Visit from the Daddio

We just got done hosting my Daddio for a few days while he was in town for a TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) Conference here in Seattle. We had such a fantastic time! We ate and joked and bonded and toured all around the city together. Thursday we all took most of the day off and went to Pike's Place, where we bought some coffee at the original Starbucks and went shopping for some souvenirs for my Dad's herd of boys back home.

Dad and I posing in front of a huge fish at the market, which would cost about $200 whole - my dad settled for a $10 hunk of dried salmon

Then we took the FERRY out to Bainbridge Island, which was so much fun I couldn't hardly stop wiggling. Then we came back to town, met some of his colleagues for some appetizers at a sushi place, and he came into the lab with me for a tour. By then it was getting late so we wandered up the Ave (University Ave, which goes by campus and is packed with cheap and yummy restaurants) for a more hearty dinner. The whole day was wonderful.

On the ferry to Bainbridge Island. For $13 round-trip you can take your car with you - and they pack about 50 cars (including some semi-trucks) on each ferry. During the ride to the island (about 35 min) you can get out of your car and run around the ship, buy coffee or lunch, go potty, or stand on the top deck and get your hair blown around.


The view from the ferry looking back at the Port of Seattle (downtown) - you can see the coast guard accompanying the ferry in the foreground and the large cranes for moving shipped goods (the inspiration for Star Wars' AT-ATs, you can probably see why from the picture).


When we got to the island, we inspected both the shoreline (with starfish clinging to the posts at the dock) and the forest. The starfish appeared to be alive (my dad checked on this) and were all very brightly colored.

On Friday, we split ways for a while and then met back up for some home-cooked salmon (thanks Studly Hubby!) and then wandered around our neighborhood until the rain drove us back inside for a game of Chinese checkers and some boggle. Saturday the Studly Hubby and I got to go to my Daddio's fantastic talk on using blogs in teaching, and I even asked a question!, and then we had to say good-bye at the airport.

What a great time! Thanks for visiting us Dad!