So Long Seattle And Thanks For All The Beer

Saddened day today and not because it is going to rain. The Seattle portion of the trip comes to an end and I don’t feel that I’ve gotten as much out of this city as I should have (Why did I purchase those travel guides and then ignore them?), but I’ve had a good time nonetheless.

I succeeded in my beer quest! I managed not to repeat any beers on this trip. Here is a recap of my drinking escapades
– Mirror Pond : India Pale Ale
– Alaskan Brewing : Amber Ale
– Full Sail : [I forgot which variety]
– New Belgium Brewery : Fat Tire Amber Ale (not surprised by this are you?)
– Georgetown Brewing : Manny’s Pale Ale
– Pike Brewery : Kilt Lifter Scotch Ale
– Widmer : Hefe Weissen
– Snoqualmie : Copperhead American Pale Ale- Maritime IPA
– Red Hook : ESB (had to, place had no other “locals”)
– Mac & Jack’s : Amber Ale
– Decshutes : Twilight Ale
– Veshon : Old Stock Ale
– Full Sail : LTD #2 (I do not believe the other Full Sail was a LTD #2)

Ideas, Oddities, And Annoyances
I expected Seattle to be Starbucksville. Amazingly, while I did see numerous Starbucks, their presence wasn’t nearly as pervasive as I thought it would be.

Lifesavers advertises a lot in Seattle. Was market research done where Seattle scored lowly? Is it because they are such a nautical city?

I miss having Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for my photo editing. Upon my return to Atlanta I will have a lot of post-processing work ahead of me.

Because I hate Real Player so much I attempted to download Big Brother 8 via BitTorrent. I failed. I am soooooo far behind on my RealiTV.

I also reinstalled VLC on my laptop. Amazingly it doesn’t have to low-volume problem that I complained about iTunes having last week.

Perhaps the worst $2 spent on this trip was buying a one-way ticket to ride the monorail (monorail! monorail! monorail!). It was a Seattle experience I wanted to have, but it was anti-climatic. Easily the worst $12.75 I spent on this trip was on the awful fish and chip dinner that I bought at some Irish pub last night. On the one hand I was insulted at the portion delivered to me. On the other hand I was thankful that they were helping watch my weight.

Four t-shirts and two pairs of underwear have been designated for trash. I was shocked how careful I was not to get anything on my shirts even though I knew that I would never be wearing them again.

ITP Flickr Pic
I dug this one out of the recent archives

And Then It Was Said, "Let There Be Light"

This was taken on Sunday at the Mariners game.

The Real Seattle Finally Stood Up
It rained the majority of yesterday, but thankfully the rain subsided for most of the late-afternoon and evening so I was able to get a little camera time in.

In the morning I went to the Seattle Art Museum. While I understood their “No Photography” policy, I nearly paid my $13 entrance fee for no reason. Apparently they also have a “no large bag” policy (they provide a coat/bag/umbrella check service) but since I had all of my camera gear in my messenger bag I was not about to check it. After explaining this to the security guard he begrudgingly let me in as long as I kept the bag closed.

I think that I understand why they don’t allow photography…. some of their art really sucks. Here is one fine example

It is an Ellsworth Kelly, a well-known and respected Modern artist, whose work could be accomplished by people with no talent — like me.

After another Rally Nap I headed out to the waterfront for a long final Seattle photostroll. The (early) evening was concluded with dinner and a few pints, and then a walk back to the hotel. For the first time I understood why the people here wore jackets when in the summer; my walk back was a chilly one.

And From Here?
I am off to Canada where I hope that I have WiFi access. I am not sure because I relinquished control of my agenda to my friend, and native Canadian, Tamara.

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood – okay, would like more time in Seattle,
Current Music – listening to Adam Curry’s “Daily Source Code” podcast
Website Of The Day – While Seattle is definitely a coffee town, Energy Fiend : Obsessed With Caffeine has them trumped. At Energy Fiend you’ll find the caffeine levels of most drinks available today.
Exercise (b)Log – walking, walking, walking
Mode Of Transportation To Work – None, I am on vacation

July Goals
0) Celebrate my 42nd birthday
1) Get my first Ruby / Ruby on Rails program written
2) Get my photoblog up and running

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

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