Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Day 6 - Sleepless in Seattle

This moring, I headed out in search of something reasonably priced, healthy, and quick. And preferably not Starbucks, for Adam dislikes their coffee (too burnt tasting). However, after walking half a block and reaching Starbucks #4, I realized the task at hand was a bit over zealous. For $9, I got a coffee, a tea, and a "protein plate" which included an egg, some fruit, a bagel and peanut butter, and a wedge of cheese. This met 2 out of 4 criteria. Sigh.
We lucked out on the weather, which was supposed to be 50 degrees and rainy for our entire trip. It was actually sunny and clear, so we decided to head to the Space Needle first, then hit up the Experience Music Project. Honestly, when I found out the Space Needle costs $16 per person, I considered bailing on this uber-touristy endeavor. But, in the end, I figured you only live once, and the price of things like this was only going to go up. As we ascended in the elevator, I became very pleased with my decision. The Space Needle views were great, they have a ton of interesting interactive computer displays, and there was a great write-up on the design and construction of the building. I must nerdily admit that I really liked learning about it.
The Experience Museum is a "history of rock and roll" museum set up by the heirs of Jimi Hendrix, who was a native of Seattle. The coolest thing about this was a 50-foot tall sculpture made of over 400 instruments (mostly guitars) that actually plays a composition via a computer generated strumming machine. There were also a bunch of guitars, and exhibits on other well known Seattle bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden. Music has always been a huge part of my life, and I had a blast. The building itself is also an exhibit of its own. It is designed by Frank Geary and has his standard "ball up a wad of paper towel and model a building after it" kind of design. As an engineer, I must say this style is complicated for the sake of being complicated, and overly difficult to build. I much prefer a straight-lined, practical building.
After our two tours, we walked around Seattle and got a feel for some of the neighborhoods. We picked up apartment guides and Realtor books, and we got seafood on the waterfront. We watched the ferry load up with cars, and we got a bottle of local wine.
After a short nap at the hotel, we hiked out to a brew pub near the University of Seattle, and had one drink before heading back. I had sent a few text messages to friends and family from the bar, thinking it must be like 4am back home. They returned the favor by replying in a chorus around 5am pacific time.
Adam has just left for "the interview". We are both torn over this - I have a job offer, and another interview scheduled for next week in Baltimore. I have found no openings for engineers here. Do we like Seattle enough to uproot and move across the country?
Only time will tell.

1 comment:

Liz Baer said...

hahahahaah Sleepless in Seattle... I should have expected such a title to come up yet your cleverness still astounded me. :)


PS the word i had to type was "mulato". And it was very clearly typed- not twisted at all just arched like word art. Interesting that such a place as google would not twist such a controversial word huh?

I thought it was interesting.... *shrug*