One of the great joys of having friends and family visit is having the opportunity to show off what a truly great city we live in. Unfortunately, one of the great pains of having friends and family visit in the summer is that the city is frickin’ up to it’s proverbial neck in tourists. Every day, cruise ship after cruise ship disgorges hundreds upon thousands of tourists who, while great for the city and local business coffers, tend to make local travel around the city a royal pain. Normally we tend to stay away from the tourist spots during this time of plenty, but when family is in town you have to bite the bullet. So with a 30-30 round firmly lodged in my molars, we took the boys down to the waterfront for a trip to the aquarium, the Market, and then lunch at The Crab Pot.
First up, the aquarium. I won’t even go into the mess that was traffic on Alaskan Way. One of the cruise ships was loading, and the snarl was unreal. After a bit of honking, praying and general good-hearted cussing, I managed to get to the parking garage. I pulled off a miracle, pulling into a space designed for a grocery cart, and we headed to the aquarium. For those who have not yet gone to the Seattle Aquarium, I really do recommend it. It’s a wonderful place to lose yourself for a couple of hours. The local divas of the aquarium, the sea otters, were as entertaining as always. We caught them napping on their backs, lazily floating around like old men at a pool party. One even held on to what looked to be a small frisbee, apparently dreaming of younger days at the beach with his buddies and cases of Bud Light.