I woke up at the crack of dawn to catch my 7:25 AM flight on Jet Blue. Thankfully, the traffic gods were kind to us to allow us a smooth trip on the 405 freeway to the Long Beach airport. For the most part, I spent the two and a half hour Jet Blue trip watching the History Channel. Luckily, we arrived into Seattle in good time without any problems on the flight.

Stacy and Nick, Todd's family, gave us a driving tour of Seattle as soon as we arrived. We went straight to Alki Beach, which was across the bay from downtown Seattle. It was a nice morning walk on the strand. The air was fresher and cleaner than California. By the time it was noon, we checked into our hotel.

Then, we went to Pike's Place. The best way I can describe it is that it's a giant fish market full of fresh seafood and lots of food samples. For lunch, I went to the pasta bar and had a very filling and carb-tastic plate of penne pasta for under $10. We even saw a few Day Zero cosplayers at the fish market.

Another point of interest is the sight of the first Starbucks. According to Stacy, all the local Starbucks still retain the original logo.

After visiting Pike's Place, we went to the Seattle Center, home of the Space Needle. Though we did not go up into the Space Needle, we got a kick out of Todd and Nick playing by the fountain. Basically, they wanted to touch the giant fountain structure before it would randomly start erupting.

I should also note that the Seattle Center has notorious, chubby squirrels that feast on pizza crusts. It's quite a sight when you see a squirrel take a piece of food twice their body up a tree.

The Seattle Center has quite a few things to do other than seeing the space needle. It's just like Exposition Park in Los Angeles - a few museums, an IMAX theater, a few theaters, and a monorail to the mall. Otherwise, it was still nice to see Seattle's most famous landmark.

Stacey also took us to Kerry Park. It's the best free view that you will get of Seattle's skyline. Jared nicknames the park, "Fraiser Park" because the opening of that sitcom was filmed there.

After visiting Kerry Park, it was time to rest up before the start of the convention. For the most part, we just stayed in the hotel watching The Office and Sex and the City. Fortunately, our hotel was a hop, skip, and a jump from the convention center. I decided it was best to rest up from the traveling and touring.

However, Sarah was kind enough to pick up our press badges on Day Zero.

Many thanks to Nick and Stacy for showing us around town!

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