Last weekend some friends and I took both Saturday and Sunday to immerse ourselves (literally) in another Seattle tradition - Sea Fair. Apparently, Sea Fair actually involves and entire month of aquatic-themed activities, but these events culminate in early August with a three-day whirlpool of hydroplane racing (those are the incredibly fast, spaceship-looking boats you see tumbling end over end on late-night ESPN) and an air show which included the Blue Angels.
I'll point out that while the event is called Sea Fair, the major three-day event all happens on a fresh water lake.
We spent day one on the shore overlooking the racetrack...er...race area, I suppose, since the racing is all water-bound. The scene was a NASCAR-like gathering of blue-blooded Americans and screaming boat motors. All branches of the military erected large recruitment booths, some with shiny spinning boxes - simulators I was told, though I never got so involved. Some photos from day one:
The boats rested on the wooden pier and were craned in and out of the water between races.
NAS-BOAT. They average around 135 MPH and displace some amazing misty waterfalls in their wakes. No blood and guts to be seen, though we did watch one spin out in a confusing spray of white water.
A 1959 champion boat on display at the event, looking very Star Trek indeed.We spent day two out on the water in Cramer's boat. I enjoyed the freedom of the boat over the relative restriction of the shore. So many boats! Boats of all sizes and styles sped out under the air show flight path and turned off their engines and folks simply enjoyed the day. The frat boy contingent was high, some boats were sponsored by random vodka brands or Bunweiser, there were small bikinis and high school kids drinkin' and dirvin' daddy's boat (why would you EVER let your kid take your boat to an event like this?) Many families were out too, little kids in life jackets tossing water balloons at frat boys, bikin-clad girls and even pale white guys in their thirties. Most boats were well-stocked with water balloons and other sorts of water battle implements and so staying dry was not an option. One boat sported a gas-powered pump and hose which drenched our boat (Cramer is in th emarket for a new phone). Lake Washington was warm and the swim was tremendous all day.
The air show had been impressive from the beach the day before, when one could see the formations and tricks of the Blue Angels as they intended, but from our spot on the water this day, the planes would fly directly over us, incredibly close and incredibly loud. Two short video clips of the planes (turn on the sound!):Of course these videos are a little shaky because I'm holding a small camera, following an incredibly fast-moving object and I'm on a bobbing boat. The noise was incredible. You get the idea. Photos of day two:
Scantily-clad boys and girls everywhere. In addition to the bunny ears, she's wearing furry orange pasties.
WARNING: NOT A LIFESAVING DEVICE
When worn upside-down with the legs through the arms (or wearing two through the crotch as the Hawk is doing here), a PFD makes a fantastic diaper which makes floating in a sitting position positively effortless.
Under the bridge, Husky Stadium off in the distance
Boat bottleneck in the shipping canal. So many boats.
They raised the drawbridge for us (pay no attention to that sailboat up ahead)
Downtown Seattle across Lake Union on the way back to the boat ramp
I apologize, but the pun-lover in me could not resist photographing these two vessels side-by-side, named Labrador and Retriever.
Friends on a boat
Well, today I attended my orientation day at Whole Foods. Loads of information. Most of it was common sense, some information about the job and the company. Despite my misgivings coming from a cooperative grocery background, as far as corporations go, I could do worse. And they're all extremely nice and intelligent people - though I sometimes felt the sense that they had the swirly-eyed, "Just join us and you'll understand," drink the Kool-Aid mentality. I'll give them credit for admitting in the propaganda videos that they are indeed in it for the money. Is that why I'm in it too? Oh yeah, and natural organic foods are kinda groovy too. And wow, they make a killer burger there at the grill. Saturday we drove up to Mt. Vernon to attend the month-long Skagit Valley Tulip Festival and the weekend-long Mt. Vernon Street Fair. Interesting arts & crafts abounded and we stopped in to the Skagit Valley Food Co-op. This was a beautiful grocery store - it held that graceful balance between hippie co-op, community market and family grocer. Not too nice, not too funky, but just right. They make their own soups and salad dressings and had fantastic prices. Nice work, hippies! After the fair and some corn dogs - MMM! We drove out to check out the fields of fully blooming daffodils and the tulips just beginning to get going. 
Field of daffodils
Tulips gettin' sexy
Me gettin' sexy
Tulips and CascadesThen on Sunday we met some friends at the track to bet on some ponies. This was both of our first time at the races and we're defnitely going back, though we both came out with less cash. Not too much money, and well worth the sunny afternoon entertainment. 
The final race - I won twenty-five bucks on this one. Still in the hole overall but a nice end to the day.
View of Rainier from our seats at the track. We're both still thrilled to see sights like this and realize that we live here now.
Beth and I celebrated my birthday earlier this week. Yep, 33 years old. We went downtown and had lunch, where I was treated to an amazing cornmeal encrusted catfish sandwich. Then we headed to the Experience Music Project. It's a sort of rock & roll museum and it's all very well thought out and very interactive. Of course, different music to listen to at stations all along the way, of course a section devoted to the Seattle grunge scene and of course an incredible section devoted to Jimi Hendrix (including a piece of that guitar he famously burned at the Monterey Pop Festival - oooh). Right now the EMP is also hosted an exhibition of letterpress work by Hatch Show Print, a printer out of Nashville. It was amazing to see the hand-carved wooden blocks used in printing all sorts of materials, from trailer advertisements to Grand Ol' Opry flyers to modern band posters. So neat to see the artistic skill and creativity involved in each piece. According to their video, they keep every block and so have hundreds - thousands of blocks dating back decades. It's an incredibly interesting way to view history and popular culture. (Thanks to Beth for indulging the font nerd in me on my birthday)We topped off the day with a trip to REI to grab a new backpacking stove for the quickly approaching summer. Ooooh, new gear. Great birthday, great to spend it with Beth. (We realized at some point that we forgot the camera, so instead of birthday photos I'll include a photo of another recent outing to the Seattle aquarium.)
