(Photograph by Kevin Gibson)
I’m back, Dear Readers. And this post marks a milestone.
It’s my 250th.
First, I’d like to thank all of you. Some of you have been here from Day One. And some of you have just joined the party. Either way, I couldn’t have written Letter From Elba without you.
And now I want to draw your attention to a new feature of the blog. I have added a search box to the homepage. This was mostly to help me locate “classic” posts when I need to rerun one, but it’s for you, too. You can type in your name, a post title, or a keyword, and up will pop the appropriate post.
So thank you from the bottom of my blogger’s heart- and on with Post 250.
My son Nick makes apps for mobile devices. His company is headquartered in Chicago, and as long as he comes in for meetings one week every month, he can work remote.
Which means that he can live anywhere that has a good airport.
Neat, huh?
So he and his wife, Missy- a ballerina turned personal trainer- put their cute heads together and went on a nationwide search for a home town that would make them both happy.
Long story short, Nick moved to Seattle.
He flew there March 1 to take possession of their house. Missy was to follow a week later with her father Danny driving Nick’s car, her grandfather piloting Missy’s car on a more leisurely course, and Lucy, the Blue Tick Coonhound, supervising the ride.
The moving van with all their earthly possessions was due anytime between March 3-13.
Got all that? Good.
Now it’s not my usual m.o. to pay a visit to anyone who’s just moved. But I had never been to Seattle and I was anxious to see where Nick would be billeted. All I knew about the town was that Frasier lived there.
“Are you sure you want to come out now, Dude?” Nick asked worriedly. “The house is empty. I’m sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag.”
“Yep, I’m sure. It sounds like fun. And this way we can explore Seattle together. And if your stuff gets there when I’m there, I’ll help you unpack.”
“Ok, but you’d better bring a suitcase. You’re going to have to sleep on an air bed, so you’ll need a pillow, sheets, a blanket, bubble bath, I don’t know, um, everything,” Nick instructed.
“No problemo, honey.”
So I grabbed the biggest suitcase I had and packed my bedroom.
And off to Seattle I flew.
It wasn’t at all what I had expected.
To begin with, I kept picturing a cold, gloomy, gray wasteland.
Wrong.
My first reality check came when I checked my weather app. Seattle weather during my visit? 60 and sunny.
Huh?
Then, as my plane was coming in for the landing, I caught a glimpse of gorgeous blue water, lush green land and gleaming white mountains.
Hmmm. This looked promising.
Sea-Tac Airport was a breeze to get through, some nice guy helped me wrestle that giant suitcase off the luggage belt and, faster than you could say “Seahawks,” I was in Nick’s (rental) Jeep.
“This place looks awesome,” I beamed.
And so did he.
Our first stop was Nick’s (very empty) house. I got the grand tour- adorable neighborhood with the ferry to Vachon Island at the end of his street. Then Nick pumped up my air bed as I unpacked my gear and oohed and aahed at my view out of my/his bedroom window.
(Those are the Cascades in the distance.)
“I just need a few minutes to do some work and then we can go out, ok?” Nick asked.
Ok.
And with that we embarked on a three day, non-stop, marathon tour of Seattle and its environs.
We never stayed home. (You’d be surprised how weak the home fires burn when you don’t have a chair in the place. Well, I stand/sit corrected. Nick had one chair at his makeshift kitchen desk, but that was it.)
Nick threw me in the car and headed north. I think. (On my best day, I’m not great at orienteering, and given that this day had started at three a.m. and then throw in a four hour and forty minute plane ride, and top it all off with Dramamine, I have actually NO clue where the hell we went.)
I remember picturesque freighters in the Sound, a quick glimpse of majestic Mt. Rainier, a flying view of the Space Needle, a moment of Pike Place Market, (“That place is awesome, Dude. We’ll go back tomorrow.”) and a blurry drive-by of snazzy, downtown Seattle.
(Photograph by Fred Nachman)
And then I was snapped out of my semi-buzzed state by the sight of this.
WTF? I knew that Seattle was populated by foodies, and Microsoft guys, and coffee aficionados, but when did they attract enough Communists to erect a monument to that guy?
A quick trip to Wikipedia told all. This statue, located in the artsy Fremont neighborhood, has a fittingly-quirky back story. (BTW, Lenin is currently for sale. Asking price? $250,00. If you’re interested, read this.)
By now my stomach was experiencing a revolution of its own. Dinner seemed imperative.
And my first stop in any new city has got to be THE great hamburger.
I had gotten some very good tips from a foodie whom I had sat next to on the flight out. Nick, too, knew my bent. We compared notes, parsed Yelp carefully, weighed our burger options and ended up here.
OMG! The Red Mill. The hamburger was out of this world, the tartar sauce was so delectable I slathered it on everything, and the cornmeal-encrusted onion rings made me want to move to Seattle.
It was getting too dark to sightsee and I was losing turns. My air bed beckoned.
Air Bed Safety Tip: Brrr. It’s COLD on the floor. I awoke in the middle of the night freezing. I donned a fleece, socks, grabbed my parka to throw over my lower extremities and vowed that in the morning, I would borrow a pair of Nick’s sweat pants for Night Two.
Day Two started off here.
(Photograph by Kevin Gibson. No, he did not come on the trip. These are some of his great shots taken in July, 2013. Thank you, Kev.)
This Seattle landmark market is four floors of goodies. There’s a little bit of compulsory schlock, but for the most part, it’s filled to bursting with glorious flowers, fruits, seafood, bakeries, butcher shops, doughnut-making emporiums, Italian groceries, the works.
(Photo by KG)
(Photo by Nick Ross)
(Photo by KG)
(Photo by Nick Ross)
I exercised massive restraint and took a pass on an apple fritter the size of a frisbee. Next stop- Discovery Park.
This park was as big as Illinois and we hiked for two hours. Then we made a quick pit stop for a late lunch, changed for the evening program- more about that next Thursday- ate dinner at 11:30 and so to (air) bed.
(With Nick’s pajama bottoms on. Better, but still cold.)
On Sunday morning, the Pastry Gods took us to Bakery Nouveau. Winner of every prize in the cookbook for best bakery in the Northwest, the mere memory of their insane focaccia pizza and the sick apple tart is making me folle.
Then it was tally ho to Mercer Island and Bellevue. Both gorgeous bedroom communities. The ferry was going to be our next stop, but then Nick got a text from Missy. She, Danny and Lucy would be pulling in around four, and naturally, we wanted to be home to greet them.
It was time to wind it up, but I think you get the idea.
Seattle?
I came.
I saw.
I ate.
I loved it.
And did I tell you Nick’s house has a mother-in-law apartment?
Welcome back, Ellen, and congrats on your 250th blog post. Needle to say, very enjoyable. Also, I tried your brand new search engine for the site, but got lost. More one-liners available on request.
Thank you, Henny Barany. Your puns Seattle Slew me.
Nice one, oh Gallant Fox. Since I have Affirmed to not make any Citation to a certain pastime that does not offer a Triple Crown, I’ll restrict myself to mentioning how my bus ride home from high school went right by the UN Secretariat. Theme?
Nashua, Bold Ruler.
That was a Spectacular Bid, you Smarty Jones! My rules were Triple Crown only. If your rules allow for near misses, Alysheba, then I’ll Have Another shot, hoping you’ll show your Funny Cide.
Sincerely,
Charismatic Majestic Prince trying to break your Real Quiet Sunday Silence
Hey, don’t Needles me. I Swaps your rules for mine cause I’m a Roffian.
We have such a major thing together (besides all the others we have discovered since I became a Sunday morning regular.) My spectacular daughter-in-law had made great use of her Phd in statistics and it landed her in the top secret upper echelons of Amazon. Since my first Truex showroom was open in Seattle, I had the responsibility to participate in my opening at Trammell-Gagne in the design center, but I had the joy of of one on one time with my daughter-in-law. She made sure to give me a cocktail at her adorable apartment on the literal “campus” of Amazon in the center of the city. As a fellow foodie, I was overwhelmed by the market and the restaurants. (With cost no issue) Although glass is not my favorite art form, they are very serious about their glass art. (Again, cost no option). It’s clean and beautiful. My only issue is that I imagine a typical Seattle dinner party (all men in jeans and plaid shirts) course after course of the finest seafood, prime meats, all manner of magnificent produce, mushrooms and truffles unending, and a dozen bottles of Northwest wines (all Robert Parker 95 points+) and a $100,000 art glass piece in the center of the table …. almost all the accoutrements of a sophisticated, incredibly luxurious lifestyle. The only thing unimaginable in this scene are a beautiful table and dining chairs. Those other accoutrements to the well-lived life have not seemed to have reached the consciousness of the residents of this otherwise beautiful city. And it is available to them . But it has not penetrated the world of these incredibly smart, financially successful,food and wine aficionados. Oh well, one can only hope. Perhaps we will meet there one day.
Welcome back! Scott
Thank you, Scott. As much as I loved Seattle, it’s great to be back with all of you. And boy, could we have used you and Truex! The spare, minimalist “no furniture”look in Nick’s house during my visit did not work at all. I would love to meet up with you there. Bakery Nouveau on moi.
What a wonderful blog — it looks like you had a great time. Terrific pictures. And I’m so grateful that in your email exchange with George Barany that we did not hear from Mr. Ed.
Now I’m going to make breakfast — I think I’ll have some of Seattle’s best coffee, a cheese omelet and, of course, a Sea Biscuit. Welcome back to your fancy sheets.
Neigh, Mr. Ed was scratched at the starting gate. Enjoy this beautiful “Seattle” day Jack, and thanks for playing “horseshoes” with us.
I lived up there for two years, for law school, and, whenever I managed to get my nose out of the books, there were wonders to be seen all around me. I saw Mt. Rainier every time I walked to school, a massive, melting scoop of vanilla ice cream that turns to peach in the evening. You were very lucky with the weather, though maybe it’s changing. I remember the steady rain not stopping until about May. But it keeps things clean, and green. And the summers are like Honolulu. It’s good that you got to Pike Place. What a treat! A young, active place. Your son picked well.
Thanks, John. And yes, I did get lucky weather-wise. It was sunny and beautiful the whole time I was there, but I deserved it. Chicago was 9 when I left. And I can’t wait to see Mt. Rainier turn pink. Thanks for the literal “heads up.” And yes, Nick was a great tour and a great host. I got the best empty bedroom in the house.
Welcome back Ellen….another fun and interesting blog from our Silver Charm!
Thanks, Gary. You’re a charmer yourself, so I guess it takes one…So glad you liked this. It was fun to live and fun to write about. Btw, it’s going to be 70 here in Chicago tomorrow. Tell Tommy it’s safe to come home.
I told him but have lost his trust after bringing him back from 80 to 5 below just 2 weeks ago. We obviously picked the wrong week to visit. BTW, do you know that Silver Charm is a Hall of Famer who missed the triple crown by half a length in the late 90’s?
No, I didn’t know that, Gary. Very interesting and I love it.
Ellen,
Glad you’re back safe.
One question….Is that Lake Washington whit the Cascades in the background?
“With”, not “whit”. WOW!!!!!!!
Thanks. It’s great to be back. But you’re too fast for me, Bernie. I would have fixed that typo, but you beat me to it. Nope, not Lake Washington. It’s Puget Sound.