Does this rock make my butt look big?

This rock make me laugh…not convulse!!

Started my morning off this morning crawling out of bed because my gluts are killing me!!  (I couldn’t help but remember my ego boost from yesterday….lol!)  I took my time waking up, had 2 conference calls with potential clients and headed out my hotel room door to do some site seeing in Seattle.

I decided to just grab a map from the hotel lobby and make my way down to Pike Place Market, which is only a couple blocks away from my hotel, and see what trouble I could get into. My first stop was at a store I wish we had in Maryland, Protein Planet, where I stopped and got myself a high protein, high vitamin C shake. Yum!

Pike Place Market

Awesome place!!

I almost got coffee, but was a little thrown by the “original blend” they had for the day….

Can’t I just get a Colombian Roast…..???

I then headed into the Market and immediately ran into the World Famous Fish Market with “low flying fish!” I loved it because I have used the “Fish Philosophy” video in several workshops in the past and the same guys in the video still work at the market!! If you have seen the video, the real life market is EXACTLY the same! Yelling the orders out loud to each other and everyone repeating it, throwing the fish across the store, teasing customers walking by and all of the employees with an overall “jolly” attitude!

World Famous Pike Place Fish Market

The “Fish” guys hard at work…

 

As I walked through the market I tried a variety of different foods from chocolate pasta to cheeses and also sampled organic soaps, lotions and hair pieces. The market has everything!!….vegetables, flowers, fruits, meats, and lots and lots of FISH!!

My favorite…fresh flowers!!

Was a bit frightened to buy veggies from this lady…

As you walk around the market, you notice the tiles that make up the entire floor are engraved with names on them. I asked about this and apparently 20 years ago they decided to re-do the market floor.  So, in order to raise money to do it, they sold tiles to donors for $35 each!

EVERY SINGLE tile in the WHOLE market had a name on it! (I made sure I didn’t take a picture of a tile that said, “Doug” on it…lol!

I continued walking and of course, ended up in “Gem Heaven,” a crystal store. I had a nice chat with Chris, the owner and ended up buying a beautiful Carnelian stone right from Mt. St. Helen.

Chris holding a Eudialyte stone from Mount St. Helen that we discussed for awhile

I next headed into “Double Dorjee – Gateway to Mystical Tibet” and spent quite awhile talking with Tenzin, the owner. We talked about Buddhism, Shamanism and the tradition of Tibetan prayer flags (which I have been looking for forever and finally found a great set!). Tenzin takes groups on Sacred Journeys to Nepal every year and guess who signed up to go!!! (I feel another blog coming on…..)

Tenzin in his store

I walked back out near the river to find some lunch and loved seeing several bands whose instruments were made of scrap. One in particular, The Slimpickins, were awesome!

“The Slimpickins”

I finally stopped and had an amazing bowl of Smoked Salmon Chowder from Seatlle’s Best and #1 place for chowder…Pike Place Chowder! I immediately followed my nose to where I smelled cinnamon rolls and stuffed my face again with the biggest cinnamon roll I have ever eaten! I was in heaven!!

Pike Place Chowder

I figured I would just keep walking and eventually ran into the original Starbucks and also spent some time in the Vital Tea Leaf where I sampled teas that ranged from $98-$259 a pound! I then made my way over to the Seattle Library that I had heard so much about and was completely amazed! Most modern-day library I have ever seen!! My daughter would have loved it because the entire inside of the library is painted neon green…same color as her room! 10 floors make up this library with hundreds of computers, reading rooms, books, magazines, DVD’s, CD’s, etc. etc. I may have actually studied if I had a library like this in college….!!

The Seattle Library

A shot from inside the library

I then continued down 5th Street and jumped on the Monorail (which carries 2.5 million riders every year and is the fastest full size monorail train in the country) toward the Seattle Center where the Space Needle sits. I rode up the needle to the top (520 feet – which took 41 seconds by elevator) and spent some time checking out the awesome view of the city!

Seattle Monorail

View of the city from the top of the Space Needle

The Space Needle

For dinner I was thrilled to head to the “Blue C Sushi”  for my favorite food of all time…SUSHI…with my cousin Paul.  We had a great chat and spent time catching up with each others lives.  I will be back here in Seattle in July for another speaking gig so we plan on getting together again then!

Me and my cousin Paul

Then to top the night off, I ran into some dear friends from South Africa, Zali and Gayle, who flew 31 hours for this conference!  We went to Morton’s Steakhouse so they could eat dinner and I could drink and eat carrot cake…(don’t judge me – I already ate sushi, remember?)  The entire time Tina and I were in South Africa, Zali and Gayle would not let us pay for a thing.  So, when the check came at Morton’s, I quickly snatched it up to their surprise and said, “You are in MY country now!”  They could not argue and graciously let me pay the bill (the least I could do to repay them for the gracious hosts they were when Tina and I visited their country).

Me, Zali and Gayle…why am I always drinking with these ladies?? lol!

Tomorrow morning I head to Boeing to take a peak at their factory here and then I am going to head over to “The Museum of Flight” to check out some old, vintage planes!  Love it!!!

Now I need to go soak my “bum” in some hot water….Sopa out!