The Pact

I just returned from Seattle, where Russell and I spent almost exactly 24 hours raising hell. It was an important mini-vacation because of a pact which we agreed on over dinner. Before I discuss the pact, I feel compelled to relate the details of the journey: We met at Sea-Tac Airport at 11:30am, grabbed some lunch, and headed straight for the Seattle Museum of Flight, where we spent the better part of the day. It is an incredible museum and I highly recommend it whether you like airplanes or not. Around 4:30 we hit the Boeing company store, picked up a souvenir or two, and headed for the hotel for a little relaxation before venturing out for dinner.

Ah yes, dinner...

We settled on a place called Elliott's Oyster House which is on a pier in downtown. It was a classy place with conservative decorations, a friendly staff, and an impressive assortment of wines and local microbrews. Russ indulged in a Californian red, while I preferred a Seattle brewery's hefeweizen. We split a tasty fried calamari appetizer before gorging on stupendous entrees. Russ choose theTop Sirloin and Shrimp/Prawn brochette, while I opted for a whole, hot, steamed dungeoness crab. I was quite confused when I first laid eyes upon my dinner. It was, in fact, a whole crab... In it's shell. I called our excellent server Dave over and said, "Dave, I'm just an ignorant midwestern guy. How do I eat this thing?" To Dave's credit, he didn't laugh at me. Russ did. A lot. Asshole. With a bit of instruction I was on my way, and not long thereafter there was a bowl full of cracked crabshell left in front of me. Dessert was next on everyone's mind. Russ selected the sunken chocolate soufle a la mode, and I went with the fried chocolate troufles with ice cream in a pecan brittle shell. In case you hadn't figured it out yet, dinner was incredible. Russell and I agreed it was easily within the top 5 meals either of us had ever had the joy of consuming. The total cost, including tip: $156.

This morning we awoke (both still full from dinner) and headed to Everrett where Boeing builds it's widebody commercial airplanes. We took the hour long tour of the facility which included the 747 assembly line and the flight line where completed airplanes awaited delivery, then raced back to Sea-Tac and parted ways. My flight lifted off at 11:30am. It was, without a doubt, one of the most enjoyable consecutive 24 hours of my life.

So, the pact. While at our mind-blowing dinner, Russell and I agreed that our excursion was simply too much fun, and we had to do things of this nature more often. The detirmination was that once each quarter we had the obligation to embark on a journey similar to our trip to Seattle. So, with some spit and a handshake, we swore that once every 3 months we would find a city of mutual interest, meet there, see the sights, and consume one superb meal. The leading candidates for the February / March excursion are currently San Diego and San Francisco, but there is plenty of time to plan that trip. Right now, it's getting on bedtime, and I have a dungeoness crab to dream about...