NW Trip '12 - Day 8

6/9/12 - Day 8: Short drive day!! We were thrilled to wake up and know we only had to drive a couple hours max to get to our next destination. We didn't, however, factor in "waiting at the border" time, which added an additional hour. Regardless, we hit Starbucks on the way out of Vancouver and got to the border in about a half hour. We waited in line for a while. There were plenty of border agents, but unfortunately there were also a LOT of people that wanted to get into the U.S. We finally got through and made our way to Seattle in a 1.5-hour car ride filled with some fun travel "I Spy"-type games. 

Our first stop was going to be the downtown market, so we found parking a few blocks away (for $15!!) and walked down the step grades to the market. As we expected, it was incredibly crowded, but we walked inside one end and made our way down to the other end. The inside tent area was filled with a few souvenir shops, some restaurants, and a lot of fresh seafood, produce, and flower vendors. About halfway through and feeling a little claustrophobic, we stopped for lunch at Lowell's. I had a beef brisket dip and Cari had a large seafood sampler. The food was pretty good, but definitely not worth the price. Either way, we enjoyed the break from the crowd for a little while before heading back through the rest of the market! After lunch, we continued through the tent area and got to the end where the famous fish-throwing seafood vendor was. We watched for a little while but didn't see much action, so we continued on. 

Cari and I took a little break and walked a few blocks up to a shop she saw on the way into town while Jon and Megan got some food items from a place Jon saw on TV (mostly desserts). We met up in the grassy park-like area near the market and just relaxed and hung out for a few. Once we were slightly rested and even more full than before, we walked the mile to the Space Needle! Jon and I took the elevator to the top which was a little disconcerting given the full glass elevator door. We walked around the entirety of the top and took some pictures and then headed back down. It was a cool sight to see, and I'm glad to say I've done it, but $20 was a little pricey for a 5-minute view of Seattle on a cloudy day. 

Once we were back on the ground, we walked around a little more, heard some bad music at a festival nearby (including some Filipino rapping), and took the monorail back to a station close to our car (instead of walking the mile + back). After a long day (or, after 8 long days!), we decided to just go back to the hotel for the rest of the afternoon/evening and hang out, so we did just that. We checked in at the Doubletree by Hilton near the airport and walked a LONG walk to our room. After unloading, we went to the hotel bar/restaurant for dinner -- I had some buffalo wings and Cari had linguine with a spicy red sauce and veggies/chicken. We hung there for a little while, watched one of the NBA games, and retired to the room for drinks and tv movies. We were also entertained by the constant shaping and re-shaping that Jon did to his beard while he shaved it. I think it was a great way to spend the last evening with our travel buddies!