Adventure #4: Seattle, Where Apparently I Was the Crazy One for Walking in the Rain with an Umbrella

ADVENTURE #4: Visit 5 new states 

Update: 1 state down, 4 to go

Seattle was many firsts. First time visiting the city. First excursion into the Pacific North West. First by-the-seat-of-my-pants unplanned weekend excursion. First destination meet-up with the partner-in-crime, Michelle.

Coffee #1

We arrived Friday night at almost the exact same time at the Seattle Tacoma airport, with several hours to spare before our check in. With my bright orange backpack and her rolling suitcase in tow, we did the only reasonable thing two young women with excessive baggage in a new city should do - head to the most crowded part of town. Of course, to fulfill all of our stereotypical dreams of Seattle, we stopped first to have an inaugural coffee at the Cherry Street Coffee House, which we learned later was a chain. Then we walked (in many different directions before choosing the right one) to the Market. If the retina-searing orange hue of my backpack didn’t quite destroy every attempt at blending in, the loud CLUNK-CLUNK-CLUNK of Michelle's rolling bag finished it off.

The Highlights (which are essentially all the -lights):

Eavesdropping and Festivals: Any time you're traveling with a TBD itinerary, eavesdropping will serve you well. That's how we discovered, during one unlucky travelers inquiry into the dearth of available hotel rooms, that "The Festival" was in town. "Which Festival?" we wondered. For the next few hours, we kept our eyes peeled for signs and posters that would reveal to us what we were missing out on. As you might expect, on a Memorial Day Weekend in Seattle...there are many festivals. But we figured out that the big one the concierge was referring to was the Northwest Folklike Festival, held just underneath the Space Needle. So we went there!

COMMIT TO THE PHOTO, MICHELLE.

Ada's Technical Books and Cafe: This was one of those "the journey, not the destination" victories. The Yelp pictures and reviews make it seem a lot cooler than it actually was, but it was a great voyage getting there by foot.

Pilgrimage to Starbucks 1.0: New Seattle-rs – BEWARE. The Starbucks at the entrance of the Pike Place Market is not the original location! The actual first location is nestled inside the Market. The wait is long. Long enough to hear live music and actually consider looking up the band's bio. Long enough to get yelled at by a Korean tour guide. Long enough to have a heart-to-heart, take photos, and plan out your weekend. Once you get in, there is a certain reverence that comes with visiting the place that started it all. Extra points go to the (exceptionally attractive) baristas, who will pose for pictures while handing you your coffee.

Original Starbucks, Gold Car

A pilgrimage of sorts

Comedy: New in a city, not quite wanting to club, but not wanting to let the night pass you by? Check out a local comedy joint! We went to Unexpected Productions, which brought us right back to the Market. The show was so funny that we ended up staying much later than we originally planned to catch a second.

Marriage: While we were in the Space Needle, I was having a quiet, solitary moment looking out over the city when someone got my attention and asked me to move so that a marriage could be conducted in the exact spot I was standing. I thought they were kidding. Lo and behold, they totally were not.

Eating well: The touchstone of any good mini-voyage (correction: voyage [correction: day <correction: a good life>]) is eating great food. Kastoori Grill did not disappoint.

Eating well again: The Confectional, where we had cheesecake.

In summation, Seattle is a wonderful weekending city. We never once took public transportation except to get to and from the airport, and were able to fill each day to the brim with free and strange activities. We visited some of the classic tourist spots, but also didn’t hesitate to go outside of the boundaries of our map. It was fantastic.

Pike Place Market

Reflecting on PNWness

The Bubble Gum Wall

A great trip

Adventure #10: The Skates Work...

......but re-picking up roller-skating is not quite as quick as simple back on a bike.

In some nondescript park in Orange County...

Adventure #10: The Goods Arrive

Now...to find a helmet.

The Adventure Challenge

It’s completely possible to go on a safari in one of the remotest areas of the world, and be utterly bored. I’ve done that. It’s equally as possible to have some of the most harrowing and memorable moments of your life while being lost for 2 hours in a city you thought you knew like the back of your hand. I’ve done that as well.

We think that adventures require money, loads of time, and great geographic displacement. We browse jealously through photos of our Facebook friends on their epic trips to [This Island] or [That Country] to do [Something Conventionally Crazy].

I’m going to go ahead and argue here that these notions about what constitutes an adventure are ridiculous. Adventures aren't only about the places we go and the new things we see, although that can certainly add to the fun. An adventure, at its core, is about putting ourselves in an unfamiliar situation that will push us to try new things and expand what we know and how we experience the world.

This blog series will be dedicated to an endeavor I’m calling:

The Adventure Challenge: Fun on the Homefront

The goal: to accomplish a series of 10 adventures that are:

1)   cheap

2)   local

3)   and most importantly, something exciting that will put me out of my element.

ADVENTURE #1: Make a Craig’s List Friend – This definitely has the potential to turn out weird (or...weirdly cool?). Obviously, the first meet-up won't be an intimate hike in the woods. But I’m going to get over my real-connections-can't-be-made-through-the-internet high horse and prove that it is possible to meet cool people off of Craig’s List!

ADVENTURE #2: Join a Dungeons and Dragons Circle Group? League? I don't even know what to call it. I’m woman enough to admit that my cognizance of D&D only began when I watched the movie in 2000 (thank you Justin Whalin). Something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time now, but have been hesitant to try, is to be a part of the D&D community. I get nervous though, because I frankly don’t feel knowledgeable enough about fantasy role-play etiquette to try this. But I love the concept of story-based gaming, and you really can’t get more adventurous than dragons….or dungeons.

ADVENTURE #3: Go solo to a bar - This was one inspired by a conversation I had with one of my good friends. Why is it unacceptable for girls to go to bars alone? You know, just to hang, grab a beer, watch people, watch a game, or find kindred spirits. I’m going to give it a shot. Social norms be damned.

ADVENTURE #4: Visit 5 new states – In order to uphold the “cheap” criteria of this series, I’m going to travel as frugally as possible while highlighting parts of the U.S. that are not typically regarded as hot adventure spots.

ADVENTURE #5: Hitchhike – I've been talking with some people about doing a hitchhiking voyage in the very near future. We did it all the time in Cameroon, but I've yet to try it here. Don't worry. There will be safeguards in place.

ADVENTURE #6: Go to a Renaissance Fair – I think what makes me nervous about Renaissance Fairs is the unflappable dedication to character by the actors. I’ve always admired, but been frightened by, theater folk. Especially the passionate ones. This will address that.

ADVENTURE #7: Go to a concert for a genre of music that I’ve never heard live – So, full disclosure. While I would say that my iTunes library paints me as a well-rounded and flavorful listener of all kinds of music, my actual history of live music shows that I’ve attended says otherwise. My first ever concert was American Idols Live!, and while I’ve desperately been trying to amp up that list with shows in LA, my record is still woefully short and embarrassingly pop-inclined. Any suggestions? Metal? Ska? Country?

ADVENTURE #8: Learn to code – This will be more of an intellectual adventure. It’s later in the game for me, but I want to hop on the women-in-STEM movement. This will be an adventure in overcoming my traumatic past with quants and tech (which includes accidentally destroying my family computer’s motherboard in 2002, and being destroyed by the AP Calc test in 2007). What greater adventure than overcoming one of your greatest insecurities?

ADVENTURE #9: Do some urban exploring – As a follower of the law and a general non-fan of tetanus, I get a naughty thrill by exploring empty buildings, particularly ones that have been neglected. I want to take this to the next level.

ADVENTURE #10: Learn to rollerskate (well), and then skate the length of an entire city – Nobody likes to look like a fool. But some of the most fun and memorable moments in life happen when we risk doing so.

Onward ho!