Jakin Invasion: Doing Downtown

Back in our BYU days, Rick and I had some very dear friends, Dale and Janae. Since we left Utah almost 10 years ago , we have only seen them twice very briefly.

In mid January they came to Seattle for a quick visit. We made the most of our time with them and crammed in as many activities as we could. We had a lot of fun seeing the sights, but most of all, we enjoyed their company. It was just like old times...only I'm fatter and have two kids.

Rick's parent watched the girls for us on Friday afternoon so that we could have adult time together. Adult time? Wow, that makes me sound old. Anyway, I left Fiona for 5 hours, which is a record for me. I'm ashamed to admit that it felt rather liberating.

First I picked up the Jakins and then we headed downtown to meet up with Rick. I asked them what was most important to them do on their trip. Janae said she wanted to see the Space Needle and Pike Place Market. Dale wanted to go to Ivar's.

I'm not going to lie, I didn't want to do the Space Needle thing. First of all, it's out of the way. Second, it's kind of expensive. Third, it's only 520 feet tall. Why would we pay money to go up in a structure that's only 520 feet tall when we can go up in a building that is 47 stories tall? What building is that, you might ask? The Wells Fargo Building. Boo-yah! I'm not really sure how stories convert to feet, but the Wells Fargo Building is definitely WAY taller that the Space Needle.

With a little persuasion, the first stop was at Wells Fargo to pick up Rick...and to check out the view. Once they saw the view, their interest in the Space Needle sharply declined.

Next we headed to the Ivar's Fish Bar. We filled our bellies and saved a few fries for the seagulls. Have you ever fed these guys? They were aggressive! I felt like I was in an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

Case in point: Check out this guy going crazy on Janae while she tried to hand feed him.

The men were a little less skittish of the birds than Janae and I were. Dale and Rick hand-fed several fries to them.

Dale, Janae and their bird-friends

Next we visited our mummy friend's at Ye Old Curiosity Shoppe...

Of course we had to go to the Pike Place Market. The employees there were up to their usually shenanigans, but they hadn't thrown a signal fish, which was a little disappointing. As I was picking out some salmon for dinner that night, I told the guy that they better start throwing stuff if they want me to buy something. I think I scared him, but it worked!

Before heading home, I insisted that we stop and get some of the little mini donuts they sell at the market. Why is travelling all about food for me? I didn't leave a tip in the tip jar.

Don't worry. I repented.