Discovery Park and Our Last Night in Seattle

Leaving North Bend, we set the GPS to take us directly to Discovery Park, and enormous wooded park on the coast of the Sound, just west of Queen Anne. About 45 minutes later we arrived, parked the car, and started walking.

It was a little longer of a hike that we originally planned, but was it worth it. The first part brought us close to these huge bluffs looking over the Sound and into Bainbridge Island. The day was still a bit overcast and foggy, so there wasn't too much to see, but it kind of added to the experience of it. There's something about mist over the water that just feels right. It's not spooky, but appropriate. It was a little chilly and there was a drizzle in the air, but we were enjoying ourselves.

After hiking about two miles through the trails that wound down the cliffs away from the lot, we came to a beach on the edge of a small peninsula that stretched west into the Sound. At the edge of that strip of land was the small West Point Lighthouse, which we started making our way over to. Now, lighthouses fascinate me. I'm not sure what it is about them, but I just think there's something romantic and nostalgic about them...and Steph feels the same way. We clambered down the rocks to the lighthouse and walked along the beach for a bit, taking in the air and the view before heading back up the hill for a rough climb to the car.

By this time it was about 3:00 and the weather was to be desired, so we decided to make one last tourist stop before really calling it a day. We hadn't seen the Space Needle yet, so although we didn't really have any intention of going up into the Needle, it'd still be kind of cool to see the former grounds for the Seattle World's Fair of 1962. Much of it is still there, but has been turned into a tourist park, the most interesting building there being the Experience Music Project building, which we went inside for a bit to check it out. We had a free pass, but unfortunately they were closing early yesterday so we weren't able to use it.

After spending an hour or so poking around the park, we got back into the car and tried to make a decision as to what to do next. Both of us knew that we wanted to chill out for a bit, and we most likely just end up going back to the hotel, laying down for a few hours and taking in some TV before we headed out for the night. And...then we cracked. We couldn't help it, okay? We're movie fans. We love movies. Some of my friends go to different cities all over the country just to sit inside that city's baseball stadium...we do the same for movie theaters. So yeah, we cracked. We went to go see the 7:00 showing of Iron Man. And holy beejeebus was it good.

Following the movie, we knew we wanted to head out for one last night on the town, so we shot back to the hotel, made a quick change, and were out to the bars by 10:30. It was after all, Cinco De Mayo, so we celebrated accordingly. We passed a few of the bars around Belltown, then ended up at a place called Twist (not to be confused with the bar in Cleveland of the same name...purely a coincidence) where we sat back and had a few drinks, reminiscing about the events of our day. Just after midnight we called it a night since we were planning on leaving to go to Rainier today (the weather is looking a LOT better) so we came back to the hotel and crashed.

Tonight will probably be our last update, which I'll do my best to make from the airport. If by chance there's nothing posted in the morning, I'll do my best to make sure that something is posted by the afternoon. It is going to be one. long. day tomorrow, so you'll have to bear with me. Till then, wish us luck at Rainier. We'll be arriving at SEA-TAC airport around 8:30 and flying out on the red-eye at 11:00. Till then.