As the Days Go On

Day 2 of my favorite days of summer was my trip to Seattle with my mom, dad, and Hannah.

7/18/14
Daniel (my brother) and several of his friends drove up to Seattle for a DotA tournament: The International. For all you non-gamers out there, DotA stands for "The Defense of the Ancients" and is an online battle arena video game. It's getting pretty big, apparently, and something close to $10 million went to the winning team. Anyway, since my brother was going to Seattle, Hannah and I wanted to go too, remembering that the last time we went was sometime in middle school. My dad and I made a deal that if I drive there, he would drive back, so that Friday, armed with a cup of coffee and a recently made playlist, I start the engine of my Corolla, ready for the three hour drive. The drive there was pleasant for the most part. We ended up stopping by Carl's Jr. for a small meal about half way, then we went right back on the road again.

The traffic didn't hit us until we were on the outskirts of Seattle. After a couple aggressive lane changes, muttered curse words, and horn honks, we find out exit and make out way to the International District. Hannah heard of this Japanese restaurant called Tsukushinbo, that supposedly serves some of the most authentic ramen in Washington. People get in line an hour or so before the place opens in hopes of getting a bowl of ramen, since they make limited amounts each morning. We were lucky enough to get three bowls, along with chicken katsu and vegetable tempura. I really wish I had taken pictures of the restaurant and food, but even before they set the dishes on out table, the aroma of the broth invaded our senses and our thoughts were fixed purely on the food. I know for sure that we will be stopping by again the next time we visit Seattle.

After we ate ramen we stopped by Pike's market. The place was gorgeous, and they had so many shops! The roads were packed with people, lining up at various stores, such as the original Starbucks and different types of bakeries. We ended up buying around 7 pastries from a French, and I think Danish bakery, which we ate periodically throughout the day. Our last stop was the FRYE art museum, which was free admittance and surprised us by having three Bouguereau paintings. Bouguereau has been one of my favorite artists for quite some time now, so I was really happy to see some more of his paintings in person. After we looked through the museum and bought a couple post cards, we decided to drive back home. We had a really eventful day (with over 6 hours of it dedicated just to driving) and I'm so glad I brought my camera. Here are some of the shots I took:

 

 

Overall it was a super fun day, and I loved the quality time I got to spend with family. Hopefully the next time we go back won't be too far into the future!