Seattle - Day 5 and Final Thoughts...

Day 5. Last day...sigh...

It's your last day in Seattle. What do you do? Well...for me, I visited all the places I wanted to go to before leaving and also did another trip back to Pike!

After again enjoying the free breakfast at the hotel, drove to Lakeview Cemetary which was only about 10 minutes away. A cemetary? Why would anyone visit a cemetary when on vacation? Well, you do if you're in Seattle and you're a fan of Bruce and Brandon Lee.

Lakeview Cemetary is where both are buried and as a fan and former student of martial arts, I felt it was only right to visit their graves. I arrived at the cemetary and asked a groundskeeper where their graves were. He volunteered to lead me to them and I realized I should've just followed the people. Even on a Tuesday mid-morning, there were 4 others like myself who wanted to pay their respects to the legend.

The first thing I noticed when I got to their graves was that they both had such beautiful headstones. They were truly works of art.



Then I took a closer look at their headstones and read the quotes dedicated to them. Master Bruce's quote simply read "Your inspiration continues to guide us toward our personal liberation." Nuff said.


But I was truly touched by the quote on his son Brandon's grave. I feel it warrants a repeat here:

"Because we don't know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens a certain number of times, and a very small number, really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that's so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more. Perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless."


Wow. After reading that, I just stood there and reflected on it. It really made me realize that I should appreciate all that I have and cherish it, for who knows when...I hesitate to finish the thought.

After paying my respects I was getting ready to leave when I realized that I should leave a gift or offering behind. But visiting the cemetary was a spur of the moment decision and I had not stopped to buy flowers or any other gift. So I ended up scouring my rental car for anything suitable and I ended up leaving an apple for Master Bruce and a 50 cent coin for Brandon. I rationalized the gifts by thinking to myself that the apple represented "health" in the afterlife and the coin represented "wealth".

After my moment of reflection at Lakeview Cemetary, I was ready to move on with the day. Decided to stop by the Pike Place Market again to look for omiyage and souveneirs. Did a little bit of shopping, bought more fruit, and then enjoyed a Greek lamb gyro for lunch at a nearby park.


Then, since I still had some time left, I made a quick stop at Cow Chip Cookies at Pioneer Square, a place I had read about on the internet for their awesome chocolate chip cookies. I bought one cookie, just so I could taste it. Pretty good!



Then, sadly, it was off to the airport and back home to Hawaii...

So what are my thoughts on Seattle?

1) I thought the people there were tremendous. All the people I talked to and met and interacted with were so friendly. Sure, a lot of them were service industry types but even the people I met on the street or on the tours were very nice. A very friendly city!

2) The sun goes down at a crazy hour in June! I swear, the sun doesn't set till about 10:00pm! It's crazy!

3) There are tons and tons of restaurants all over the city. I tried a whole bunch of them and only got through about half of the list I brought with me. I think it's a great town for foodies.

4) The hilly streets in Downtown combined with the Waterfront reminded me a lot of San Francisco.

5) The street signs and street names kinda suck. What the hell with street names like NE 1st Ave N? Huh?

6) It seems like a very fit city. All over, you'd see people jogging, running, walking, or biking.

Overall, I really enjoyed my getaway to Seattle. I avoided the overly touristy things for the most part and yet still feel like I experienced a lot the city had to offer.