And we're back

As evidenced by the image at right you can never, ever stray far from Lebowski Fest no matter where you go.That dude was one of the very first people I saw at the famous Pike Place Market. It was like a little piece of Louisville was there in Seattle. It amused me greatly.

We were very lucky that the first 3 days we were in Seattle we had sunshine and temperatures in the 60s and low 70s. The last two days we were there we had what was apparently typical Seattle summer weather. Rainy, overcast and highs in the 50s (though mornings were much cooler). On one of the sunshiny days we took a ferry over to Bainbridge Island. I loved riding the ferry and Bainbridge was quaint even if we had a devil of a time getting food in that town.

Other than the ferry ride the other two major touristy things we did were to spend time at Pike Place Market and visit the Experience Music Project and Sci Fi Museum and Hall of Fame. Pike Place Market is overwhelming to the senses. So much to see and take in. It's very, very crowded though. It's hard to get around because there are so many people.

Experience Music Project was a major disappointment. It just...was a disappointment. The visit was not a total loss because of two things. First there was a temporary exhibit on Latino music in the U.S. called American Sabor that was fantastic. Lots of my favorites (Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Freddie Fender) were featured and I learned a great deal of history of various Latino music styles that I didn't already know. Second, the Sci Fi museum is in the same venue as EMP and you get admission to both for your $15. The Sci Fi stuff was awesome. Really enjoyed it.

The two best meals we had in Seattle were very, very different. One was a casual breakfast place called Portage Bay Cafe and the second was a fine dining establishment called Dahlia Lounge. Portage Bay Cafe's claim to fame is a toppings bar. Essentially it's an assortment of fruits, nuts, whipped cream, butter, sauces, syrups, etc to go with oatmeal, porridge and pancakes. B, myself and our friend Melissa each had a different kind of pancake and went a little crazy with the toppings bar. Portage Bay Cafe had the largest breakfast menu I've ever seen. I was literally overwhelmed by the choices (something that very, very rarely happens to me).

Dahlia Lounge is owned by renowned chef Tom Douglas. Everything about our meal at Dahlia was perfect, from beginning to end. The decor was impeccable, service was attentive without being obtrusive and every single course of dinner from cocktails to dessert was outstanding. Very highly recommended.

We stayed with friends in Seattle who live in a very northern suburb. Seattle has major issues with traffic so we spent a lot of time using Seattle's bus system. It's a very complex system. Overall we had very good experiences with the public transportation system. On Saturday evening we did drive from the northern hinterland to downtown Seattle because we knew we'd be out later than the buses ran and it took us well over an hour and 15 minutes. Traffic on the main north/south artery was at a crawl. I wondered if there'd been an accident but my Seattle friend said that no, this was just Seattle traffic. It made me very, very happy to live in Louisville. I was supposed to go to Microsoft one day while I was in Seattle but we'd already crammed so much into the trip I couldn't face a four hour round trip bus ride that would have me changing buses 3 times each way. Yes, I could have rented a car but I kind of thought I wouldn't need to in a city of Seattle's size.

What else? Seattle is the most dog friendly city I've ever been in. There was a dog in a bar we were in one night. I loved it. Dogs were welcome practically everywhere. Also, I firmly believe that there are more chihuahuas per capita in Seattle than anywhere else on the planet. Capitol Hill is a very cool neighborhood and I wish we'd have had more time to spend there but I wouldn't trade it for the Highlands.

I would perhaps trade one of our Heine Brothers locations for the Victrola though. Look at that lovely latte art. It was also incredibly delicious. We actually hit one Starbucks in Seattle too and it was an experience unlike any I've had at a Starbucks (or even very often at Heine Brothers). That is to say the service was extremely swift and friendly. The baristas knew nearly everyone in line, asked about their kids/dogs/jobs/whatever and even had little bios about the "customers of the week" posted in the store. I visit my neighborhood Heine Brothers very, very frequently and the same baristas that I see all the time look at me each visit as if they've never seen me before. Also the Starbucks had the best apple fritter I've ever eaten in my life. I don't care if it's a corporate behemoth, I want more of those apple fritters.

Speaking of coffee one thing I noticed about Seattle restaurants is that they actually want you to enjoy your coffee experience. By that I mean there is always plenty of cream and sugar served with your coffee. No tiny little cups of cream or worse still those little packages of non-dairy creamer that I so often come across in Louisville. I like my coffee with cream and sugar and make no apologies for it. They get that in Seattle, I didn't  have to ask for more cream once like I do so often in Louisville (I'm looking at you Wild Eggs). No, in Seattle I always got a substantial little individual pot of half and half served with my coffee. It was glorious. 

That's all I can think of for now. I'll update this post later if more comes to me. In the meantime I'll leave you with a few more photos.