Seattle Day One!

Never been. The Pacific Northwest. Well, I was there when I was a kid since my grandma lived in The Dalles, Oregon but I was 10. I don't remember a whole lot of it except maybe being on the Columbia River dam with my brother and Dad and him driving across the border into Washington so I could say I was there. Hell, it's been 60 years.

We flew into Seattle on Tuesday night. We found a fleabag near the airport to crash for the night. Damn, who pays for parking at a Red Roof Inn? We did. $14? Seriously? Hey man by the time this trip ended, $14 was cheap to park.

Downtown Seattle is compact. Everything is right there within a few blocks. Stayed at a Courtyard by Marriott. $81 a night to park. Spit take. See what I mean? $14 was cheap.

MOPOP. The museum of pop culture. Close to the Space Needle, the Climate Arena, and a convenient parking lot right across the street. It was fairly empty. WARNING!!! Max paid the parking fee, $70??? $70 bucks to park? The rubes from Nebraska have arrived ready to be fleeced.

The museum itself is very interesting. they have Hendrix's guitar. Costumes from Wicked and the Wizard of Oz. Interactive exhibits, More guitars. Huge pile of guitars. Buy a Seattle City Pass and save a bunch of cash on admittance fees. Too bad they don't have a Seattle Parking Pass.

Then it was off to Easy Street record shop. Tons of used vinyl, CD's and clothing. The place was everything Seattle is. They gave out whistles to use if ICE showed up. There were NO ICE signs in many businesses. It was epic to see. Recommended. Hey and the parking was $12 or so. Parking fees so far? $256 and it's only Day One.

We checked out the Seattle waterfront, the stadiums, and Buddha pigeon, a fat happy pigeon sitting on a ledge outside our hotel room. Yes, I am easily entertained. Buddha Pigeon was a hoot.

It was Day One in the books. A little Detroit style pizza at Moto Pizza in downtown and get ready for another day of touristy stuff and avoiding the mental cases wandering the streets ranting about something or other. Yeah, we have those back home too. Mental health is a crisis in this nation but that's another story.