Tag Archives: email prose

Seattle Tourist Tips: Revolutionary Email Prose

Having lived in Seattle for nearly 30 years, I know a little bit about the tourist side of the Emerald City. After several friends asked me for tips on “What to see and do and experience in Seattle”, I finally decided to copy this email and post it! Go ahead and make additions or comments… and I’ll update it on occasion!
Seattle Tour Suggestions:
The main question to ask is: Do you have a car?
You don’t need one, but if you do, you can see more. (I am going to assume you are NOT going to have a car … and will either walk or take mass transit.)
Do you like Music? Do you like Art? What do you like?
I’ll bring you north from the Airport on the Mass Transit – light rail, and drop you off in the center of Seattle. You can fan out from there. (There are other options as well … depending on what you like).
Take the light rail from the airport . Buy a day pass.
Enjoy the trip… you’ll go past some funky neighborhoods. Somewhere around the International District, the light rail will go underground. Stay on it until you reach WESTLAKE CENTER. Get off there and go upstairs. That area is the main shopping area for Seattle … high end stores, if you like that type of stuff. Pacific Place is just east of Westlake Center, and also has some great stores. Macy’s is just west. From inside the Westlake Center, you can either take the Monorail up to the Seattle Center: IF you like music and science fiction, one of the best things to do will be to go to the Seattle Center, which is where the space Needle is. That’s cool to look at. But don’t go up on the observation deck, it’s not worth it. The experience music Project (EMP) is also there which basically started out as the Jimi Hendrix museum and then it expanded to include Jazz, Grunge, and other Seattle Music “stuff”. There’s also a science-fiction museum That is part of it.
After wandering around Seattle Center, take the Monorail back down to Westlake Center (where it ends).
OR you can take the South Lake Union Transit streetcar to the south end of Lake Union, but ONLY if you like old wooden boats. There is a “Center for Wooden Boats” there, and sometimes they’ll take you out sailing if the wind is right.
Either way, when you’re doing with either Seattle Center or South Lake Union, go back to Westlake Center on either the transit or the Monorail. Get off at Westlake Center. Then go west down the hill to Pike Place market. That is one of the main “cool things” about Seattle, BUT it shuts down around 5 o’clock or so. Wander around there. Gasp at the flowers. See the original Starbucks. There’s a French bakery on the corner that makes great bakery items. Also some other ethnic “street food” type stuff there.
Slightly north of Pike Place market around 1st and Lenora are some good restaurants, some jazz clubs (but they don’t get going until later at night)…
After you’re done there, take the steps down from there to the restaurants and aquarium along Elliott Bay. Great fish restaurants anywhere there… I like Elliott’s or the sit-down part of Ivar’s (the walk-up take out is fried fish, which is probably not what you want). Elliott’s has some salmon wrapped in rice paper, which is amazing… or the cedar-planked salmon. If you like Aquariums, Seattle’s is world-class.
After you’ve go to Elliot Bay, if you head north, and go slightly up the hill, you will see the Olympic Sculpture Park . It’s a nice free park of sculptures that’s interesting (if you like that).
If you want to go SOUTH on Elliott bay, you’ll eventually reach the Ferry Dock. The #1 tourist attraction in Washington State are the Ferries… you can take one to Bainbridge from there, stay on it, and return home… but that will take you a couple of hours. If it’s sunny out and you can see the mountains, it’s VERY worth it. If it’s cloudy/rainy, not so much.
OR you can just watch the Ferries!
Once you reach that, it’s pretty much the end of the cool stuff to see THERE. So, head east and you’ll go into Pioneer Square. Wander around there… If you like Native American art there is a great gallery there, Stone_____ (haven?) gallery. Near there is the smallest National Park in the country, the Klondike Gold Rush National Park. If you like history, that is cool.
If you can get into the Underground Tour of Seattle, that is a lot of fun (and it happens right around there). Wander around Pioneer Square and Occidental Avenue for some cool shops, art galleries, restaurants, etc. There are GREAT Italian restaurants on the corner of Cherry and 1st (I think). Cafe Bengoti or something like that.
From there, you can head north again along First toward Pike Place market again. Before you get there, you will pass the “Hammering Man” at the Seattle Art Museum (SAM). If you like art, go there and spend the rest of the day!
Once you get at SAM, you can keep going up the hill, to Westlake Center again. OR you can head east (up the hill) and catch a southbound bus on either 3rd or 5th (I don’t remember which) … to the end of the “free ride” zone. That should put you in the International District.
Wander around there. It is one of the largest Asian districts in the country (New York and San Francisco are bigger). If you like Asian food, any of the places there are great!
By that time, you should probably be pretty “done” with Seattle…
Will you have a car? drive from the Seattle Center north over the Fremont Bridge and Park in Fremont, and wander around Fremont. There’s a good Greek restaurant there on the corner, and great Thai food on the other corner. As you’re crossing the street north of the Thai food restaurant which is called Jai Thai, in the middle of an island of the on the street you’ll see the center of the universe. Most people don’t know where that is, but now you will. Head east from there, up a hill, and see the Fremont Troll, a cool piece of urban art.
If you can, drive to the Hyrum Chittenden Locks/Fish Ladder in Ballard. If the salmon are running you can see them not only in the fish ladder, but also inside. Also, boats go through the locks, which is an interesting event to watch. South of the locks (south and west across the Ballard Bridge) is Chinooks, a GREAT seafood restaurant that overlooks the Seattle Pacific fleet of fishing boats. The “Deadliest Catch” boats harbor there.
Enjoy!

Christ’s Atonement Works For The Repentant Sinner (Me)

Nearly a decade ago I was excommunicated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for conduct unbecoming a Priesthood holder and member of the Church. Specifically, I broke the trust of my wife, my children, my family and friends. I hurt my wife, my children, and others, and I will for forever regret the pain I’ve caused them. Each of them know I’ve tried to make it better, as much as you can make restitution for something so terrible. (Note: There was NO excuse for what I did. I take full responsibility for it.)
I stayed “out” of the Church for several years (although I kept attending), because I had insecurities and other issues I needed to work through. HOWEVER, I NEVER DOUBTED THE TRUTHFULNESS OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST OR THAT THE CHURCH WAS HIS RESTORED CHURCH. I knew, someday, that I would return to full membership in the Church. People would ask me “Why”, to which I would respond: “It is true. I’ve never doubted the truthfulness of the Church. I’ve only doubted my ability to live it.”
During the time I was away from the Church, I dated a number of women, but did things which were not in keeping with the Lord’s teachings as revealed through His living prophets.
About 2 years ago, I had straightened out my life to the point that I felt like I could petition to return to the Church. I also felt like I had worked things out so that I felt confident that I could live the Principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Working with the appropriate local authorities (my Bishop and Stake President), I started down the path of returning to the Church, applying the principles of repentance and obtaining forgiveness through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
Since that time, I’ve had a few occasions where women who knew me “before” have told me (and others) of what I did, and that they should avoid me because of who I was. This happened just the other day, again. When this person, who I’ve never met, told me that her friend (who evidently knew me) told her what I was like, and what I’d done, (and thus, she didn’t want to get to know me, as though I was still that way), I felt like I had to write to set the record straight.
This is the content of that email (with some edits to maintain privacy and to improve the flow/make sense) :

Thank you for at least letting me know your logic (of why you won’t contact me any more). It’s always better to write and remove all doubt than to just go silent. Normally I would accept your email, tell you “Thank you”, and move on. However, I feel there are a couple of points I need to make.

1) Who I was when your friend knew me is NOT who I am now. That is the point of repentance and applying the Savior’s Atonement to our sinful lives, isn’t it?
2) I have taken the appropriate steps I needed to, to get my life back in order, and to repent of the many sins I’d committed during the past decade or so.
a) I got divorced
b) Through working with my Bishop and Stake President, and through hours and hours on my knees, I’ve sought forgiveness.
c) Because, several years ago, I’d STOPPED my inappropriate behavior, early last year, through revelation from my Stake President and the Stake High Council (who I had to meet with as part of the process to be reinstated in the Church), I was judged worthy and ready to be re-baptized for the remission of sins and for membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
d) Last Memorial Day weekend, under the hands of my father (a High Priest in the LDS Church), in the waters of Lake Winneconne (where he lives), I was re-baptized.
e) Immediately afterwards, under the hands of my brother (also a High Priest in the LDS Church) and other Priesthood holders, I was confirmed a member of the Church AND given the gift of the Holy Ghost.
f) Since that time, I have been working with my Bishop and Stake President, (he being an authorized representative of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles) (and, thus, the Lord), to be ready and worthy to get my Priesthood and Temple blessings restored (it takes at least a year after a person is re-baptized).
g) My goal is to be deemed worthy, when the Payson Temple is dedicated in June, to be there, and to be able to attend as a member in good standing. In order to do so, the restoration of my Priesthood and my Temple blessings will have to be approved by the First Presidency of the Church, acting as inspired representatives of the Savior.

I tell you these things not to boast or brag, but to let you (and your friend) know that I have repented, that the man I was several years ago has been “put away”, and that through the Grace and Goodness and Atonement of Jesus Christ, I have been changed and been made a new man. That’s how repentance and the Atonement is supposed to work, isn’t it? It worked for Paul the Apostle. It worked for Alma the Younger and the Sons of Mosiah (in The Book of Mormon). We all have hope that it will work for us.
I wanted to contact people I’ve hurt and lied to, and apologize, as part of my repentance process, to make some sort of restitution. Some have accepted my apology. Some have requested that I not contact them, so I haven’t.
I have not only sought spiritual help and turned my life around that way, but I also (as some suggested) sought counseling. I’ve worked on, and continue to work on, fixing the things which messed up my life, which caused me to be insecure, which caused me to do the wrong things I did.
I hope that those I’ve hurt can some day find it in their hearts to not only forgive me, but — most importantly — also recognize that people can (and do) change, through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Because of that Atonement, the statement “Once a cheater, always a cheater” is NOT true.
Again, I only tell you this so you can understand where I am, and the steps I’ve taken. There is a chance that we may meet some day, perhaps even in the Temple. In order for the Spirit of the Lord to be unrestrained there, I feel like you need to know that I will be there worthily, and approved by revelation from the Lord through His anointed servants. I have taken, and continue to take, honest steps to put my life in harmony with what Heavenly Father wants me to do.
I am not perfect, but I know that, through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, I can change. I have changed. And I will continue to change, to follow His will, to be the best person I can be.
Best regards: Dave