Hello Celebritys

We departed Val's aunt's house after sleeping in and taking our time getting ready. We figured we would get to Seattle, park, explore, and all would be good.

We weren't quite right.

We got off the Interstate. It took us about 30-minutes to drive between where we stayed and downtown. All things considered, not bad.

Almost 1-hour later we finally found parking for less than $20/hour, within decent walking distance of where we wanted to be. We parked and prepared to enjoy the rest of the day.
Our first stop was the Seattle Aquarium. This was the one thing that every single one of us wanted to do while on our Seattle trip. The rest of it was an added bonus (*grin*). We enjoyed looking at all the fish and aquatic animals. We got to watch divers feed fish in the dome tank, we watched the octopus flirt with Val (well, it was following her as she walked around the tank, and changing colors as it did so!), and we watched jellyfish.

After lunch we went to Ivars to enjoy clam chowder, fish and fries, shrimp cocktail, and prawns and fries. I am not a big seafood fan, but I do love Ivars. I think it's the memories of eating there when I was little when we would visit Seattle that make it so fun.

After lunch it was time to head to Pike Market. We walked all over the market, looking at the beautiful flowers and fresh produce. We visited the Market Spice Tea store where I bought some delicious tea. We took our pictures with cardboard celebrities. We also spent a great deal of time in the Sur La Table store, dreaming about "someday" when we are rich, or have our own homes, and want to get fun stuff for our kitchens. We took pictures outside the world's first Starbucks. It was great fun.

Eventually we were all tired and hungry and ready to go home.

We decided to stop at Safeway in Seattle to get a few things for dinner. We found this particular Safeway interesting because it had a parking garage. . .something we definitely don't see back home!

We finally arrived back "home," fixed ourselves some dinner, and then went for a walk with Val's aunt. She showed us a cute little lake near her house, and drove us around her town. Eventually we all crashed, ready for the next day of adventures!