We left Rosburg about 7:30 this morning. Man, I tell you, the drive from there was so beautiful. We we're on I-5 the entire time but it was so beautiful. I used to visualize a flat, boring drive when I hear I-5. Today's drive totally changed that.
There were pine trees and evergreens everywhere. We went up hills and mountains and down to the valleys. Even the rest stops are beautiful! They look like they were nestled in the middle of a forest!
We stopped by Portland, Oregon's biggest city. We crossed one of their many bridges into downtown and parked right by their World Trade Center. From there, we walked to the water front and enjoyed the scenery. It was drizzling when we got there but it wasn't too bad. After our quick jaunt to Portland, we hit I-5 again and kept on driving North.
I wasn't really that impressed with Portland. Well, I don't think I can judge a city by the little tiny bit that I saw but I just didn't fall in love with it. It was just – blah. I'm sorry if someone from Portland is reading my blog.
But when we finally arrive in the Seattle area, damn, I wanted to stop right there and explore the city. I fell in love with Seattle the moment I saw its Skyline. I didn't have that "blah" feeling that I felt in Portland. We didn't stop though. We drove past Seattle thinking we might be able to get to Vancouver, Canada later this afternoon. But right after we got to Everett, traffic was so heavy and I thought maybe the wait at the US-Canada border will be too long. So instead of sitting in traffic, we decided to make a U-turn and headed back to Seattle.
Everett is only about 20 miles away so it wasn't really that bad. We stopped by a gas station to grab a Travel Discount Hotel Coupon Guide. I called a few places until I I found a reasonable rate that was right there at the Seattle City Center.
We stayed at the Travelodge right by the Space Needle! Okay, the place was blah. It has a bed, lamp, shower, AC – just the basics. But it was right there, close to everything. We even have a Space Needle View right at our door.
Since Space Needle was right there, we explored it first. Then we took the Monorail and walked about 4 blocks to Seattle's famous Public Market. This Public Market is the oldest Public Market in the US. Trust me, this place, is something you don't wanna miss when you go to Seattle.
Everything is so affordable. They were selling beautiful bouquets of flowers for $10! These bouquets are probably worth $30 in flower shops. This is also where you will find the World Famous Pike Place Fish Market. They do salmon throwing here which was fun to see. If you buy fish, lobster, crab etc. here, they can pack it for you – safe enough to go on a plane ride with ya. Is that cool or what?
We walked down into the second level of the Public Market and there it was – the restaurant where Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan shot one of their scenes in Sleepless in Seattle!!!!!! That was really cool. We then head to a Russian shop and had a Piroshki and something else – can't remember what the name was – but it was like a Piroski with cream and cherries. That was good. The piroshkis were big enough to get us by until dinner.
We headed back to the Monorail but we got sidetracked at the underground Bus line. The place was deserted. Apparently, they no longer operate on the weekends. It was cool though, walking through the deserted platform. Empty. Even the escalators were empty, though they were running. It was sort of eerie, kinda like a movie scene.
We got back on the Monorail and headed back to the foot of the Space Needle. We were gonna eat dinner at the Revolving Restaurant on top of the Space Needle but I thought it was very expensive for an aimless trip like this. 45 bucks was the cheapest for the main course. So we decided to check out China Town for a cheaper deal.
Seattle's China Town wasn't that impressive. And we didn't stop there for dinner. Iwas reading a tourist map when I came across a restaurant called "Typhoon." It's a Thai restaurant and it has been recommended by Bon Appetit, America's Food and Entertaining magazine as the best Thai restaurant in the US.
Didn't even think twice about it. I love Thai food. So we decided to check it out. The ambiance was nice. I loved it! The food was indeed very good. I've been to so many Thai restaurants but I have to say that yes, I agree with Bon Appetit. Best Thai Food so far. We ordered Crab Pad Thai, Grilled Trout and Pineapple Fried Rice. We also had Iced Tea. Trust me, everything was cooked to perfection! The only thing I didn't like was the absence of Thai servers. All their servers were either blonde haired women or some other nationality other than Thai. But the food was good. So no complaints here.
Then we drove around Seattle, exploring its different neighborhoods. We found one of the best view of the Seattle Skyline on 5th Ave. and hmm, I forgot the cross street but I wrote it down somewhere. It was just beautiful during sunset. Though I'm sure the skyline looks more beautiful on a boat but we didn't have enough time to catch one.
We drove around Seattle City Center one more time then we headed back to our lodging. Gotta get enough sleep for a long day tomorrow. We'll try to cross the border to Canada and explore Vancouver. This one should be exciting.
Ciao.
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