Ketchup

Alright, so I haven't blogged about much of anything lately. We went to Seattle last week-I adore Seattle. One, because everyone in my family except me is from Seattle, so I kinda (not really) feel that it comprises part of my "roots." My parents met and married in Washington State, my sister was born there and went to school there, and I guess I was a legal resident there for a number of years even though I had never stepped foot on the land there (crazy military rules). My grandfather and two aunts still live there, although I know little about them and have talked to them only a handful of times. But it feels...comfortable. And I can't say that about a lot of the cities I have been too...Charlotte, Denver, San Diego...



This was my second trip to Seattle, but the best one, since Maddy and Michael came with. As you can probably tell from my previous post, Maddy met her great-grandpa for the first time (he was the one with tattoos, in case you needed the hint) and he met his first great-grandchild. I'm glad I made the effort to go see him-conversation went stale 85% of the time, but...well, I'm just glad I did it. Not sure I have much more to say about it.



But it was so nice to go on one of these business trips with a companion! Normally, I just mindlessly walk around cities by myself, obtaining nothing but blisters and disillusionment about how these different cities somehow all seem the same (thanks, Old Navy, Gap, Best Buy...) But this time I got to be with and talk to Michael and we both had Maddy to tend to. But it was the first time that we traveled by ourselves as a family and it was...nice. Even when I worked, I had something to look forward to when I got back to my hotel room, instead of just making static-y calls to home on my cell from an empty hotel room.



And Seattle is a great town. Extremely clean and coffee on every corner. How much better can you get?



There seemed to be a lot more homeless people this time, but the last time I went was in March 2004 and it was cold and miserable. I may have buried my head in my jacket so far I didn't notice. But it was almost like San Diego. Otherwise, not much had changed. It was familiar, comfortable and the weather was brilliant.



It's not that I have anything against homeless people-it's just something I notice. Like a municipal barometer? I don't know...It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't sorta thing, isn't it?



But I think we all had a lot of fun. Maddy was excited about "seeing" " 'attle." Not sure if she ever got that we were in a place called Seattle.



We went to Pike Place Market. Several times. It's like a Disneyland of food. I swear, if I could shop there everyday for dinner, I would be the happiest person on Earth.



Some of the best beer I have ever had was in Pike Brewing Co. (family owned and operated since 1983.) We went there twice. They have a Kiltlifter Scotch Ale that is just brilliant.



Tilda only had one bad meltdown in public. But it was bad. We got through it. And then she asked for "white soup." "White soup" = clam chowder. She loves it.



We also went to the Experience Music Project (seemed less cool than I remembered) and the Science Fiction Museum (I now have a whole list of books I want to read). Michael took Maddy to the Seattle Aquarium and she convinced him to buy a stuffed starfish that she loves. He also took her to the Children's Museum. And Kung Fu Panda (practice for WALL-E).



Overall, we had great fun. Michael and Tilda flew out early by themselves and left me alone to watch America's Got Talent (see previous post). Of course, I would rather pick watching crappy reality shows than tackling a 5 hour flight with a 3 year old by myself. But Michael took it all in stride and, thankfully, Tilda slept throughout the entire flight.