November 9 - 11
This weekend, Grant and I went to Seattle with Dad and Delaine. We flew out Friday night and arrived in Seattle at about 9:00. From there, we eaded straight to our hotel, the waterfront Marriott, and checked in.
On Saturday, we explored the city. We walked along the water front and up to Pike Street Market. Next, we visited the library. The library is amazing, by the way... something worth checking out! After the library, we walked to the monorail station and took the monorail to the Space needle, where we had reservations for brunch! This was nice because we got to bypass any lines and go straight up to the revolving restaurant. After we ate and went out the observation level, we headed back into the city and did the Underground Tour that Grant and I enjoyed so much last time we were here. Seriously, these tour guides are so much fun and know how to tell a great story!
We really lucked out on weather this weekend. It was cool, but not rainy.
After the tour, we walked back to our hotel along the water front and rested for a while. Then we went out to the grocery store to get snacks for our train trip the following day. We had dinner at what turned out to be the original Red Robin, and then went back to our hotel for the night.
The next morning, we boarded the Coastal Starlight Amtrak. This 36 hour train ride would take us from Seattle back home to LA's Union Station. Grant and I had the Family bedroom on the first floor of the sleeping car which was nice and roomy.... probably the same kind of unit we'll get next time if we do this again and if it is reasonable. Dad and Delaine started with a roomette, but upgraded to the bedroom... it had its own bathroom and shower, and was larger then there original roomette. Our sleeper car was the closest to the lounge and dining car, which was very convenient.
The scenery was beautiful - with all of the trees showing off their fall colors. It was the perfect time of year. We spent time reading, talking, playing games and ... what fun.... correcting papers. The train itself had a few things to be desired. The food wasn't great. Also, under the lounge car on the first level, they had like a movie room with a TV and chairs, but they never used it. This was dissappointing as once the sun went down there was nothing to see.
Overall, though, it was a beautiful trip!
