Dear Seattle, It’s been real.

Tomorrow morning finishes off my stay in the Seattle area. Wednesday night (get ready for a lot of hyperlinks!), I flew into Seattle, with a hotel in Kent. My first visit was a meet-n-greet dinner followed by a speaking opportunity and time of prayer at Faith Presbyterian in Tacoma. Thursday, I had a free day and spent the majority of the time finding may way through the maze that is downtown Seattle. I stopped at several “touristy” places; places I hadn’t been in years…probably since I was still in training pants(!): Pike Place Market, The Space Needle, The first ever Starbucks, as well as aimlessly wandering around on foot, snapping pictures, enjoying the culture of this urban, coastal metropolis. People are literally every shade and hue you can think of: the tattoos, the hair dye…not to mention the excellent musicians on various street corners trying to earn some latte money in this typically cold and wet place. (Don’t worry, pictures will be up soon!) After I recouped a bit with a latte of my own, I headed back out, this time venturing out into one of the new wonders of the world: Ikea. Simply put, I could write an entire blog on this awesome store, but I won’t. I will say, though, that if you’ve never been, you’ve never lived.

Thursday evening, I headed to Issaquah, to meet with a great couple for dinner, at Chipotle (Chipotle is not a big deal to us from Denver, but here, where Mexican food is usually some form of Pork and Beans and Tabasco sauce, with melted American cheese, this place is a BIG thing! It’s been here for only about 1.5 years, so when I asked, “Where would you both like to go,” their response was….”Chipotle!” As always, their food rocks.

Friday morning, I met with the missions guy at Starbucks (I won’t hyperlink that…I think EVERYONE knows what that is!) near the University of Washington. He is the “go to” guy for three churches in one: CrossPoint PCA’s. Basically, it’s three congregations, each meeting in different parts of the greater Seattle area, but all one church…it’s an interesting idea!

Shortly after that, I met with the assistant pastor from Hillcrest PCA, in Seattle. (Side note: I love not knowing much about the city, or the people I’m meeting with other than we are siblings in Christ, all working toward the same goal: to glorify God and enjoy Him forever through fulfilling His great commission, helping others come to a place in their lives that they, too, can glorify God and enjoy Him forever!……but, along with not knowing the city, you get to ask the people you’re meeting with, “You know the area better than I do, where would you like to go?”) So, we went to an awesome little Thai place for lunch, sandwiched in center of a strip-mall. The local flavor you get from little, off-the-beaten-path places like this is truly enjoyable. We had a long conversation with our waiter, who told me all about his life, his side job of flipping houses (which apparently is very easy yet very difficult in Seattle), and his 14 hour days at the restaurant. (All of these meetings, by the way, were itinerating meetings…not just full of good food!)

Last night, I returned to downtown Seattle, but this time for the specific purpose to get some shipyard, ports, and boardwalk pictures. I got quite a few! The real fun happened strolling back to my car, and a homeless lady started following me, asking if she could “see” my camera: my baby. I didn’t let her see my baby, by the way.

Today, after being completely exhausted, I laid low, sticking to Kent. Kent is very familiar to me, since my aunt and uncle used to live here. Driving around, I was filled with memories on top of memories, driving past the Target (I know, strange) that my uncle and I would go to when we’d run out of something during my stay, or the Top foods where we stock-piled groceries in their minivan as we prepared to go to the coast for a week. Then I drove past the little natural grocer that my aunt took me to because they had the best Banana ice cream in all the world. It’s amazing how your mind will forget little things like that over the decade, and then, all of a sudden: BAM! Your GPS tells you to go the wrong way, and mid-yell at the machine, your eyes gaze across parking lot after parking lot of childhood memories.

I did, however, return to Ikea tonight, as a great friend in South Carolina texted me, “Adam, have you eaten at Ikea yet?” I shamefully had to reply, “No…but I will…right now!” Yes, as I’ve said, Ikea is great, and the restaurant holds its own with their Swedish meatballs and Lingonberry sauce. Mmmmm.

Tomorrow I head to Covenant Presbyterian in Issaquah, where I will be speaking a bit during the morning service. I don’t think I’ll make it back to the hotel by noon (the checkout time), so I’ll head to the airport after church. I fly out late tomorrow afternoon, and head to Phoenix, AZ, for a very quick change-of-planes, and then I should be back in Denver just before midnight.

So, stay tuned! My next update will be from back in Denver, and I plan to include a lot of pictures! Stay suspenseful!

Advertisement