Another visit to Seattle

I wrote in my previous post that I went to the MVP Summit earlier this year but had a sidetrip in Vancouver, Canada prior to the event. From Vancouver, we drove a few hours early in the morning by land, crossed borders to the USA and finally reached Seattle.

Because it was still early and do not have anything to do in particular, we drove around different places in the city until we decided to stop and visit the Space Needle, a landmark tower built for the 1962 World's Fair. For this trip, we are able to visit the tower twice, in the morning of our arrival and later that night.


Chester and I checked-in at The Westin Seattle right after. Located in downtown Seattle, the hotel is walking distance to the convention center, restaurants and other places of interests.


This is my second time to stay in this property, first was during the MVP Summit last March 2007. We had a huge room similar to what I had during a year before but this time with two double beds.


We stayed in our room for a few minutes and we went to Seattle Premium Outlets, an hour away from downtown. Premium Outlets are famous stores among locals and tourists because they offer discounts to items which are believed to be overruns from the regular stores. Shops here ranges from mid-level brands like Gap to high-level ones like Coach and Nine West.


We only shopped for a couple of hours at the outlet then we headed back to downtown to register for the summit at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center. The summit spans for four days, the first and last days held in this convention center while the third and fourth were held inside Microsoft Campus in Redmond, Washington.





We met up with a friend who gave us tickets and joined us for an NBA game in KeyArena. The match that night was between Seattle Supersonics and Dallas Mavericks.


After the game, we went back to the Space Needle to see a different view from the observatory at night.


From the tower, we went to Pike Place Market, a popular destination in the city, to look for food. Unfortunately it was already past 9PM and the shops and restaurants closes early. Disappointed, we just had our dinner at McDonald's which is just across our hotel.


As we retire ourselves and called it a night, we can't help but appreciate the nice view from our high-floor room overlooking the Space Needle.


The next day, we had breakfast at McDonald's before we proceeded to the convention center.


We have spent the next four days at the MVP summit and since things are under non-disclosure agreement, I will be skipping the details for now.

During one of the days we had a vacant time, we passed by Victor Steinbrueck Park, nearby Pike Place Market and saw a huge totem pole standing.


Also nearby is a Starbucks Coffee store said to be the first and original one.


The summit closed around lunch time at its last day, leaving us time to do other things and explore.

This picture was taken inside a waterfall fountain in front of Westlake Center.


Harbor Steps


We also took the one-hour harbor cruise service of Argosy Cruises.


Near the pier is the Waterfront Park. We stopped for a while to take some pictures.


Also nearby is the Seattle Aquarium.


We had dinner that night at Johnny Rockets a burger restaurant mimicking the style of the diners during the 50s.


The next morning is our last day in the city so Chester, Jeo and I decided to have something more "local" and tried out Lowell's, a restaurant located inside the Pike Place Market overlooking the Elliott Bay.


We explored more of the city by foot after breakfast and walked towards the direction where we thought we can find Qwest Field, a soccer and football stadium.


We also passed by the nearby Safeco Field, a baseball stadium.


Clock


Seattle Fallen Fighters Memorial


Totem poles at the Occidental Park


With the wood carvings


We also happen to pass by the famous Iron Pergola in Pioneer Square.


Chief Seattle Monument


Located in the area is the Pioneer Building, Richardsonian Romanesque stone, red brick, terra cotta and cast iron building built in 1891.


More pictures are available in multiply. Just add me as a friend to view them.