(And you have to admit, they used the WORST picture of the mayor they could possibly find. Ech. Reminds me of the fish on sale at Pike Place Market.)

Maybe I should have been scared that not only were they using all the expo halls but had carpeted over part of the parking garage on Level 2. I guess the best way to think of the boat show as a lot like the car show, if you’ve been to one. People are crawling all over the shiny machines, enthralled by plasma displays with promotional vids, and scrutinizing glossy factsheets. Except here the prices leaned more into the realm of real estate than regular autos. And no women draped all over like with the cars. Thank gawd.

We walked right into a display with about 30 light gray dingies. Er, dingys. Dinghys. =( Dinghies. Inflatable watercraft. Tow trailers for land travel. Then we passed through the Concourse, which seemed to have most of the boat-related gadgets and doo-dads. LED lights, GPS receivers, radar, emergency rafts. There was even a guy with a mic’d headset showing off boat cleaner/polish. I felt like I was back at the Puyallup Fair for a second. If they had a food-processing wand or vacuum of the future, I was out of there. But it never got too trite.

Downstairs, the West Hall was full of small, medium and monstrous boats that all together easily cost over 100 million dollars. Cah-ray-zee. Most of the boats you would have to go up a set of half a dozen stairs to a raised platform, where each dealer had from 4 to a dozen of them for you take a tour around, with or without shoes on depending on their particular attitude and the price of the boat. And oh geez, the price of some of these! Like Seattle real estate, it seemed like sometimes it took $300,000 to find something with a solid roof over your head and enough space to stand up in. Having had my SeaFair experience in a traditional Bayliner-like vehicle, it instantly became clear which of these were good old-fashioned boats and which, as one woman commented to her husband, were “just a Winnebago on the water”. You know boats are supposed to be practical, space-efficient, and charming, but I’d swear, this one yacht we stopped in had 3 feet of head clearance in the middle of its exquisite, well, Great Room I guess, and a big seven foot high wall by the head (and unusable five-by-five surface seven feet up above it) that served no purpose.

It’s interesting to see the different designs, both good and bad at space-use, but also the ones with fly-bridges (the term, my friend told me, for the platforms one level over the water-level storey), U-shaped kooshy ‘jacuzzi’ seating either fore or aft, benches with or without tables, utilitarian aluminum boat designs, lots of open space (for hauling in that marlin or something), plentiful cupholders, wet bars, etc. One boat, I swear, looked like the ones used in the jungle cruise at Disneyland. Two side benches and a scalloped canvas roof. So many different ways of having fun on the water. We talked to the wife of one dealer, who specialized in selling water-skiing and wakeboarding boats, and how the performance at different speeds and how the wake comes out of the back are features of boats for people into those two sports. Hmmm, who’da thunk?

I have to admit that I did fall in love with one glorious, long sailboat (whose platform was even HIGHER off the expo hall floor because of that, um, long stabilizing rudder thingie on the underside of it). Lots of wood, navy leather (chic! nautical!), a captain’s desk with map storage, and a bedroom that one could move about comfortably in every corner. $420K. G’dammit! =( Oh well, at least I have good taste. =/

The East Hall had more boat displays but was obviously less trafficked and a tad less glamourous than the brightly-lit West Hall. We didn’t spend as much time here but did notice one cool boat that was selling itself as the Hummer of boats. Stop gagging. I mean this in that they had a contract and were already making boats for the Navy and other government police agencies for different patrol units, and had given it a heavy-metal look and high-performance jets. So, they simply whipped up a civilian version of it, painted it Hummer yellow, and made it much less spartan. Don’t get me wrong, there was no navy leather or Great Rooms, but if one wanted to shell out the cash and troll the high seas in the same tubs that Homeland Security does, voil

KING 5 meteorologist Meeghan Black says last year was considered normal for the area. The [January snow]storm was no surprise.
“We normally do get snow in Seattle,” she said. “It’s not unusual.”
This year, she said, expect a wetter, windier fall and a warmer, windier winter.
While the current warming indicates the early stages of an El Nino, the conditions have not spread oceanwide. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration agency will continue to monitor the situation in the tropical Pacific.

I wouldn’t mind if we end up not having snow like last winter, but as long as the “wetter” they’re predicting doesn’t mean more of that stormy, California-style rain. Remember the crazy day in October when we got FIVE inches in one day? C’mon, this isn’t hurricane alley…

Andrew Taylor, Chairman
Miller Park Neighborhood Association
Dear Mr. Taylor,
Trader Joe’s, the specialty neighborhood grocery store with foods and beverages from the basic to the exotic, is very pleased to be opening in Capitol Hill. We invite you to join  our crewmembers and customers in celebrating the grand opening at a ribbon cutting event on Friday, September 3rd.
WHO:  Trader Joe’s is looking forward to meeting our new neighbors! All new Capitol Hill customers and members of the business, political and media communities in the Capitol Hill neighborhood are invited to attend.
WHAT: The grand opening celebration will feature drawings for free groceries,
product demonstrations and food samples, giveaways balloons for the kids and lots of fun to welcome new customers in Trader Joe’s style.
WHEN: Friday, September 3rd, 2004. Ribbon Cutting begins at 8:45AM
Grand opening festivities will continue throughout the weekend.
WHERE: Trader Joe’s
1700 E. Madison, at the NEC of 17th
We hope you will be able to join us!
Best regards,
Pat St. John
V.P. Marketing

Whoohoo! Now I don’t have to leave the Hill to get my share of cheap Balance bars, tzatziki dressing, strawberry soy milk, cheap vitamins… etc. etc.
P.S. First post! =D