Thanks to you and Robert for the suggestions. We were able to take you up on many, but not all, of the recommended sites.

I think everyone's perceptions of the city in which they attended college is somewhat skewed. I know that I look upon Champaign-Urbana, Illinois as my favorite place to live.

But, back to Seattle. We spent a good number of hours roaming Pike's Place Market. The crowd there was probably somewhat different than what it usually is. As the NCAA basketball championships were being held there (this was the reason I went to Seattle) most of the people in the crowd were wearing their university and Final Four T-shirts and sweatshirts. We were there relatively early in the morning, and most people dressed as described above were in the orange and blue of the University of Illinois -- thus reinforcing the stereotype of midwesterners being early risers.

We also dim summed at the Sun-Ya -- although we had the steamed hom bow rather than the baked version. However it was excellent.

Being a super shopper, Diane also hit the Nordstrom Rack.

We did learn a number of things about Seattle and the surrounding area.

Number 1 -- You don't attempt to visit Mount Ranier in the springtime. We spent all day driving around the Mount and seeing only rain, fog, and snow.

Number 2 -- It rains a lot in Seattle. However, I was told that it generally doesn't rain between 11 am and 2 pm.

Number 3 -- Seattlites don't appear to know how to make a good cup of chocolate (much to my dissappointment). We tried a number of places.

Number 4 -- There are some wonderful Asian restaurants in the city. I highly recommend Bhahn Thai for great Thai food , and the Sea Garden (just down the street from Sun-Ya) for Chinese. Order the geoduck there.