i miss places

before everything went on hiatus for a year, we had two trips to seattle planned ... the first, to go see brandi carlile play at benaroya hall (which got postponed at the last minute when brandi had vocal chord issues, and was rescheduled for a time when we couldn't go, and i truly thought my life was over), and the second, taking elizabeth for spring break.

we love seattle. admittedly, we haven't spent nearly enough time there to get our fill or see and do everything on our list, but we love it enough to always have it simmering on the stove of "maybe we could live there." it has water and greenery for me, mountains for marc, and it's temperate enough that we're both happy. sounds perfect.

as i get antsy to resume travel, i drift back to wandering around seattle by myself while marc was in meetings just before christmas in 2018. we had three glorious, packed, and too quick days there, and now - having not left my house, husband, or daughter for 13 months - the idea of being alone in one of my happy places sounds heavenly.

(full album here)

the day we arrived, we took a walk to the pike place fish market and then the seattle aquarium. first order of business was beecher's mac & cheese ... that was literally the only thing we wanted to hit on day one.

(seriously considered the blob fish.)

we got back to the room, which had a lovely view of puget sound, and chose to eat dinner at the hotel restaurant instead of heading back out.

i just need to say right here: i still think about that dinner. poutine with beecher's cheese curds and duck fat gravy. holy crap, you guys. no, it wasn't healthy ... yes, i should have made better choices ... but i wanted to lick the plate.

 

the next day, i had a full seven hours to explore and wander and do whatever i wanted. i walked north to the space needle, the chihuly museum, and the museum of pop culture, after stopping by top pot for a chocolate glazed and an ovaltine latte ... which sounds more odd than it tasted.

 

i chose to not go up into the space needle, knowing marc would want to join me for that on our last day, when he was done with work. but that didn't matter ... i was so in love with the chihuly museum that i wandered through it twice.

the museum was also full of fun things ...

i got a text from marc that he was back in the hotel, heading to the gym to work out, then we'd order room service ... the home team (the vikings) were playing the current location team (the seahawks), and that was the plan for the night. okay by me ... i was worn out from a full day of walking.

the next morning, i met two dear friends for breakfast while marc had meetings, then he surprised me by calling to say he was playing hooky for the rest of the day so we could explore together. we found the living computer museum, which sounded like something he would enjoy. he did. when we got there, he was like a 12-year-old, all over again. when the guide was about five minutes into his spiel (to marc, who was the only person taking the tour), he whispered to me, "this might be more my thing than yours. don't feel like you have to take the tour." he was so right, and i so ducked out to explore on my own while he absorbed and geeked out over it all. he was as nostalgic looking at the old computers as i had been the day before at mopop, looking at helmets from "money python and the holy grail" or set lists written by kurt cobain.

after the old computer place, we found a spot for pho, took an uber to kerry park for the iconic view of the seattle skyline, then wandered the queen anne neighborhood to look at beautiful houses (that was for me).

dinner that night was a trip to the ballard neighborhood to meet one of marc's high school friends for thai at pestle rock. my trout tod yum knocked my socks off. after hanging out there for awhile, we said goodbye to mark and walked a block back to the ballyhoo curiosity shop, where we had poked around for a bit before dinner. it was full of fascinating, fantastic things and i wanted more time, but sadly they were closed for the evening. we drowned our sadness in some seriously tasty lava cake at hot cakes.

day three was our day to explore together, and we started with a slower wander through pike place, starting with breakfast at piroshky piroshky.

after a tasty lunch at an indian place, we grabbed a ride to the museum of flight.

(uber driver: total customer service. five stars.)

(the concorde was so narrow ... my claustrophobia couldn't handle it, and i got off as soon as i got on.)

our last night in seattle, we had an amazing dinner at dahlia (which, i'm sad to say, has closed), then went on the underground tour, which was full of crazy, interesting stories. i wish i could remember them all.

there was so much more ... it's amazing how much we fit into three days! the one thing that didn't fit: getting back to the space needle.

next time.