Vacation Day 1 - The Most Expensive Parking Spot

Bzzzzz! Bzzzzz! That was my phone, so I clicked the save button and turned to my backpack. Reaching into the front pocket, I pulled out my phone and saw a new message, "We landed". All right! Time for vacation to start! It took me about 15 minutes to shut down and pack the computer, lock up my desk, grab my purse, stop by the restroom and walk to the far distant parking lot where we low-level employees are allowed to park. Another 5 minutes saw me reaching the freeway, and by the time I got to the airport, they were already waiting with their luggage. It was a short wait though. Loaded up with luggage, two in-laws and a friend, my little Civic turned back onto I-5 North and headed to the Olympic Sculpture Park.

The park was recently completed, turning junky looking city waterfront into a pretty greened-up pathway down to a rocky beach with a great view out to the water or up to the space needle.


We met the sisters-in-law, two nieces, and my husband there about 90 minutes after the lowest tide of the year, so there were still a few starfish visible. We picked our way over the round and slightly slimy rocks to peer at them.


Next we looked for food. The original plan had been to eat at Pike Place Market, but everyone was getting hungry and we were right next to a Spaghetti Factory. Perfect...except that it closes from 2:00-4:00PM. The truly starving people had a quick energy drink and we went back to plan A - Pike Place Market. Traffic wasn't too bad, so we found our way there, parked at 2:20, and headed inside. We ate the most delicious crepes - fillings included salmon, egg & spinach, jam, and peaches & whipped cream. Sated, we wandered slowly through the market, looking at all the stalls and all the flowers and trying all the types of flavored roasted nuts. My favorite this trip was the lemon hazelnuts.


Finished with Pike Place, we went back to the spot we left the cars. One car had parked down on Alaskan Way. It was fine. My car, however, was not fine. In fact, it wasn't even there. Instead there was a big red and white sign, saying "NO PARKING 3-6PM" along with a phone number to call if you were so foolish as to park there. Oops. So a few of us drove halfway across Seattle so I could reclaim my car. I had to pay $125 to get it back from the towing company, and I had a parking ticket on top of that! That was the most expensive parking spot I've ever had. At last we were all able to get home from downtown Seattle.

Please excuse me if the rest of the day is not a little hazy in my mind - I hope that those who were there will help remind me of what we did that evening, since I was a little stunned and preoccupied. What I do remember is that we ended up back at our house, eating a delicious steak dinner. Then our niece opened her birthday presents from her grandparents - cute clothes and a new dollhouse! Her mom made a beautiful cake, but we were all so tired that we ate it the next day.