Seattle Here I Come

Well Tomorrow I'll be leaving for my first vacation of the year and I'll be crossing the Atlantic again. On this visit I'm going to Seattle and its another new City for me. Actually I don't know anyone who has been so I've been reading up on the things to see and do. I leave home after work on Wednesday to travel by train to Manchester where I'll be staying over at Bewleys Hotel at the Airport. I've stayed at this hotel before and its ok and walking distance from the terminals, it has a good bar and restaurant but there is a Irish Pub next door that I usually visit.

Thursday morning I fly first to Chicago (8+ hours) then following a four hour stopover I fly on to Seattle (4+ hours). So I'll be travelling over 16 hours and although I'm due to arrive at 7.30pm with the 8 hour time difference it will be like 3.30am to me. I'll be pretty knackered so I'll get a quick shower and maybe grab a meal in the hotel restaurant and get an early night.

While in Seattle I'll be Staying at the "Sixth Avenue Inn" which is right in the City centre and within walking distance of many attractions. The Hotel has its own Bar and Grill plus a seperate Sports Bar.I've been reading up about the many places I could visit while in the City and so far musts seem to be :- Space Needle, Pike Place Market, Pioneer Square, Experience Music Project, Seattle Center, Museum of Flight & Seattle Aquarium. I may even go whale watching !

I like to do a bit of walking and visiting parks which Seattle seems to have a lot Discovery Park is one I intend to visit and another is Woodfield Park which also has a zoo. I think there are a few good cycle routes so maybe I'll hire a bike one day.

Nightlife looks good and I've found a list of interesting Bars some good for food and others with live music all within reasonable walking distance from my hotel, Seattle Center, Pioneer Square and Pike Place market all seem to have good nightlife around them but there are other areas.

One of the things I've not yet done when in the States is attend a sports event and I see that the Baseball team is at home while I'm in the city, they play both Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago White Sox. Although I'm not really a baseball fan I feel I should attend a match to see what people get excited about.

However the Sounders soccer team are also at home to PortlandTimbers while I'm there so I will probably see how they compare, I think they are the 2nd level down after the MLS. I'll be wearing my Leeds shirt of course.

I leave town on Monday 7th May flying home to via Chicago, I've only 1hour 25 minutes between flights so if my first is late I may even end up spending a night in Chicago at the expense of the airline (I should be so lucky).

I hope I'll meet some interesting people like I usually do on my trips but I'm sure you'll hear all about it.

I don't know if I'll get access to the net in Seattle but if I do I'll try post some updates as I go and obviously check out a few blogs of my friends..