Wow

We like it here. Although really, what’s not to like? The weather has been pretty mild, the fall foliage is beautiful, there are lots of things to see and do, and there’s coffee. Lots & lots of coffee. Also, there are tons of cool hipsters here. Although, we are having a hard time differentiating between the cool hipsters and the homeless. It seems that there is a very fine line between the two. We suspect they may not actually be mutually exclusive.

As I may have mentioned, I like coffee. A lot. And there happens to be a lot of great coffee here. Specifically, Starbucks. Yes, the original Starbucks is right here in Seattle, along with way too many other Starbucks to count. Check out this map:

Every one of those green pins represents another little slice of heaven known as Starbucks

Naturally, we had to visit the original Starbucks & see what all the fuss was about. The line really wasn’t all that long, and I swear, my latte just tasted better there. All the cool merchandise that you can only purchase at that store was neat to see too. One of the ceramic travel mugs followed me home. As did his little friend, the iced coffee cup. And a t-shirt for Peter. Let’s see if he wears it.

The mothership

That’s my latte!

So, we’ve re-renamed Seattle from “Starbucksland” to “Land of Crazy Hat Wearers”. We saw an unbelievable number of people wearing the most unbelievable of hats. I was too scared to take pictures. Except for one… of Rachel, just trying to fit in. (Yes, that is a plastic bag on her head).

Rachel, a crazy hat wearer.

We happen to have a few shoppers in the family – the girls really enjoyed Pike Place Market and seeing all the cool vendors. Very reminiscent of Faneuil Hall in Boston. There were a ton of street performers and some other interesting sights too. Check out the Gum Wall that Summer & Rachel are standing in front of…

This guy played harmonica, guitar, balanced a guitar on his head, and hula hooped.

The Gin Jars. Peter bought their CD.

The Gum Wall!

Of course we also had to go up in the Space Needle. I don’t like heights, but it wasn’t nearly as scary as I thought it would be. I won’t go anywhere near that ferris wheel though.