Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Russian Cobra Submarine @ Pier 48? NO!

This would've been a great excursion. I was looking forward to exploring the torpedo rooms and crews' quarters as detailed on the web site. (I should have been leery when the number provided was disconnected.) Upon arrival to Pier 48, we saw no signs pimping the submarine...only a Thrifty rental office. We entered to inquire. I approached the open window. The woman quickly ushered me to the next line. I asked after the submarine. Her cranky demeanor changed. She seemed on the verge of laughter when she uttered: "The submarine has been gone for two years! It's in San Diego now."

Go ahead, laugh. I did. I'm sure she did too. But, it was disappointing. We walked to Pioneer Square. On the way, we got accosted by a woman who was screaming at us about "cat poop." We ducked into Elliot Bay Bookstore to escape. We had a laugh reading the FOUND books. We witnessed an unfortunate situation inside the bookstore that appeared to be part racial profiling, part broken shoplifting scanner. It was an uncomfortable scene for everyone inside the store as the man who'd triggered the alarm was yelling that he was only being hassled because he is black. Just before this, a white guy had triggered the same alarm, except he didn't have any bags. This young black guy had a backpack and another bag. He was resistant to being searched but after he was, he didn't appear to possess any nicked goods.

We walked to Uwajimaya in the International District to explore the Asian grocery superstore. On the way there, Neil was yelled at by another random stranger. I heard the guy across the street yelling, but I thought it was someone singing. We spied around, admiring the large collection of tiny items (saki cups, chopstick holders, baby-sized pans) around the store and the food in the Asian bonanza food court.

While it was an eventful afternoon, nothing could compare to the now hyper-idealized tour of a Russian sub @ Pier 48. Insert sad smiley.

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