Seattle - The Report
 

After dispatching the last few emergencies of the week, I jumped in the Lavendar Fembot Mattmobile and ran down to the Seattle Sheraton to pick up AusTxHiker. I should have arrived by about 5:50 p.m, but as the luck of the traffic gods would have it, I spent about 16 minutes going around the block and wasn't able to get to the Sheraton front entrance until about 6:12 p.m. NO AusTxHiker. After a thorough 15 minutes search of the lobby, including a call to his room and lengthy and somewhat intense questioning (ala NYPD) of all the lobby personnel, I determined that AusTxHiker had either picked up a hot date, been kidnapped by Martians or decided to find other transportation to dinner.

When I arrived at the restaurant, I met MileageAddict, Joe, MWeiss (who is adorable), Shadow and his very fun wife Jackie, and my son Dominic at the front desk. Shortly after I arrived, AusTxHiker magically reappeared and we were seated at a window table for 11 with a lovely view. (Thank you MileageAddict again for all your planning and hard work.) Fortunately, we were all to busy talking FlyerTalk to pay much attention to this Rainy night in Seattle.

We were soon joined by newself, DTTB and our guest of (he travelled the farthest) honor, the one and only Catman. After DTTB picked up newself and Catman at the airport, they had lingered for a drink with Auh20 at the W. Auh20, did not join us for dinner because he either had a date or was looking for a date or was too embarrassed to admit he didn't have a date. A collection was taken at dinner to buy him a date--more on that later.

We had a wonderful dinner and in the true spirit of FlyerTalk shared many tales of our daring and dangerous travel adventures on land on sea and most of all in the air. In what is fast becoming FlyerTalk tradition, we presented our waitress with a stack of mileage earning credit cards to pay the tab.

Following dinner newself, DTTB, Catman and the truly charming AusTxHiker (where were all these adorable single young men when I was young) and I all went to visit the original Red Hook Brewery and, in a moment of abandon, decided to spend the Auh20 date fund on Red Hook Brew! (Actually John rather likes beer, so he'll understand. http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif )

Catman, AusTxHiker and I had a close call with the Fremont Troll on the way home (watch for pics) and then stopped by Kerry Park near my home for a peek at Seattle's most amazing view. (The same one you saw Bokich.)

As we were driving back downtown, we received a phone call from Auh20 and hooked up with him in the W lobby bar for a quick nightcap. When we arrived he was in his own inimitable fashion entertaining the W guests with impossible (but nonetheless true) travel tales. After a quick visit, I took AusTxHiker back to the Sheraton for a (sad sad) early morning flight and went home to my potions, unguents and a little sleep. We last saw Catman and Auh20 together with beer in the W bar. I hope they are up this morning when I go to collect them for sailing. http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif Joe had wisely retired early to be in good shape for his Captain duties of the morning.

At 1:00 a.m. it was raining hard and blowing up a storm here in Seattle so I imposed upon those (frequently) in high places http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif to intercede for sun. Well I am glad to report that I awoke to sunshine streaming through my window.

I will now grab my slicker (just in case) and run downtown to collect the guys for a fun day on the hopefully not too high seas. More, Much More, to follow!

I

http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif for not being there myself
http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif for your trip report
http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif looking forward for your next chapter on this

Hope todays fine weather holds up throughout the weekend for everyone!

...a three hour tour, a three hour tour.

I am soooooo jealous! Careful with the Fremont Troll. I suspect him to be none other than Arturo in disguise (we've uncovered his presence at many of our FT get togethers)!

Wow Punki, a trip report already! As I was driving on I-5 towards the airport, I did notice that the wind and rain was gone and the sun was out. For a split second I considered turning back to catch the Lavender Fembot Mattmobile at the W for one more day of fun. Reality quickly set in so I went ahead and boarded my flight to SJC to attend to my family obligations.

Thanks Punki, Joe, and MileageAddict for organizing this wonderful FT get together. I had so much fun meeting everyone. I hope to see everyone again at the PiP (mweiss- in case your situation changes, please consider coming to the PiP). Thanks for the evening tour Punki, you are just too generous. Even though I woke up with a headache this morning (I guess 3 Long Island iced teas over dinner was a bit much for my aging liver), it was certainly well worth it. I certainly hope you are all enjoying the sun and sea. I really wish I could have stayed. We'll be waiting for more the continuation of your trip report Punki (with the photos of course).

Well, Jackie & I just got back from SEA, and I'll do a small addendum till Punki finishes the report. Needless to say you've already heard about dinner last night. Again a BIG Thanks to MileageAddict & Punki for being excellent co-hosts for the weekend activities.

We didn't go sailing with the group this AM, but spent the morning at Pike Place Market. After the stormy weather last night, we were all prepared for an ugly day, but it turned out as one of the nicest days of this Indian Summer. Sunny, breezy & 75 degrees.

We met up with the sail crew at Anthony's Pier 66 for lunch, and were also joined by TravelWeary & her husband Michael, who drove up from Olympia. We all got on the boat for a few Kodak moments and then all had a great lunch together.

We headed back to PDX at about 3:15pm (I have to catch a flight to LAS tomorrow) as they were all sunning themselves on Anthony's patio. I'm sure as this is being written, they are enjoying huge portions of NW Salmon at Tillicum Village.

Oh BTW, (PremEx this is an official RSVP) I am happy to announce that Jackie and I will be joining the group at the PIP! We won't be on UA 57, but may be the official welcoming committee at the airport when you arrive (somebody will need to capture THAT moment for the archives). We will be arriving in HNL on the 3rd and leaving on the 8th, staying at the Westin Hawaii Prince.

Now back to SEA and the rest of Punki's report....it was a great time http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

WOW!!!

What a great bunch of people. I thoroughly enjoyed the company of the evening and found everyone to be interesting and quite charming! I didn't think it was possible to discuss frequent flyer programs for four solid hours but somehow we managed.

I got a real kick out of hearing everone's opinions (very strong opinions I might add!) and crazy adventure stories.

When it came time to pay the bill....my goodness, I never saw so many Diner's Club cards at one time!

To all of you who attended, thank you very much and many more thanks for making the evening a great success!

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Addicted to airline miles? Check out: The Airline Mileage Workshop

welcome to the PIP Jackie and shadow!

Thank you, Rudi... http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Catman -- you didn't scare the living daylights out of anyone in SEA did ya??

I am going offline for four days the minute I finish this, but I couldn't go without saying two things about the Seattle get-together yesterday (my first).
1. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting everyone and Michael and I had a BLAST!
2. Whoa...we are one sick bunch!!
http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Sounds like you had a blast. Looking forward to meeting some of you at PiP!

Thank you everyone who took part in the Seattle get together and giving me a new appreciation for that wonderful city.

So glad you Punki, and you Mileage Addict talked me into coming. It was well worth the many miles traveled.

Trip reports are coming chock full of the Cat's fine impressions of things!! http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

And miracle of miracles: all my flights came in at least ten minutes early http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Wowser, Wowser, Wowser, What a Blast. I imagine that it possible that there were some people in Seattle who had more fun than we did yesterday, but if there were, why didn't we hear them laughing? http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

From morning to night, it was a perfect day. As I drove down the hill to pick up Catman and auh20 at the "W", the sun was shining so brightly that I had to get out my Hawaii sun glasses in order to see. I found the guys at the same table in the "W" bar where I had left them the night before. I can only assume that they had moved during the night because they were wearing different clothing and their beer had been magically replaced with fruit plates.

We met the "bright and early" mweiss and Joe at the boat at Elliott Bay Marina and were joined shortly thereafter by DTTB and newself who graciously contributed morning munchies and the fixins for mimosas. mweiss, our official cork popper, opened the champagne, and the fun began.

Very early on, mweiss, won the "Quick Quip of the Day" award. As Joe readied the boat to sail, he noticed a loose fitting. When First Mate Punki said, "Do you want a screw driver?" mweiss immediately responded, "Shouldn't you call him Captain while we are on the boat?" Oh, you have to watch those "Softies" no matter how sweet and innocent they look the night before. http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

We were quickly underway on a beautiful, bright and sunny sail around Puget Sound. Although this was our good buddy Catman's first sail, Captain Joe and a bit of "mimosa courage", soon had the Cat masterfully manning the helm while auh2o lolled in the single first class seat. What a kick--pics to follow.

As we pulled into the harbor at we saw shadow and the indomitable Jackie (I am soooo glad they will join us at the PIP) waving from the dock. We didn't have a docking reservation so we had to sweet-talk the adorable Cody (who wisely weasled his way into my heart by accusing me of being 35) into letting us tie up for the rest of the day on the Charter Dock. We bribed him with orange juice and muffins and actually got him to give us the day for a four hour rate--no miles or points, however.

shadow searched Anthony's for TravelWear and Michael. When they were located, we retired to the boat for a few Kodak moments and more misosas. We had a most enjoyable lunch at Anthony's at Pier 56, after which we basked over drinks in the semi-tropical sunshine while the Cat attempted to beguile TravelWeary's lovely cat-loving young (22) daughter with pictures of Yaz and Eddie. I think she had come down to make sure her mom hadn't hooked up with a bunch of internet weirdos, but was so enamored with the cats (all 3 of them) that she decided TravelWeary and Michael could join us for dinner at Tillicum Village. These Olympia girls are all quite similar in their attempts to protect their wayward moms. http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif (All of you who decide quickly to come to the PIP can review the whole pictorial record.)

After sufficient lollygagging in the sun, we bid a temporary goodbye to shadow and Jackie and took a leisurely stroll down the waterfront to the Argosy/Tillicum Village dock. Along the way the tourists among us (and those residents among us who wore Seattle clothes instead of Miami clothes) stopped at the street vendors along the way to buy Tropical Wear to get us through the bright and sunny day.

At 4:30 p.m. we boarded the boat to Blake Island and dinner/theater at Tillicum Village. After 45 minute crossing, we were greeted with clam nectar. You drink the nectar, eat the clams and then throw the shells on the shell pathways and stomp on them. It is an old Indian ritual, somewhat reminiscient of a Jewish wedding. We were surprised at dinner with a VIP table. Dinner consisted of wonderful NorthWest broiled salmon, salad, new potatoes, rice, and Indian bread. As MattWald had previously pointed out, Tillicum Village is usually "dry" but the management had kindly placed complimentary bottles of Chardonnary at the two VIP tables (ours and the one next to ours).

Now, just to show you what a truly sensitive and considerate kind of guy auh20 is, read this story...... We drank all of our wine during the most interesting and entertaining "Dance on the Wind" story/show of the indigenous inhabitants of Washington State. Near the end of the show auh20 noticed that our VIP neighbors had not touched their wine. Not wanting them to feel embarrassed by not drinking all of the wine that our hosts had so generously provided, he actually offered to trade them our empty bottles for their full bottles and drink all of the contents therein. Now who says that kids these days aren't polite and sensitive. It really was good wine and and a fabulous adventure. We thank you Roberta!

After dinner we returned to the Argosy boat where we all drank funny smelling coffee and laughed our heads off throughout the trip back to Seattle. There was one point where auh20 tried to drag his feet in the water, but fortunately DTTB and newself saved him from himself when they started making emergency announcements over the PA system.

After our return to Seattle we enjoyed a moonlight walk back to Bell Harbor. During this adventure, DTTB and auh20 found some old cardboard and made signs that said "Will Work for Miles!" They wasted a bit of time and embarrassed us only slightly by sitting on the waterfront sidewalk holding their tin cups and signs begging for free miles and points. We all thought this was pretty weird until this guy came by and gave them free confirmable, first class upgrades--anywhere, any fare, anytime!!!!!!!!! You never, never know! http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Yes, we really are a sick bunch. http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif Aren't we Michael W?????

We finally got back to Bell Harbor where we boarded Shibumi and headed back to Elliott Bay. auh20 once agian reclaimed the one and only first class seat, while newself, DTTB and the Cat quietly and horizontally rested/napped on the foredeck during our moonlight trip to the home slip.

After returning to the beautiful Elliott (named after Marty) Bay and securing Shibumi, we discovered that our all time favorite Cat had never enjoyed a martini. We naturally initiated an immediate "Cat Loses His Martini Virginity" party and retired to the gorgeous Palisades Restaurant to quickly resolve this issue. The Cat went for my favorite, Dirty Absolute Vodka Martini straight up, which of course was highly offensive to our Vodka expert buddy auh20 who is a firm believer that Vodka should never be defiled with any ANY substance whatsoever (including ambient oxygen).

The last time I saw them, DTTB was giving auh20 a piggy-back ride across the parking lot at the Palisades.

Cat has posted, so I know he is alive and TravelWeary and Michael are, I know for sure hiking on Mount Ranier. Joe, Dominic, newself and DTTB are sailing again on Puget Sound, and I am hoping that mweiss (who is too responsible to go too far astray) and my dear, dear and crazy, crazy friend auh20 are alive and well somewhere and collecting lots of miles and points.

I believe it is safe to say that a GOOD TIME was had by all. http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif




[This message has been edited by Punki (edited 09-27-1999).]

Very enjoyable report! http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif (How can I compete with FIVE happy faces?)

The only problem with walking on clamshells at a Jewish wedding is that first you would have to get all the non-Jewish guests to eat the clams. (All shellfish = non-kosher!)

[This message has been edited by RichG (edited 09-27-1999).]