This past weekend, Anthony and I went drove five hours north to Seattle, Washington. We did some standard touristy things (Pike Place Market, the Waterfront and the IMAX, etc.) and then made a solid IKEA raid for Ant's apartment.

We arrived late on Friday and checked into the Green Tortoise Hostel. It was average for a hostel but the weather was so hot (95-100 degrees) that when we went to sleep, I kept waking up in a pool of sweat, which made their lack of fans even more disappointing. Yuck. As per usual in any hostel, as the sun came up two random drunk German guys showed up in the room making a shitload of noise.

The next day we wandered over to Pike Place Market where the famous Seattle fishmongers reside. If you have ever seen the FISH motivational video that employers love to show, it was filmed here. The fishmongers throw massive fish around and basically put on a small show. They seem to have a decent sense of humor. If anyone got to close to this guy they would pull on the attached rope (which is normally hidden under ice) to freak the person out and everyone around would crack up. Every once in a while, they also pretend to throw a fake fish into "the audience" and the whole crowd ducks until they realize it's styrofoam. The rest of Pike Place Market was pretty kickass as well. They had super cheap flowers, tasty fresh fruit, meat, and veggies. If I lived anywhere near this place, I'd weight 600 pounds.

After getting our fill of wandering around, we headed down to the waterfront to have lunch at Ivar's a famous fish and chips place, and see two really disappointing IMAX shows. The first was The Eruption of Mount St. Helens and the second was Ocean Oasis, both which were poorly written. In the Mount St. Helens one, they never showed the eruption, which sucks because that's what the title leads you to believe you are going to see. In the ocean one, they spent more time talking about land animals than ocean life.

On Sunday, Anthony and I decided to cruise by Bruce and Brandon Lee's graves for a photo. It was a good thing we stopped by the nearby museum to ask about where they were located because there were tons of Lees, all with red headstones.

Next stop was a shop I had heard much about, Toys in Babeland, which is basically a sex toy shop. It was closed but we got to see some of their wares in the window. It seems that Pyrex dildos are quite the rage and there are many glass artists willing to contribute creative ideas on how to get someone off. I also saw this little guy. I'm sure the Queen feels safe when they're scattered around Buckingham Palace.

We had the obligatory latte in the caffeine obsessed city at Vivace's and then headed out to IKEA to pick up the final few things Ant needed for his place. It was the quickest and most efficient IKEA experience I've ever had. Normally when I go on Long Island or in NJ, it's an all day ordeal because the lines are so long and slow. Not so in Washington. We were in and out super quick and were able to still have enough time to get to Portland to meet up with Sean and Court of Bootsnall.

It was a busy weekend but I had a good time. Soon enough I will be home in New York around the rude people I miss so much.