More Touring of Seattle

So I had some time to update the blog again, as I have been plagued by some food poisoning (hopefully Amy's not trying to kill me) over the last couple days and had to miss work.

So, the rest of the weekend went well. Before venturing to Seattle we stopped by a camera shop so Amy could buy a new telephoto lens for her camera. The lens is leagues better

than her old one, so hopefully we can provide nicer pictures! We took another tour that was very informative, as well as entertaining. Appropriately named the Seattle

Underground Tour, you actually go beneath the streets of Pioneer Square to what once was the sidewalks of Seattle. To make a long story short, because of a severe deficit in sewage technology and the ramping hills from downtown Seattle to the Puget Sound the city was forced to build both the streets and newer buildings up one level. Now, all the second floors became first floors and so on.... So Yes, an excess of poo drove the city to build up. It was a very interesting tour filled with good historical information and quick wit and sarcasm which is right up my alley. I would recommend all who visit Seattle to take the tour. They actually lead you down into the old subterranean streets of Seattle so that you can see where old store windows and shops once stood. I never thought I was claustrophobic, but I did feel a bit uneasy staying down there. After the tour we walked down to a restaurant called "Salumi" which we saw on the Food Network. Unfortunately, it was closed, so we walked back to Pike's Market and had a quick lunch of macaroni and cheese and turkey sandwich at Beecher's Cheese Shop where they make there own cheese. We got to sit, eat, and watch as we saw the cheese makers go through the process of mixing the curds and "cheddaring" the cheese. We then walked down to the water where Amy had to have a quick photo-op with "McDreamy" and then visited the

 Aquarium. As soon as we walked in there was a huge

tank (probably like most aquariums) with a scuba diver in it, answering questions from the kids. The rest of the aquarium was very small, and I think Amy and I walked through it in less than an hour. Amy really enjoyed watching the otters and sea lions, and I liked the "petting farm" where you can touch the underwater animals in 40 degree water e.g. starfish, sea

 anemones, sea cucumbers. The aquarium actually pumps the water right from puget sound to all their tanks to impose a genuine (cold) environment for all the fish. After the aquarium we took a cruise around Elliot Bay for a more scenic view of the city skyline.

Again, we got to see more ships from the Deadliest Catch and some great views of the city and of Mt. Ranier in the background. The Olympic Mountains in the back were also gorgeous, but Mt. Ranier and the views of Seattle were the highlights.