This week, I have been in Seattle for another round of Web Design World, learning all about all the latest in web design, multimedia, digital video, podcasting, blogging technology and other geeky catch phrases. While I didn't manage to run into an acoustic Foo Fighters concert like I did last year, I did still manage a few adventures. Heck, it just wouldn't be a business trip without some, right?
It seems most of my adventures take place during my "wandering time". Trips like this really promote my wandering. What I mean is that in order to save money from my budget, instead of renting a car and driving all over creation, I take a cab from the airport to my hotel in downtown and call it good. The conference is in the hotel so I have a totally self-contained environment: My meetings.. my room.. my food, all in one convenient building. But staying in that building... well, that just gets boring. And so I go out and just explore.
It helps that I enjoy the art of "people watching". There are so many personalities out there.. Heck I could just walk and walk for hours just to see what I could find, and to see what kinds of people there are in the city. It gets so diverse, it becomes fun to just explore and watch. "Where does this street go? Not sure... Let's find out". "What's down this path?” It's amazing what you can find when you take the time to look. It is this habit of wandering, both during lunch breaks and after the conference is over each night that seems to provide adventures.
But here's the key... when leaving the room.. DON'T have a plan. Just go. (This is why I don't do this while at home with my wife.. it would drive her nuts). As I leave my hotel each night I have no clue where I am going... what kind of entertainment I'll find, or where to eat dinner. I just see what I can find and what plays out. So with that in mind, here are the Seattle adventures for my annual trip:
• Night one: Tonight's wandering was fairly short. After landing at the airport and enduring a meandering cab ride to my hotel, I had a nice (and warm!) 5 mile run through the waterfront parks of downtown Seattle. This is one of the reasons I just love visiting this city. I can be in a very crowded, typical city environment, and within a block I can get to the water, parks, recreation and beautiful Puget Sound scenery. It's just a great mix. By the time I was cooled down and showered, it was getting late. So I headed out and happened to bump into a restaurant that I loved from previous trips.. The Icon Grill, with its fried Mac and Cheese. Delicious! I wasn't planning on eating there, I just happened to walk by, not realizing I was in that neighborhood. The benefits of wandering. From there I headed a few blocks south only to bump into a downtown movie theater. Anything starting soon? Actually.. Ratatouille was about to start. Heck.. let's go. (Mini review: Awesome movie.. one of my favorite Pixar films. Amazing animation that had a unique, creative story with real heart put into the characters. I highly recommend it for all ages!)
• Night two: After finishing the conference for the day, I had an hour to kill before I had to be at the Seattle Aquarium for our conference reception. Rather than being smart and walking towards the aquarium, I headed the opposite direction as I hadn’t walked that way yet. After a few minutes.. I found a line... a long line.. wrapping all the way around a city block. I followed it to the end, at the Seattle Cinerama theater, that just happened to be showing a press screening of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. From the size of the line, I figured there was no way all these people could squeeze into one theater. I asked one of the people waiting about their tickets, which only people in the right place at the right time could get. It even said on the ticket that seats were on a first come first serve basis, having a pass didn't guarantee a seat. So, the sicko inside me decided to stick around. This could be fun: watching the people pour into the theater, then see the rejected look on the first person's face who had to stand in line, but didn't get a seat. So I hung out at the front of the line, just watching.
Soon, they began letting people in. With huge signs and people walking back into the line yelling announcements that there were NO CELL PHONES OR CAMERAS ALLOWED and that all bags would be searched prior to entrance (and it even stated this in big letters on the tickets) I found it fascinating how many people just ignored it, only to get booted out of line, them leaving in a big angry huff. See, watching this all unfold.. quality entertainment! Much to my surprise, every person in line (except those kicked out for phones) got into the screening. That must be one BIG theater. The big kicker for me.. had I taken a chance when I first discovered this was a Harry Potter screening, run back to my hotel to deposit my phone and camera (I had both), and returned, I could have gotten in. The manager was ready to let me in the door, even without a ticket as they had a couple of extra seats. Oh well. I'd see it soon enough.
Time to head back down to the aquarium. As I headed down the street from the theater, I passed a guy.. typical downtown stereotype.. scraggy, frayed and looking a little out of it. As I walked past, he said something to me under his breath. Ol' naive me, who tries to be nice to people, thought he asked me a legitimate question and didn't want to be rude, turned and said, "I'm sorry, what was that? I didn't understand". That's when I learned the valuable lesson, note to self... "DON'T DO THAT!.. just keep walking!!" The guy spun around spitting venom "Oh you heard what I said!!" A little confused, I continued to try my polite approach: "Oh sorry, I thought you were asking me a question. My mistake. Have a nice day." That's when he came after me. "OH YOU HEARD ME LOUD AND CLEAR YOU @$@#%%. GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE #$%#%." He began charging towards me, fists drawn.. and that's when I quickly abandoned the "polite approach" and just got the heck out of there. I don't know what it is about us big guys that riles up the small and obviously drugged, small folk... But it proved to be an interesting encounter none the less.
Interesting side note: fast forward a few hours. I was walking down on the waterfront, heading back to my hotel having just come from a nice dinner overlooking the water. Up ahead of me, and coming towards me was the same guy. Mentally I went "oh great..." and continued to walk in the hopes that he just didn't recognize me. He did almost immediately. Only this time, his greeting to me was different. "Hey, Man! How's it going? So good to see you!!" He bellowed as I passed. A little surprised at his sudden friendliness and change, I instinctively, and in the same tone, yelled back. "Great! Nice to see you to! Enjoying your evening? Nice! Take care, man, good to see ya!". I continued to head back to the hotel.. grateful that he hadn't gutted me like a fish, and shaking my head at the whole surreal thing. Again... people watching.. quality, and free entertainment!
• Night three: No real adventures here, just more wandering. The conference ended around 6 PM after which I immediately headed out for another waterfront run. It did seem a bit warm as I was running, but since I usually run at night, when the temperatures are lower, since I was running at 6:30, in the hottest part of the day, I assumed it was normal. Turns out it was the hottest day in Seattle in the last 10 years. Yikes. But since I had spent the day in a hotel conference room, I was oblivious to the weather.
After finally cooling down, I headed out for a late dinner. Again, just walking in a random direction I eventually ended up at the Cheesecake Factory. No, I didn't eat cheesecake (although it looked tasty), I had a fantastic pasta dish. Across the street, more people were lining up for something. Curiosity killed the cat again and I had to find out what was going on. This time, it was the midnight, first showing of Harry Potter. I inquired as to if there were tickets left, and there were a few. Needless to say, I suddenly had a very late night out! (Also an excellent film.. a wonderful addition to the Potter series!) And even walking back to my hotel in the quiet city streets at 2:30 in the morning, it was outrageously hot. The heat just wouldn't go away.
The next day, the conference ended, and I flew home.. back in time for Little Calvin's evening swimming lessons. No adventures. Just normal travel. Which, when dealing with travel and airplanes.. a boring, uneventful, no adventures day is a great thing!
But the next time you are out in some strange city that you may be unfamiliar with, don't be intimidated by it.. savor that unfamiliar territory. Follow your nose. Walk. And just see what you can find. I'm always surprised and pleased with that adventure of walking into the unknown. And amazed as to what kind of fun I can find.
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