...and wishing I was still there. It was a sad day indeed when the plane took off from Sea-Tac airport and I was homeward bound. There was a feeling akin to regret acting as butterflies in my gut as we flew westward over the mountains. Perhaps it was the feeling of not having done enough - though we did not stop doing things the entire week we were there - perhaps it was the idea that we weren't there long enough.
Regardless of the feelings on the plane, I must say that the 5 full days we spent in Seattle were some of the best in my life. I wasn't worried about politics or the economy or working or anything. I was hanging out with my best friend and a group of other close friends for 5 days of fun and tourism. We visited the Wizards headquarters in Renton - they make Magic, and we met the VP of legal who gave us a very exclusive tour of the most secret parts of the building. Seriously, nobody gets to tour that place, but we did. And that was just the start of the fun.
We looked at the Space Needle (didn't get to go up, but that's not a huge deal). It's not nearly as tall as they make it look, but it makes for some striking pictures. We went to EMP, the Experience Music Project, and I watched Randy, Uriah, and Steve make silliness of themselves on stage playing Purple Haze (and by "playing" I mean "not really"); it was hilarious. We toured the Pike Place Market, a giant outdoor market that sold seemingly everything, including the freshest fruits and veggies I've ever seen. We toured the Underground City, which was fascinating. Our tour guide was a swell gentleman who was thoroughly entertaining while being educational as well. That was one of my highlights from the vacation. We ate out three or four times per day at places I wish we had in Colorado. We gaped at the sheer beauty of Washington, the trees, Rainier, the water. We took in the warm weather in shorts and T-shirts and listened to locals talk about how the weather is never this beautiful at this time of year. We got lost on Seattle's confusing labyrinth of roads. I went to my first strip club (gasp!!!). We sat on the pier and talked. I have never had more fun. Ever. The company was perfect, the location was awesome, the events were entertaining, the food was amazing, and did I mention how cool my friends are?
Seattle may very well be the most perfect place I have ever been. I love it there. The weather (I love me some rain!), the atmosphere, the people... it's all so awesome. I love having both water and mountains to look at, and sitting on the pier for an hour watching ships come and go, was just about as relaxing as you can get. Their downtown section is beautiful, and the open highways where you can look at the incredible foliage or gaze south at the distant image of Mount Rainier are often breathtaking.
The Experience Music Project is unlike anything I have ever experienced. It's like a gigantic interactive museum. It has the traditional read and stare at things on the wall portions where you could learn about the histories of various types of music and instruments - with a huge section devoted to the northwest (read: Seattle) music scene, with mad props given to Nirvana (gag). That was all pretty ho-hum until we came to the actual experience part. There were instruments set up all over the place that you could just try. There were videos that went along with the instruments that would teach you how to play. It covered everything from guitars to turntables, but it was sadly lacking in the classical instruments department. Then there was the give a "live" concert section. You get up on stage with a fake audience and "play" a song. Really, all people do is get out there and do random things on the instruments. Uriah played the keyboard and we have a picture of the keyboard crotch-grab of awesomeness. Steve played the drums, and I don't think I'll ever forget the double-axehandles onto the cymbals. Randy played the guitar behind his back and with his teeth - there was a guitar solo or two in there as well, but come on, with his teeth!
The underground city was only really notable because of our tour guide, who was funny and informational. It was kind of nifty to learn about the city of Seattle, how it was originally built on the tide plane, meaning on sea level, and the method in which it was raised above sea level. First, the raised the streets, then the sidewalks, which left the ground floor of each building underground. This underground section, what we toured, became a 24x7 marketplace for the folks passing through for the gold rush. We took the late night, adults-only tour which included a thorough history of the rampant prostitution of the era with all kinds of ridiculous (but true) stories of the various prostitutes and their scams and such. A delightful time followed up by a free cocktail. Perfect.
Ironically, everybody else ends up at the local Deja Vu after the tour. I sleep in the car for about an hour. Funny thing is, the next night Randy talks me into accompanying him to the strip club in Tacoma, but that's a story for another blog post.
Now we finally get around to the Magic portion of the trip. Mind you, we probably wouldn't be in Seattle were it not for this tournament. Grand Prix Seattle, which actually takes place in Tacoma, was one hell of a great time. Friday is registration followed by spending the rest of the day (literally) buying, selling, and trading cards. My first trade of the morning moved several hundred dollars worth of cards, then I went to a merchant, who bought $577 worth of cards from me. I promptly converted that into more cards, and the cycle pretty much repeated itself. Well over a thousand dollars worth of commerce (if you will) took place just that day. Never mind the rest of the weekend.
Saturday was the tournament itself. My results were disappointing - I went 1-3 before dropping. My deck was fun, though, so I have no regrets. I spent the rest of the day getting cards signed by artists that were there and playing casually with the folks from Wizards' R&D department.
Colorado Springs had a surprisingly large turnout. Randy, me, Uriah, Steve, Dave, Hugh and Sean (Hugs and Kisses... don't ask :-) ), Brandon, and several people with whom I am not acquainted but were known to the rest of the group. Having so many people around that I knew ensured I was never alone or with nothing to do. The sheer number of casual games we played is staggering in number.
Sunday was spent with more trading and selling, plus an EDH tournament. Elder Dragon Highlander is by far my favorite way to play magic, and this is the first real tournament I've played in the format. The tournament was in pod format - 4-5 people per pod in free-for-all action. The winner from each pod advances to the next group of pods. Winner of those pods move to the final pod. The winner makes $200. There was a two-hour time limit in place.
My pod was filled with very friendly people, including one Wizards employee. We played a slow, casual game in which we had a lot of conversation about our decks, the rest of the tournament, and what have you. One thing I absolutely love about this format is the simple casual nature of it. Due to the nature of the format, there aren't really any sanctioned tournaments, so people don't build decks with the idea of winning things. They build them to have fun. There are exceptions to that rule (Randy faced two such nitwits in his pod), but for the most part, it's just a fun format. Anyway, we got to the two hour mark before the first person was eliminated, who, unfortunately, happened to be me. It was OK, though, because playing with the group I got to play with was a ton of fun. After he was eliminated, the Wizards employee came up and complimented my deck. He said it was one of the best EDH decks he's seen, which was really cool of him. We talked about how heavily the format is played in Colorado Springs and about how my deck had a lot of feedback that has made it into what it is today.
Monday was nothing more than an early plane ride home.
So, going back in time once again, let's talk about food. Man I ate well in Washington. After getting off the plane, we were looking for a place to have breakfast. We ended up at a small place called Pancake Chef. I treated myself to a polish sausage omelet, which was just yummy. Delicious. Then I used the bathroom, saw bugs, and almost tossed it all back up. Would I eat there again? Perhaps. The food was that good (and I would hope the kitchen is cleaner... they'd be closed otherwise, right?).
Dinner that night saw us eating at a place in the market, Lowell's. It was sub-standard and very expensive.
Thursday, the notable meal was lunch. We went to a pasta bar suggested by Dave's wife, in the outdoor market. Oh god. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Spaghetti, a little Alfredo sauce, marinara sauce with ground beef, seasoned meatballs, and garlic bread. Drool. I'd go back in a heartbeat if I could. My only complaint was really the sauce was a bit too watery for my taste. In terms of flavor though, mmm, mmmm good. That night we ate at The Fisherman. The place was ridiculously expensive, so I just ordered a Caesar salad. I think we were paying for the view, as the restaurant was right on the pier looking out over the bay. The view was beautiful. The salad on the other hand... atrocious. Literally it was a chopped up head of iceberg lettuce with a couple of unflavored croutons and a drizzle (literally a drizzle) of dressing. Horrible, and completely not worth the $10 it cost me. Randy talked me into trying a piece of his popcorn shrimp (popcorn shrimp at a high end dinner place, who'da thunkit?). All you could taste was the breading. Aside: Anybody who knows me knows I detest seafood. Severely. But, I figured, what the heck, it's a vacation, might as well try something different. Like I said, though, all I could taste was the Cajun-flavored breading.
Given that Friday was the tourney, we just ate lunch at the convention center after a fast food breakfast. For dinner we got the group together - Randy, me, Uriah, Steve, Mike, and some guy who used to work at WOW! Chad - for dinner at a place Chad picked out called Verrazanno's. My spelling might be off on that. Anyway, it was the worst stop of the trip. From the time we walked in the door, it took us two hours, yes, two of them, to get our food. Heck, it took them half an hour to give us our free bread and butter. Mike and I split a Margherita pizza, which was all right, but it was obvious it had been sitting under the heat lamp for a long time. Uriah got a calzone that was not even half cooked. The worst part about it, though, was not the food or the service. It was Chad. The fact that I had to spend two hours listening to that asinine, self-serving, condescending assfuck (sorry, but I'm very passionate in my dislike for that douche) was simply the worst part of the trip. The previous two nights' dinners were admittedly sub-par, but at least the company was good. The two hours spent at this Italian restaurant whose name begins with "V" was spent listening to him yak yak yak about anything having to do with making himself look good. He had a lot of self-deprecating humor, but it was used in much the way Obama uses the same humor, to make himself look really good. I felt truly sorry for our waiter, a high school or early college aged guy who was very kind and on the ball with everything he could control, but had to suffer through the lectures doled out by Chad and his perceived infinite wisdom.
Anyway...
The next day found us again eating food at the convention center during the tourney. For dinner, Randy, Hugs, Kisses, and I grabbed a pizza at a pizza joint up the street called The Rock (has come back... kidding). The pizza was extraordinary in every way imaginable. Hugh and Sean are also amazing company so there wasn't a dull moment the entire night. Uriah and Steve joined us after a while, and more fun ensued until we all got tired and went back to our respective staying places.
After we left the convention center on Sunday, Randy and I wanted meat, so we drove around downtown Seattle looking for a place that served just that. We happened upon a hole-in-the-wall steak place whose name escapes me at the moment. I ordered a rack of lamb, which according to the menu, was marinated in a rosemary and garlic sauce. It was simply the best dining experience of the trip. The place was empty save for Randy and myself (it was ten in the evening after all), and our waiter, the owner, was polite and very friendly. The lamb was mouth-wateringly amazing and cooked perfectly. I love lamb, I've eaten a lot of it, but that was easily the best I've ever had. Randy enjoyed his steak too, and the meal was filled with us talking about how great our food was. My plate was $34, and I was quite ready to order another one I was so happy with it. I'm going to have to go back and figure out what the place is called now...
So, that was the trip. Like I said before, it was the most fun I've ever had. I'd do it again in a heartbeat, even though I now find myself broke until payday. I've posted my entire vacation's worth of photos over at my Picasa site, if you'd like to check them out.
Anyway, now it's back to the more standard blog fare of movies, games, and political idiocy. Until next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment