a little after 10AM. Our first stop was a breakfast joint that had amazing biscuit sandwiches and a tea called Seattle Fog that was deliciously addicting. Next we ventured over to a small park where there was an art fair going on. A lot of the local architect firms had pieces there, including Adam's. His was this cool octagonal dome that produced a strange alien like noise on the outside, but when you stepped inside, you heard a message clear as crystal.
We then took a driving tour of the city, passing by specific buildings, sights, and the Amazon Orbs. One of our stops was Seattle's massive 10 level library. We took the escalators to the top and then walked down the spiral floors past rows and rows of books. My goodness that place was huge.
Next on our list was a lighthouse and we drove way out to a state park to see it, unfortunately you needed a parking pass to park near it, which we did not possess. So we decided to check out another awesome view of Seattle. It was weird because we drove through suburb after suburb and after entering an extremely wealthy neighborhood, this spectacular view comes out of nowhere!
Deciding on where to go next, Adam asked if I had been to Pike's market. I had, but mentioned I was too late to see them toss the fish. "Let's go then!" he said. So the three of us meandered over there and the place was as busy as ever. It wasn't long before I heard the shouts and watched as the ocean's finest went flying through the air. The place is a seafood lover's paradise.
It was getting late in the afternoon and I had to get going to meet up with Nick and Lau. Adam and Lisa kindly drove me to my next destination and we exchanged goodbyes. Man it was so good to see them. Come visit us in Cleveland soon!
While waiting for Nick and Lau, there was an open air preacher with an exceptionally powerful mic preaching to the masses around me. He had a partner with him who held up a sign saying "Jesus is Weed". If you didn't know, weed is legal in the state of Washington. These guys weren't being cruel or abusive, but speaking the truth. However, most of the masses were not pleased. They swore at him, made inappropriate gestures, among other things. I just hope that some people actually listened.
Finally Nick and Lau arrived and it was time for the fun to begin. It's been a bucket list item of mine to see a ballgame in every MLB park. Today I got to check Safeco Field off that list.
The Kid a.k.a. Ken Griffey Jr.
When's this game gonna start?
Look! I can see Century Link Field from here!
What a view.
The Mariners were playing the yankees in what proved to be an intense game. What made it more interesting was the mass horde of yankees fans that showed up to the game. So every time either team did something good, the place exploded. I do feel bad for the Mariners fans that a bit of their home field atmosphere got taken away and they had to deal with all the yankee noise. The Mariners ended up trailing in the 9th and had a chance to come back with the bases loaded, but ultimately they couldn't deliver and fell to the yankees.
Funny story. After we left the stadium, instead of getting transportation right away, we made our way to small vendor tent. Lau started speaking to the lady and then the lady pointed to a cooler. Lau opened it and pulled out Nick's backpack. Nick had come straight from work to the ballpark and being a cook, he had his expensive knives with him. Well there's no way those were getting into the ballpark. So Lau had found a vendor who kindly stowed the backpack with the expensive knives while we watched the ballgame. Hey you gotta do what you gotta do.
We made one last stop for the night at this place that served really good pizza. Not quite as large as the one I had in Chicago, but good nonetheless. Then we headed back to Nick and Lau's for some much needed shut-eye. I was Cleveland bound by the morning.
Nick and Lau, thanks again for having me. Seattle was a blast! Until next time.
