There was an option for express check out where you carried your own bags off the boat. Since we were going straight to the hotel and then off to enjoy Seattle we decided that would be the best option. We got up bright and early and headed off the boat to catch a bus to our hotel. When we arrived at the hotel only two of the rooms were ready. We loaded up our luggage in the rooms and headed out to find some breakfast.
We headed towards the market and figured we could find something to eat down there. We walked around and ended up eating in this little restaraunt next to the aquarium.
After Breakfest we walked around the market. We came up to the World Famous Pike Place Fish Market. The Pike Place Fish Market is best known for their habit of hurling customers' orders across the shopping area.
A typical routine will involve a customer ordering a fish, with their fishmongers in orange rubber overalls and boots calling out the order, which is loudly shouted back by all the other staff, at which point the original fishmonger will throw the customer's fish behind the counter for wrapping.
We also saw Pike Place Market's unofficial mascot, Rachel, a bronze cast piggy bank that weighs 550 pounds, has been located since 1986 under the "Public Market Center" sign. Rachel was designed by local artist Georgia Gerber and modeled after a pig that lived on Whidbey Island and was the 1977 Island County prize-winner. Rachel receives roughly $6,000–$9,000 annually in just about every type of world currency, which is collected by the Market Foundation to fund the Market's social services.
After walking around the market, we headed to the underground tour. We got our tickets for the tour and had a little time to kill. We walked around Pioneer Square. The boys found a place to play chess in this little outdoor park area. We all watched them play while we waited for the tour to begin. 
Seattle has a very interesting history. Seattle's first buildings were wooden. In 1889, a cabinetmaker accidentally overturned and ignited a glue pot. An attempt to extinguish it with water spread the burning grease-based glue. The volunteer fire department responded but they made the mistake of trying to use too many hoses at once and the water pressue dropped dramtically. They never recovered from the drop in water pressure, and the Great Seattle Fire destroyed 25 city blocks. While a destructive fire was not unusual for the time, the response of the city leaders was. Instead of rebuilding the city as it was before, they made two strategic decisions: that all new buildings must be of stone or brick, and to regrade the streets one to two stories higher than the original street grade.
When they reconstructed their buildings, merchants and landlords knew that the ground floor would eventually be underground and the next floor up would be the new ground floor, so there is very little decoration on the doors and windows of the original ground floor, but extensive decoration on the new ground floor. In 1907 the city condemned the Underground for fear of pneumonic plague. The basements were left to deteriorate or were used as storage. Some became illegal houses for the homeless, gambling halls, speakeasies, and opium dens. Only a small portion of the Seattle Underground has been restored and made safe and accessible to the public. In 1965, an Underground Tour was established and customers were able to go on a tour of what was left underneath the city. Over the years the underground structures have been steadily refurbished to be more visually appealing. I will say this was probably one of the more interesting things we did in Seattle. 
After the Underground Tour we walked to the aquarium. I love aquariums so this was the agenda item that I was most excited about. It was a small aquarium but there were a lot of interesting exhibits. There was a Giant Pacific Octopus along with this cool archway that had jellyfish floating around in it. We also saw River and Sea otters. I have always seen River Otters, and didnt know that Otters could be huge. Sea Otters can weigh up to 100 pounds. We walked around took a lot of pictures and just enjoyed all the animals.
There was a Spill Exhibit by Daniel Beltrá. The exhibit includes 16 aerial images of the Gulf spill. The exhibit was very interesting to look at and see all the pictures of the recent spill in the Gulf of Mexico. After the aquarium we headed over to the Space Needle. My mom wanted to see the Olympic Sculpture Park which consists of a 9-acre outdoor sculpture museum and beach. The park was unfortunately closed for a private party. I tried to get as many pictures from the outside as possible. Maybe if we ever go back we will be able to walk around the public park.
We were a little disappointed that the park was closed but we continued on to the Space Needle anyways. The Space Needle was built for the 1962 World's Fair. We got in line to get the elevator to go up to the top. The elevators travel at 10 miles per hour and the trip to the top only takes 43 seconds. My mom went up to the top but didnt walk outside, she stayed inside sitting down at a table. The views were amazing and the weather was perfect to see everything.
After the Space Needle we were all pretty beat. We headed back to the hotel to eat some dinner and crash for the night. We ordered pizza from a place the hotel recommended and played card games in the hotel room.
The next day we got up early to eat some breakfast and head out to the Music Experience Project before we had to head back home. The Music Experience Project is a museum that is dedicated to the history and exploration of popular music. The museum contains mostly rock memorabilia and technology-intensive multimedia displays. The EMP Museum showcases rare artifacts from popular music history and allows the visitor to experience music through interactive exhibitions like Sound Lab and On Stage. The Northwest passage was dedicated to the history of Seattle music, including Jimi Hendrix, Heart, and the grunge music genre. We spent quite a bit of time walking around this museum. The different exhibits were interesting and there was so much to look at that you walked through the space a couple of different times so that you were sure you didnt miss anything. If we ever go back to Seattle this museum will definately be on our list of places to see again.
While walking around and shopping Clayton found a license plate with his name on it. In Texas I guess Clayton is not a very popular name because we can never find anything with his name on it. Since we found it, we had to buy it.
We had a blast in Seattle and on the cruise and would do it all over again if we could.
They all played pretty well together and it came down to some close games in the end. Action Shot of Clayton saving a goal. I was not able to go this year so I don't have that many pictures of the games. 
Clayton is displaying his Round Rock Medal in the dining room with all of his other firefighter stuff. The medals have some color to them this year. He has won a bronze medal both times he has competed. 
