Tuesday, 9/2 - Seattle

Day 8

We were awoken by the noise from Kyle's 7-year-old cousin, who was home for the day with her sister. She was very cute and energetic and wanted to play Mancala and Sorry with everyone. Her sister Emily seemed very mature for 13. Maggie, their 1.5-year-old puggle was the perfect dog - quiet but playful and affectionate and with lots of personality. She was a lap dog, liked to sit on a wooden chair in the kitchen. She'd normally be closed up in her cage if no one was around, but she would stay in there and roll herself up in the blanket somehow. She looked almost human when we tried to wake her and she'd just peak out from under the blanket groggily and go back to sleep.

Later in the afternoon we went down to Pioneer Square to go exploring. It was the first area we drove through so we parked to get out and walk around. I recognized the buildings and football field from the last time, and as luck would have it, we happen to park right down the street from the must-stop cookie shop, Cow Chips. We got a bunch of cookies and picked up an application for Lisa since they happen to have a help wanted sign. While we were there, our first interactions with locals were pleasant and managed to give us the impression that all Seattle-ites were this way. The Cow Chips cashier was very nice, as was a woman in the shop who gave us advice on places to go. We liked the old character of Pioneer Square, which Lisa aptly observed was reminiscent of Sesame Street (must have been the red brick buildings). We made our way downtown and to Pike Place Market, where yet another nice local at the fish-throwing place chatted with us quite a bit and gave us an abundance of salmon jerky samples - much better than the one we'd bought earlier. We thought maybe he felt bad for us as he'd commented that we looked tired from our travels.
We walked around the shops, bought some bling, and went a bit crazy over all the fresh fruit. It was late in the day and Lisa and I hadn't eaten much, so we stocked up on some massive juicy peaches, a bag of dates, and one of those flat nectarines. We got some more substantial snacks in the form of bao buns at a little Chinese stand.

We went to a little Bolivian (?) bar above the market for some drinks and for a nice view of the sunset, then went out for a real meal (one of the few on the whole trip) at a Hawaiian/Asian restaurant we found called Ohana. It was a cute place with kitchy but not over-the-top tropical-themed decor and several workers from Hawaii. We got some amazing coconut crab sushi, veggie kabobs, and Spam Musubi, which Lisa experienced for the first time and loved. Jina was already in the club and got an order for herself.
It was a good day for food. I don't know how we managed to sustain ourselves almost entirely on fruit and crackers with peanut butter for the past week.