Seattle to Very Northern California in One Day

Yo. We're at a Super 8 in Yreka, California (which I had only heard of due to a Sublime song). We woke up in Seattle, got in the car, and drove down to Portland, having no idea what we would do. But before we did, I took a few giant sprigs of fresh rosemary and put them on the center dashboard console. It's like a pinetree air freshener, just a little larger... 

(The funny part is that when we crossed into Cali at 1am just now, there was a guy stopping every car at the border asking if we had any fresh fruits or vegetables with us, to which I responded, "No", and it is only now dawning on me as I write this caption that there was a massive amount of fresh rosemary just sitting on my dashboard console, which neither he nor I picked up on at the time.)

Luckily, once in Portland, we found two street festivals, including one called the "Bite of Oregon", which was very similar to the "Bite of Bozeman". Highlights included solid ribs, free pork samples, seeing my first "wine cozy", getting up on stage in front of a crowd to guess spices blindfolded, etc.

(Apparently I have a talent for finding festivals that start with the term "Bite of" and end with the names of municipalities.)

(Standing on stage guessing spices while blindfolded. When I was presented with my mystery spice, I guessed mint. The wannabe Billy Mays guy made me look like an idiot in front of the crowd by announcing into his microphone, "Sorry sir, but it's actually Chocolate Mint." He then told me to crush up some of the mint in between my hands, and asked if I could now smell the undertones of chocolate on my fingers, so I made him look like an idiot in front of the crowd by announcing into his microphone, "Sorry sir, but the only thing I can smell on my fingers are the ribs I just ate." The crowd loved it.)

(At the Bite of Oregon festival.)

(Best dude ever.)

(Solid spot. See below.)

(This was not a bad deal for $6. Ribs were large, tender and meaty.)

(The wine cozy. Genius. Look ma, no hands.)

(The Skewer Master.)

(One of his masterpieces.)

(The Portland Saturday Market. Lots of stuff to not buy.)

We then got back in the car and headed to Eugene, Oregon to see the University of Oregon campus, as well as the main local bar, Taylor's. Here are some pics from the drive.

The Oregon campus was beautiful, and Taylor's proved to be a pretty well-equipped space. Pics below:

(An oldie but a goodie.)

(Center of campus.)

(Just a couple of the many sculptures on campus - one in the right foreground and the other in the left background.)

(Where Ducks go for a drink.)

(Solid college bar.)

(Incredibly bitter, but not in an unpleasantly way. This was as much as I was willing to drink, given the 200 mile drive ahead of me.)

After that, we got a recommendation to go to Ashland, Oregon, as the bartender at Taylor's, Garth, told us it would be fun. Perhaps we didn't hear him mutter the word "not" under his breath after he said this. Ashland is not that much fun. Plus, when you order chicken at the local restaurant, they bring you fish. And, there are no hotel or motel rooms, just really fancy looking hotels with locked doors.

(This is the most fun thing to do in Ashland, Oregon on a Saturday night. I wish I were kidding. Don't say I didn't warn you.)

(The nicest hotel in town. No vacancy. Give me a Super 8 any day - especially given I've stayed at three within the past week.)

So, we said goodbye to Ashland, drove another 30 miles South, crossed into California, and now we are crashing at the local Super 8. We are taking a detour into Sonoma tomorrow on the way into San Francisco, as we know a couple of folks who have their folks' place for the weekend, so we're going to hit them up for lunch. 

15 States down. About a dozen to go. Feeling good. Time to sleep.

Seattle Afternoon

For the second half of my first Seattle afternoon, I headed to Brouwers, a bar in Seattle that four or five people had all independently recommended. It was amazing. A beautiful, large open space with 400 bottles and 64 beers on tap. I had a beer called Pliny the Elder, a double IPA that Jeff Suer, a friend and colleague of mine from LA, had recommended that I hit up on the west coast. I also had a deeelicious pan-seared halibut that was so fresh and just absolutely hit the spot. Pics of Brouwers below:

 

(One of the best selections I've ever seen)

(Any beer list that is leather-bound is probably going to be good.)

(The warning on the inside cover of the beer list. They are not kidding around.)

(Russian River's Pliny the Elder Double IPA. Best I've had since my last Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA.)

(A beautiful space. This picture is taken from a lone leather couch in the corner of the room. Out of place, but very comfortable. Probably prime real estate on a Saturday night...too bad it was Friday afternoon at 3pm.)

I was on my way to Molly Moons, a local ice cream institution that Ali recommended, when she called to tell me that she had gotten off work early, and I had to come straight home so that we could go to a local hip hop festival. Um, okay. We saw a couple of groups, one called "Fresh Espresso", a name which is just soooo Seattle, and the headline group called "Dime Def", a local hip hop trio that really got the crowd moving. The best part about the concert was the fact that it was directly overlooked by the Seattle Space Needle. Pics Below:

(Dime Def.)

(Fresh Espresso. Best song was "So Gigantic")

(Sweet Venue.)

Once the concert was over, we went to Ali's friend Heather's house, at which we cooked dinner with her boyfriend Christian. The menu was a seared scallop appetizer (which, I will admit, came out a bit salty), followed by an angel hair pasta (Cappellini) with Sauteed Shrimp, Broccoli, Sundried Tomatoes, Garlic and Olive Oil, and finally Home-Baked Ghiradelli Brownies with Vanilla Ice Cream, and Fresh Chopped Mangoes, Strawberries and Blueberries (Ugh, I forgot to get a picture of this). Pics from dinner:

(Portions were large.)

(Scallops in Dill Butter Sauce)

We finished eating and went out to hit up local bars in Capitol Hill, the neighborhood in which Heather lived. We spent most of our time at a bar called The Cha Cha Lounge, one of the places where you walk in and say, "Why is this place so empty?", and then you go downstairs and there's a totally different vibe and a ton of people rocking out (reminds me of Coffee Shop in NYC).

I woke up this morning, and played a game of Mancala with Ali's roommate Ali (whoa. same name.) I told her I would tell you all that she won...

(Hadn't played since second grade.)

Now I am off to Portland for lunch, Eugene, Oregon for dinner, and San Francisco by tomorrow night.

Seattle First 18 Hours: This Will Be A Long One.

Oh boy. I have made it across the country. 13 states, 3200 miles (thanks to our Beartooth Highway detour), 5 days, and a ridiculous amount of fun.

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.)

(Mac n' Jack and Manny's, two great local brews.)

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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Idaho Driving - Photo Montage