Note: this was originally posted to Ben Around the Block on July 21, 2014. I have made various corrections and edits to respect anonymity.
I’ll
be honest: independent life in Salem has been quite good to me for the past
month or so. There is excitement, fresh
starts, relaxation, explorations, experiments, trials, tribulations, and
opportunities abound in the central city of Marion County. Sometimes, though, a sense of mild ennui
washes over me and I feel a craving to seek something outside my immediate
boundaries, geographical and otherwise.
This past weekend, I managed to achieve by visiting the fair and hip
city of Seattle!
I
had planned this trip weeks in advance and made the necessary preparations,
including train ticket purchasing, hotel reservations, and arranging to take
two days off from work to prepare and travel.
Because of the third item, I only had two days of work last week:
Tuesday and Wednesday (in case you’ve forgotten, imaginary reader, I don’t work
on Mondays). Tuesday brought an
interesting surprise: another trial to watch!
This time, the case was a DUII (driving under the influence of
intoxicants). Like the previous trials
I’ve seen, it was a one-day trial with a six-person jury. Once again, I was amazed by the various bits
of legal footwork that accompanied opening arguments, direct examinations,
cross examinations, and closing arguments.
Because the trial dragged on for a while, I had to head out a little
early, meaning that I didn’t actually get to see the verdict. As such, I didn’t find out the result of the
trial until tomorrow, which was…
GUILTY
I suppose my luck-bringing was bound to run out at
some point.
After
a day of packing and mental preparation on Thursday, I was finally ready to
head out to Seattle for the weekend.
Waking up early in the morning on Friday, I grabbed my bags and walked
to the nearby train station (which took longer than I make it sound--it’s easily
45 minutes away). I got on the 6:42
train (as I said, I woke up early) and slept/waited through the five-hour train
ride to Seattle. Aside from a bit of
sleeping, I spent most of the trip finishing a biography of Thomas Jefferson
and finishing Professor Layton and The
Last Specter (I spent an equal amount of time and concentration on them
both, which says a bit about me). Circa
noon, I finally arrived in downtown Seattle, where the weather was pleasantly
cooler than back in Salem.

At
the King Street Station, I met up with one of my college friends local to the
area (who wished to remain anonymous in this blog--let’s call them “Z”), who took
me to the Pacific Science Center (which was surrounded by the Bites of Seattle
food festival, where I snagged some great fish and chips, along with some
killer frozen cheesecake). The sole
exhibit we saw (thanks to time constraints) was a nifty little feature on
espionage from World War II on. The
exhibit was filled with all manner of amazing artifacts from the past,
including the ice ax used to assassinate Leon Trotsky, a bomb disguised as a
lump of coal, and a poison-tipped umbrella.

After
the exhibit, we hurried on over to the hotel I had made reservations at, where
I departed from Z, checked in, and met up with another college friend (who also
wished to remain anonymous--let’s call her “N”--no Pokémon jokes, please) and her
family. After a quick dinner at N’s
house, N and I went drinking at a nearby bar and grill, where I got more than I
bargained for with a strongish sangria (Translation: I got buzzed. Just a little.). After that, we walked around the coastline of
Lake Union, passing through the Gas Works Park (Get it? Passing gas?…Please drive home safely.) and
seeing a gorgeous view of downtown Seattle at twilight.


After
slumbering that night back at the hotel, N picked me up and took me to the
University of Washington, a university that has a highly respected law school
among lawyers in the Pacific Northwest.
As such, it is a place I am considering applying to in the
near-future. The. Campus.
Was. Gorgeous. Seriously, I can’t describe it. A picture is worth a thousand words, so
here’s a few thousand words to express my appreciation for this gorgeous campus:
 |
the law school |
 |
the quad |
After
stopping for lunch, where I got more than I bargained for with some pad thai
(translation: I should not eat Thai food--at least for now), N and I traveled to the Experience Music Project
(EMP) Museum at the Seattle Center. The
initial attraction there was a science fiction exhibit, showing all kinds of
props from various TV shows and movies.
As at the BBC headquarters in London, I made friends with the local
Dalek.
The
sci-fi exhibit also contained such treasures as Darth Vader’s lightsaber and
Captain Kirk’s chair:
There
was also an excellent fantasy, a great horror exhibit, and some awesome music
exhibits here at the Seattle Center.
However, the most outstanding exhibit of all was a Lego architecture
display, showing off several replicas of famous skyscrapers made by a talented
Lego artist. Let’s play a little game:
I’ll show a photo of a Lego building, and you guess what it is! To check your answers, I’m bringing back an
old friend, white text (It’s been too long, mi amigo blanco!)! Highlight to see the truth. Good luck!
[Chrysler Building, located in New
York City]
[Flatiron Building, also located in
New York City]
[Space Needle, located in Seattle
(or “next door”, as the attached placard eloquently put it)]
[30 St Mary Axe, located in London
(or as it was called by almost everyone when I was there, the Viagra Building)]
How
did you do? Like Whose Line is it Anyway, the points don’t matter! Reward yourself however you feel!
After
adventures in the Seattle Center, N and I stopped off at our last major
destination for the weekend, a bar interestingly named The Unicorn. Our reasons for stopping here included the
usual reasons of dinner and libations, but this particular bar had a Harry
Potter trivia night this particular Saturday night! With two other companion, N and I, operating
under the team name The Rogue Bludgers, contended with scores of twentysomething
Potterheads boasting team names that included Hagrid Shot First, That’s So
Ravenclaw, What The Hell Is A Hufflepuff, Hermione Gave Me Hogwarts, Krum On My
Face, I’d Like To Slytherin Your Hufflepuff, Harry Potter And The University Of
Phoenix, Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Victoria’s Secret, The Wyrd Sisters Do
It Onstage, and Can My Basilisk Slytherin Your Chamber Of Secrets (they also
got increasingly drunk as the evening went on, so use your imagination to guess
what directions this took). It was a
fun night out, and against all odds, The Rogue Bludgers came in fourth
place! We may not have won a prize of
any sort, but any time you place fourth in a competition of 65 teams (not
making that up), that’s certainly cause to celebrate! Fortunately, we were already in a bar to do
so.
After
a night of drunken revelry (not really--The Rogue Bludgers all drank pretty
responsibly), N and her family got me back to my hotel, where I said my
goodbyes, then went out like a light.
The following morning, I packed everything up, checked out, maneuvered
through the Seattle bus system and streets, and endured another five-hour train
ride (of which I spent much time drafting the blog post you are currently
reading, Dear Reader). With that, my
weekend in Seattle came to a satisfying close.
All
in all, this trip to Seattle was exactly the breath of fresh air I needed away
from Oregon! However, the thing that
struck me most about this little excursion wasn’t the drinking, the museums, or
the Seattle. Rather, it was the fact
that I had made train ticket and hotel arrangements all by myself (or at least
with minimal outside help). I’m moving
up in the world and closer to independence…which should be tested
interestingly, as I now have a new housemate, who moved in during my
absence! Time for some new
challenges/experiences on the home front!
(One
final note: Along with being a parody of a famous movie I have not yet seen,
the title for this entry refers to one unfortunate side result of leading a
currently exciting life. I really need
to catch up on bedrest…)
Reflections:
A lot can change in eleven years, including friendships. I am no longer in contact with N (long story, I'd rather not get into detail here), but I am still extremely close to Z. As such, I have been in the Seattle area multiple times over the last decade to see them, and I still like it there (although in the end, I chose Willamette University in Salem, Oregon for law school). Two things that haven't changed are (1) I'm still not fond of spicy food (though it has admittedly been a while since I tried Thai food) and (2) I still haven't seen Sleepless in Seattle.
I originally had more photos, especially of the University of Washington and other Lego buildings, but I don't seem to have those photos anymore.
I'm proud of how I was able to handle all the logistics of this weekend outing, but my back and legs ache when I read about the train station being 45 minutes away. I'm not sure I'd have the stamina or patience for that these days. Then again, I also now own a car and have access to many more local resources, which has helped me greatly as I continue moving back to Salem.