Seattle morning

What a terrific Seattle morning we had. We needed a toaster, so we decided to go downtown to Sur la Table at Pike Place Market. We petted the pig, marveled at the fish throwers, admired the crabs and clams and oysters. The toaster quest was unsuccessful so we walked out to Westlake Plaza and went to another kitchen store or two. Still no luck, but it was a nice walk, sunny and breezy; Jordan ran, and Aaron rode on Daddy’s shoulders. Back to Pike Place Market for lunch at the Athenian, where we were all captivated by the view. Blue water, dark trees, ferries, tugboats, a cruise ship under construction, seagulls flying at window level. Everybody loved it.

We jogged back to our car to beat the meter. Seattle has this cool new system replacing coin-operated meters: you pay for your parking time at a little automated pay station, and receive a sticker that says when you’re due back. You stick it to the inside of your curbside window. You can even take it with you if you change parking places. The most brilliant part is that you can use a credit card to buy the sticker. No more running into the store for quarters! I also like that it tells you what time to come back, rather than how much time you have remaining. This seems like the more customer-centered piece of information.

We got to our car at 12:10, and were pulling into our own driveway at 12:19. How cool is THAT. In DC we had to plan half an hour to get home from the Mall. From anywhere, really.