We arrived in Seattle around 5:30pm, just as Ali was getting home from work (she is a Microsoft employee, or as they are known at Google headquarters, "Softies". We unpacked, settled in, and took a look at the house. The girls who live there (Ali, her friend Katelyn, and another Ali) grow fresh spices in their front yard. I approve.
(We have arrived. Ali and Jim in front of the house, which was painted in Penn colors. Nice. Don't ask me why Ali is crouching, because I don't know.)
(The MASSIVE rosemary bush in front of Ali's house. Seriously, this is enough rosemary to season every cow we passed in Wisconsin.)
Next, it was time to take a nice long walk around Seattle. We saw parks, views, bars, coffee shops, etc. Here are some pics to back up my story:
(Beautiful view of the Seattle skyline from a local park.)
(Stopped in for a beer at a cool little local bar on Queen Anne Avenue)
(Weekly farmer's market on Thursdays. Apparently Jim and I can not avoid events on streets with booths. Call it a curse. Call it a talent.)
(A small park in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle, dedicated to the late Kurt Cobain, lead singer of Nirvana who committed suicide in the 90s. As an aside, his suicide note was signed, "It's better burn out than to fade away", which was a lyric from the Neil Young song "Hey Hey, My My", to which an exhibit was decided at the Rock and Roll HoF back in Cleveland...Always thought that was interesting.)
(Double Espresso from Cafe Ladro, which is apparently has the best coffee in Seattle, which apparently means it has the best coffee in the world...)
After the walk, we returned home and left for dinner, going to a nice local place in a neighborhood called "Belltown", where we met some interesting folks. There was Alexia, our lovely bartender, who, after I asked for a photo, decided to make 5 drinks with which to pose before she let me take her picture. We ordered some food (which took forever, and so our appetizers wound up getting taken off the check...I secretly love it when that happens), had a couple of beers, and then hit the hay as Jim was flying out early the next day, and Ali was feeling a bit under the weather (nothing a couple of Nyquil couldn't take care of). Ooh, and I did my first load of laundry. Riveting.
(The lovely Alexia posing with her concoctions.)
(The crew at dinner)
(Our "colorful" waitress poses with my stuffed Mahi Mahi.)
Side note: At night, Ali and I were watching a show called "Man vs. Food", on which the host went to Amarillo, Texas to eat a 72 oz steak in under an hour in order to get the meal for free. I smell a detour...
The next day I woke up at 6:15am and drove Jim to the airport, where he boarded a JetBlue flight home. He was an excellent travel companion, I'm incredibly glad that we were able to share the experience, and he will be missed.
(A great travel companion departs.)
Speaking of which:
NOOOO PARENTSSSSSS!
So by the time I returned from Seattle-Tacoma International airport, Ali was just getting up for work. I drove her to her "bus", an hourly shuttle for Microsoft employees, complete with wireless internet. Nice.
(Getting on the bus for all the 'Softies.)
After that, I was on my own, babysitting myself for 9 hours until Ali got home from work. I decided to go for a run around the neighborhood, got incredibly lost, had to run up and down some ridiculously steep hills, got lost again, and returned to Ali's house 60 minutes and 6 miles later, looking forward to a shower. But wait, folks. If only it were that simple. Get this: Ali's shower IS her bathroom. And her bathroom IS her shower...trippy.
(Whoa.)
Once I had cleaned myself up, I drove to the local Jiffy Lube to get my oil and filter changed. On the way, I passed Seattle's major stadiums, Qwest Field (Home of the Seattle Seahawks) and Safeco Field (Home of Ichiro and rest of the Seattle Mariners). Apparently the Mariners are back in town and playing tonight (and their ace, Felix Hernandez, is starting), but for better or for worse (we shall see), Ali has already planned out our evening, so I am just going with the flow...
(The Jiffy Lube crew: Paul, the manager, putting his guys in headlocks, just for me.)
(Safeco Field, home of the Mariners. Giant Felix Hernandez poster up front.)
(Qwest Field, home of the Seahawks.)
With some fresh oil under the hood, I headed to the Pikes Place Market, an awesome spectacle of local shops and vendors selling great fresh fish, meat, fruit, flowers, etc. Check it out.
(Entrance to Pikes Place Market.)
(The other end of the market.)
(Show me where in New York you can find lily bouquets this beautiful and abundant for only $7. I dare you.)
(The local cheese shop. I couldn't stay away.)
(Carrie and the "No Woman" cheese, a blend with Jamaican jerk spices. I sampled. The cheese is top notch, let me assure you.)
(Julia and Joe, Chocolate-Covered Cherry salesmen extraordinaire at Chukar Cherries. Joe, a vegan, assured me that the jab at vegans that appears in the preface of the vegetarian section of my cookbook is not offensive. Nice. I didn't want a crowd of angry vegans hunting me down. But seriously, these guys were awesome.)
(This is the Pikes Place Fish Market, where they throw fish all over the place, although no fish throwing was taking place when I arrived. The guy in the video is actually saying "Will, welcome to Pikes Place Fish Market")
Finally, I went to SAM, the Seattle Art Museum, where I saw some very cool stuff. Flash photography was not allowed beyond the ticket booths, but fortunately, there was a very interesting exhibit of what can only be described as the evolution of a Ford Taurus flipping through space. Here it is.
(Keep your eyes on the road, or your car will wind up in a museum.)
(Very clean, focused museum. Could only spend 10 minutes there due to parking meter issues, but I literally speedwalked through three floors of very diverse, vibrantly colorful art.)
(Walking back from the museum to the meter, I saw this sign. I don't know about you, but I love Toots. If you don't know the band, go to grooveshark.com and type in "Pomps and Pride", then enjoy. If only I was staying in Seattle for the rest of the month...)
Now I'm back in Starbucks. This whole post only took 30 minutes to put together, and now I am off to a couple of places, called Capitol Hill and Freemont, both of which apparently have cool stuff. I like cool stuff. So that works.
See ya.
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