Seattle always seemed like it was almost part of Alaska – or rather, that Anchorage was somehow a suburb of Seattle – when I was growing up. Everything shipped to Alaska came through Seattle, every trip to the Lower 48 went through Seattle, Alaskans followed Seattle’s pro sports teams – even one of the things we could really take pride in as a state, Alaska Airlines, was headquartered in Seattle. It wasn’t so bad, though; if you’re going to have a long weekend getaway place, you could do a lot worse than Seattle.

I don’t remember my first trip to Seattle, but I remember many early trips to the city, and Washington in general: La Conner, Manresa Castle, the San Juans, and the kiddie hotspots of Seattle, like Ivar’s, with their coloring book-style placemats, that great toy store with the kites, the Pacific Science Center and its penny-flatteners, and Elliott Bay Books. OK, nerd kid hotspots, I guess.

Anyway, the photo above comes from a visit to Seattle in the late summer of 2001 (what was I thinking with those sideburns?), visiting Brent on my way back east from Alaska. By this time, the focus had moved from the kid’s menu at Ivar’s to hanging out at the Baltic Room, running around Green Lake, watching the Mariners at Safeco, and hiking in the Olympic Peninsula. We’ve had some great times, and I always enjoy visiting Brent; it’s great to be in a city with someone who knows his surroundings as well as he does, and it’s been fun getting to know his different neighborhoods, roommates, co-workers, and friends over the years. Amanda and Darius are just outside Seattle, as well, and we’ve managed to see all three of them a few times in the last few years. It’s a joy to have great friends in a great city, and it’s nice to be on the same coast, as well, for now.

And also, now that I’ve got more than a few states, a link to the photo map on Flickr, showing where (with varying degrees of accuracy) the photos were taken.