Day 29 - Seattle, WA

Our last day in Seattle was one we'd had planned for months! As a family, we have a favorite band. They are rock with an Bombay edge to them. They are called Manooghi Hi and we utterly adore them. Greg found them but we all claim them as a favorite. When the kids and I are driving home from school and it's been "one of those days," Manooghi Hi can be guaranteed to lift our moods!

Imagine our thrill when Greg found out they'd be playing at a festival in Seattle while we were there.

So, this was our day to "do" Seattle. We did the Space Needle first. Greg and the kids went up the needle while I made sure things were okay at ground level . . . I'm not a big fan of heights! They loved it up there and more power to them. I had iced coffee and a croissant with my feet firmly planted on the ground!

Then we drove over to the Ballard district in Seattle. They hold an annual Seafood Festival and Oh. My. Goodness. is it worth a visit. It's a free street fair with all sorts of food vendors. They had a beer and wine garden set up but we never made it in there. Seattle was having a heat wave while we were there and it was in the high 80's that day. We drank our combined weight in lemonade and water! The seafood was amazing. The festival also has a Scandinavian edge to so there was some ethnic foods from that area (we avoided the lutefisk eating contest!). Ruth discovered that Swedish meatballs are delish! Gage played it safe with corn dogs. Greg and I had lots of good things like prime rib sandwich, fish and chips, alligator (which the kids loved), korean bbq, salmon wrap, New Oreleans crab cakes, and more. While we ate lunch, the kids cooled down when the fire department sprayed a section of the street . . . I didn't see anyone else get this wet! Sigh.



I staked out seats near the main stage two hours before Manooghi Hi was set to play while Greg took the kids over to the kids zone and explored the rest of the festival with them. We had great seats in the shade with a good view of the stage. Manooghi Hi is a Seattle-based band although the lead singer is from Bombay. Imagine our delight when she walked her father over and sat him at our table too. He was a very dignified Indian gentleman who was soon joined by a huge crowd of friends and family.

When the band started, we sent the kids up to the front row. They had the best seats in the house which was pretty cool for their first rock show!



The band was better than we could have hoped. They played all our favorites from their album as well as new stuff we'd never heard before. They did an amazing cover of Led Zeppelin's Kashmir where both female singers took turns singing and just blew us away! During the last song, the kids couldn't stand it anymore and leapt up to dance (along with a bunch of other fans!!!).





When the show was over, we took the kids to get Mehnaz's autograph. She was most gracious and sweet with the kids. (Note their new Manooghi Hi tee-shirts!)



What a day. We all agree it was the highlight of the trip! Rock on!