November 30 -- First Day of Recovery (Seattle)

Woke up at 5 this morning. Couldn’t get back to sleep. Hopefully that will mean I will sleep tonight. We have a full day planned so that should help us stay awake.

Had breakfast at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse this morning. The breakfast was excellent but a little pricey. Weather is sunny and cool today. Phone says it’s freezing out there just 32.

By afternoon the weather became cloudy and still cool. By evening there was a misty rain falling. The drizzle was mostly annoying. Supposed to warm up tomorrow but still be cloudy. Hope it doesn’t rain. I decided to leave the camera at the hotel this morning and just take in the sites.

We went down to the waterfront this morning. Wanted to go on the harbor cruise and to the aquarium. We bought a City Pass. It’s $69 and let’s you into 6 different attractions for that price. It is a good deal if you plan to go to 3 of the attractions listed. We will probably go to 4 or 5 in the four days we will be here. Probably won’t go to the zoo since it is pretty chilly out and don’t have clothes with us to keep us really warm. I left the camera at the Camlin so no pics unless Bonnie takes some with her phone.

First thing we did though on the way to the waterfront was get my lovely bride a different coat. She was pretty cold walking around on Sunday evening. We stopped at Nordstrom’s Rack and got her a coat and she was a lot warmer today when we were out. By the time we got to the piers it was after 10.

We went to Argosy Tours and picked up a city pass and got signed up for the 1:30 PM harbor tour. There is a 2.5 hour locks tour as well but that tour is not on the pass. I think the next time we come down we will do that tour. It’s much different than the harbor tour and since this will be the second time on the harbor tour probably won’t do this one again for some time. Touring the harbor is nice especially if you have never done it before. This was our second time and the really treat is after going north along the shoreline when you turn around to go back south you are about a mile off shore and can really see the skyline of the city. I thing it would be especially striking on a sunny day with blue sky or on a clear night with a full moon. The Space Needle really makes the Seattle skyline unique. Depending on the narrator for the trip the tour will also give you some of the evolution of Seattle and the port. It’s an interesting trip.

We actually went to the Seattle Aquarium before we sailed on the ship. The aquarium is about 1/3 of a mile down the waterfront from Argosy Tours. To me this is an especially nice venue. I could easily have spent many more hours here. Since it’s the “off” season and a weekday there were not very many people. This is always a plus when you are at a tourist venue. The lack of people gives you opportunity to spend more time at each exhibit without feeling rushed and you have more time to chat with the staff about the exhibits and other marine things that you might  interest you. There are touch tanks with anemones of many colors and sizes, sea stars, sea cucumbers, urchins large and small. You can feed the urchins and other critters. They also have exhibits of the Hawaiian reefs with appropriate fish.

The big stars for me were the two giant Pacific octopi. One is a 90 pound male and the other is a 6 pound female. The giant octopus can weigh more than 150 pounds so the male is a teen ager and the female is a baby as octopi go. When they fed the octopi the female just took the shrimp on a stick and didn’t move around much but the male was pretty active and fun to watch move around. The circular tanks make it difficult to see the animals unless they are in you direct view but they was a lot of activity in the one tank along with many oohs and aahs. We had lunch here as well. The prices are very reasonable and the food looks good. I had clam chowder which was very good. Bonnie had carrot soup which she thought was a little spicy for her tastes. The aquarium is an especially nice place for families to visit.

Later in the afternoon we strolled through Pike Place Market. I talked with a couple of turners there and we bought some fresh roasted cashews. Not sure if Bonnie bought anything else but it’s alway nice to window shop.

After we got back to the Camlin we had a few light snacks and then went to see Mocking Jay II. Highlight of this was that we are members of Regal Cinema’s “club” and we got a free small popcorn since is was cyber Monday. As theater popcorn goes it was fine, a little tough and too salty. Seattle movie theaters are more expensive than Anchorage. Unfortunately I was a little disappointed with the movie. The second half of it especially diverted far from the book. So all-in-all i would give it a so-so. Certainly this was the worst of the four.

Getting back to the Camlin I ordered a pizza and Bonnie had turkey, cheese, and crackers. We watched Home Alone on TV and then turned in for the night. Did pretty good today, made it ’til 11 PM, starting to get acclimated to the time change.