BC #8- A Place You've Traveled To

July/August 2001: My Dad plans a vacation for him, my sister, and I. We spent 8 days in the Pacific Northwest, traveling as far south as the Oregon state line and as far North as Vancouver, British Columbia. It was my favorite vacation of all time (and that's a bold statement compared to my Disneyland/Pacific Ocean/Orange County trip when I was six years old, LOL). The days that I enjoyed the most during that vacation were spent in Seattle, Washington.



The first thing I noticed upon about Seattle? Mount Rainier. I got a glimpse of it right before we started to land at the airport. Then, when driving around the city, I couldn't keep my eyes off of it. It was beautiful. There's something appealing about living in a city with a mountain as part of the landscape... and I would never get sick of it. We didn't visit Mount Rainier National Park during the trip, but that was fine with me. You can't beat getting a free show of Mother Nature's masterpieces (even if it's a deadly volcano).



One of the attractions we did was spend the afternoon at Experience Music Project (EMP). It's located next to the Space Needle and is one of the most unique museums I have ever been to. Not only does it feature artifacts from all kinds of popular artists and bands, but it also has a couple interactive exhibits that allow visitors to play instruments, mix songs, and go through a massive computer based library of songs for their listening pleasure (I recall listening to a lot of Dr. Dre's The Chronic that day). I absolutely loved the architecture of EMP (inside and out) and enjoyed walking around the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame exhibit. Now, since I've been there, they have added a Science Fiction museum. Just finding that out makes me want to go again, and spend all day there :-)



Now, if you look at a map of the Seattle/Tacoma area, you will notice that there are many bodies of water that contribute to the charm of the city. Around all of these locations are miles and miles of boardwalks. My family and I walked around the Pikes Place market area. We found a lot of unique stores, great restaurants, and enjoyed the beauty of watching the ferry boats in the water.



When we were in Seattle, we noticed that the Pigs on Parade were all over the city (which was the same thing as the Cows on Parade in Kansas City). I thought it was pretty cool to see what another city did with their animals. My sister and I have a couple pics posed in front of some of the pigs that were displayed along the Boardwalk.


In the Seattle area, we visited a few stores that featured a lot of art from tribes of the Pacific Northwest (my Dad is fascinated with the art and bought a couple things when we were there). My sister and I got excited over an indoor outlet mall called the Super Mall. We made our Dad go there twice since we found a lot of extremely cute and cheap clothing (which are found in department stores). I also got a glimpse of The University of Washington. At that time, I was starting to research colleges and I seriously considered applying to that university just so I can explore more of the city when not sitting in class.

Now, remember that I only focused on the Seattle portion of this vacation... one day I will share the things we did in Longview, WA and Vancouver, BC. There is only one thing I regret about this vacation... I didn't bring a camera with me. Looks like I'll just have to go again! LOL