April 23-27, journalism editors visited Seattle for the Journalism Education Association (JEA) and National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) convention. We spent five days visiting famous sites, exploring the city and attending classes about writing and design.
Wednesday was mainly our travel day. Our plane took off at around 3:30 p.m., and we landed around 7:30 p.m. When we landed, we went straight to dinner where we had potstickers, dumplings and different kinds of noodles. After dinner, we went to Target to shop for breakfast foods for Saturday, since we wouldn’t have time for breakfast that day. Wednesday night was a fairly chill night. I remember going to bed before 1 a.m., which rarely happens for me.
Thursday was one of my favorite days. We started it off with breakfast at Seattle Biscuit, an incredible biscuit place, and then went to coffee at a biker and coffee shop. Then…my favorite part of all Seattle…the ferry. The beautiful scenery all around the ferry leaves me speechless. You get to see so many cool things like some animals in the water, mountains in the distance and just some cool things in the sky. No matter when I go to Seattle, I must always go on the ferry.
After we got off the ferry, we had a little bit until we had to get back on, so Kati, Katie, Cam, Elijah, Reese and I went to a bookstore to look around. The bookstore felt like a small, more chaotic Half Price Books. After we were done at the bookstore, we went back to meet up with Mallett and get some lunch at a crepe place. Genuinely, that was the best crepe I’ve ever had. I got a very delicious strawberry and Nutella crepe.
When we got back, we went to the zoo and Gas Works Park before getting dinner. Gas Works Park, probably the prettiest view you could get of Seattle, where you can see so many different parts of the city and its people. Normally, I’m not a person for silence or not doing anything, but at this park, I could probably just sit here for hours without doing anything and just watch the city.
Friday, we started off the day by going to a huge site in Seattle, Pike Place Market, where we ate at a cinnamon roll shop. After we got breakfast, we headed to the Seattle Aquarium, which was way cooler than I ever thought it would be. It was so cool to see all the animals and how they interacted with their environment and the other animals around them. We went to lunch that day at a pizza place, and one thing I respected about the trip and my friends, not saying this in a joking way, but we weren’t screenagers. Mostly every time we were just sitting around or waiting on food, we would make sure to talk to each other or play table games together and it just made us feel a lot closer together because we weren’t all just in our own little world.
Friday afternoon, we went to the Museum of Pop Culture, aka MOPOP, a museum of glass and the Space Needle. One of the best memories we made in Seattle happened at the Space Needle. Not only was it a fun experience being so high up and looking across the whole city with everyone, but we all, because we’re very crazy, decided to walk down all 89 flights of the Space Needle for a free t-shirt … .Yes, just a free t-shirt, and it’s not even cute…
Then we went to McDonald’s for dinner and headed back to the Monorail to go back to our part of the city. Then, one of the most iconic parts of the trip. Katie, Kati, Elijah, Cam, Reese and I wanted to go on the Ferris wheel. Mallett and Dearinger said that they would meet us there to take us, but it’s 8:30 p.m. right now and it closes at 9 p.m.. So, the Monorail stops at our stop, and I’m not even kidding, we’re straight sprinting all the way across the city until we reach the Ferris wheel, and it was so worth it. The Ferris wheel was so cool, and there were so many great views of the city and the sunset.
Saturday morning we just had breakfast in our hotel because we had to be at the convention center for classes starting at 8 a.m., and all the newspaper editors were teaching a class on multimedia, so we actually had to be alert and awake. We went to classes the rest of the morning, had lunch, rested at the hotel for a little bit and then the awards ceremony…
The whole reason we were in Seattle was because newspaper and yearbook were nominated for a Pacemaker award. However, we go through the awards ceremony, and we get to the part where Pacemakers were announced. We all hold hands, counting down how many winners are left, until we get to zero. I just remember that moment of defeat. They didn’t call The Rider Online or The Arena. We all just sit back, and no one says a word.
We make it through the rest of the winners, and when the awards ceremony ends, we all go to the back of the room and we all hug each other and just cry and cry. We know we have another year to try and get a Pacemaker, but it just feels like we worked so hard on something, something that we should’ve gotten, and it didn’t happen.
Luckily, even though we were so down, right after that, we went to the Mariners game, which was incredible. The ending score, 14 to 0, shows just how amazing of a game it was. Not only was the game amazing, but you can see the beautiful sunset and sky just from the edge of the ballpark. Just from looking outside the ballpark, you get an incredible view of the sky and the sunset. Then, of course, we had to try the famous ice cream nachos there, which definitely lived up to the hype.
Sunday was just a travel day like Wednesday. We took off at around 9 a.m. and landed around 3:30 p.m. We landed, walked to baggage claim, got our bags and came in for one last group hug to end the trip.
Ever since we found out we would be going to Seattle, I was extremely stoked. I have been to Seattle twice before, and there’s truly no place I would rather be. While there are a lot of strange things that happen in the city, the city shines with beauty, and no matter how many times you go, you’ll always learn something new.
It may not have been my first trip to Seattle, but it was my favorite experience because it was with my favorite people. I am so thankful for the memories made in Seattle, and for the people I got to go with and build relationships with. My friends were there for me in a way they will never understand, and I’m so happy I get to call journalism my home.
