Tourists in Seattle
Seattle, Washington: We were such tourists today, walking
for miles, snapping photos and stimulating the local economy with souvenir
shopping. It was a beautiful day too - sunny, but a definite fall chill in
the air. We set off on foot from our hotel and I saw the most amazing thing:
This is how I imagine heaven
The Harbor Steps
Our first stop was to
Le Panier, a
delightful French bakery just near the Pike Place Market. Nothing like a
little puffed pastry and an espresso to get a girl ready for a full day
of touristing.
Lovely little savory tarts
Memories of Lisa
Breakfast of Champions: mushroom tart pour moi and a raisin
pastry for DT
We spent several hours exploring the shops in
Pike Place
Market. Pike Place Market, over one hundred years old, was one of
the first farmer-to-consumer markets in the country. Today the market
offers fresh vegetables and fruits, meats, crafts, flowers,
international groceries and - most famously - seafood of all sorts. It
is a very popular tourist destination! We
talked to the farmers, asked the fishmongers questions, bought a few of
our favorite items and I took fifty photos... sorry... can't help
myself... food is my favorite photo subject.
Pike Place Market, Seattle
Flower-lined sidewalks at the market
Pike Place Market
Pike Place Market
Eggplant of every variety - all organic!
Radishes
Hazelnuts
Edible pepper garlands from
Choice Peppers
Pike Place Fish
Market - this shop is very famous (for tossing whole fish about)
and has been featured on countless food and travel programs.
Fresh Salmon
Kippered Salmon - a nice piece of this smoked salmon is in our hotel
mini-bar fridge right now.
Absolutely MASSIVE - lobster tails from the Caribbean
Flowers everywhere - ready for a vase - and extremely reasonable
Puget Sound from Pike Place Market
Qwest Field (left), Home of the Seattle Seahawk football team and Safeco
Field (right), home of
the Seattle Mariners. I'm no civic planner... but why can't the two
teams use the same stadium??
Why do they need two stadium next-door to each other?
Seattle, from the waterfront
Panorama
We carried our packages (hand-crafted soaps, dried
cherries, and smoked salmon) back to our hotel and had a little rest
before heading out once again in search of a late lunch/early dinner. We had decent
steak frites at
Cafe
Campagne, but our starter of yellow tomato soup was excellent.
Yellow tomato soup from Cafe Campagne in Seattle
Back to the hotel! I had already walked six miles! (DT
too, but of course this means nothing to him... he went for a four mile
jog early this morning.)
Just after six o'clock we made the mile trek back to Safeco Field.
The temperature was more comfortable tonight... though I was wearing
every item of clothing I packed for the trip.
Pork Sandwich food wagon parked outside Safeco Field. The license plate
reads "Some Pig".
Safeco Field - no matter the temperature, if it's not raining, the roof
is open. Beautiful night!
Batter up: Ichiro Suzuki is ready to hit
My Favorite Mariner
A great win tonight for the Mariners - 7-0 - against the
Oakland Athletics. Pitcher Brandon Morrow threw a one-hit game, the best
night of his career and Ken Griffey, Jr. hit a three-run homer. Magical.
Fun. Entertaining. Not that I am a great baseball analyst or anything...
but Oakland truly sucks.
Our snack tonight was an Ichiroll from one of the sushi stands
at Safeco Field. The Ichiroll is a spicy tuna roll, hand-made
as you watch.
Ichiroll
Another warm taxi ride back to the hotel. Our little
Seattle Escape is nearly over - we will ride the train back to Portland
tomorrow.
Until my next update, I remain, your Washington correspondent.