Seattle, Washington
September 18, 2009
Day 2 of Pacific Northwest Journey
I am now officially a Peetnik! A rather exuberant Peetnik, I might add, for what other kind of
Peetnik should you be?
Exactly.
Exactly.
Wait......
What’s a Peetnik? I know you are asking that question right now probably. And for good reason because unless you’ve been to California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, or Washington, (not necessarily in that order), you’ve probably never heard of Peet’s Coffee. They are selectively only present in the previous six states with California being it’s biggest playground. Shame really. It’s coffee for true coffee lovers. Founded by a dutchman in 1966, it inspired coffee enthusiasm using only the best beans in small batches and roasting them darker than the current contenders.
Fun fact! Peet’s actually supplied the great chain of Starbucks coffee beans for the first year in operation. So...if it weren’t for Peet’s who knows where the monster Starbucks would be??? Hmm...I wonder if the owners of Peet’s are wondering that too...
Well, well can’t change the past...but don’t you wish you could? I bet Mr. Peet was shocked when that little spawn whom he gave beans too suddenly erupted into a mega chain.
It happens...
But enough about that...enthusiast who drink Peet’s are known as Peetniks.
This morning I have been Peetniktized!! And it’s good...really good.
Try it next time, you’ll like it.
It’s another beautiful day here in Seattle, Washington! No rain! Praise the Almighty God! The sun is shining and its around 70F! Can you believe it? Neither can I. We have decided to take in one of the city’s most talked about attractions and also known as the ugliest building in all of Seattle, the EMP and Science Fiction Museum.
EMP, short for Experience the Music Project, is truly a very cool musical experience. I mean if it wasn’t, wouldn’t it be a tad disappointing? We go through the history of music in Seattle which seems to be a nest for musical talent. Kurt Cobain isn’t from the city (he was born in Aberdeen, we’ll get there later) but he made his music presence known here. Heart was here. The Grunge movement started here. Did I mention Jimi Hendrix - you may have heard of him? He is big in here! We observe several of his broken guitars which he had offered to the gods of music during his performance. Yeah, he was on drugs...BUT none can deny his outrageous music talent. The museum also has the history and development of the guitar - it’s come a looooonnng way. In the lobby there is a giant guitar tree? If that’s what you want to call it. It’s a two story vortex of guitars of all sizes, shapes, and colors - it’s phenomenal. Also, we get to see the one and only white studded glove of MICHAEL JACKSON! Yes, this is the resting place of the great performer’s glove until it is auctioned off later this year. But the coolest thing at this museum is upstairs. Visitors can make their own music video...FOR FREE!
Yes, folks. We made a music video.
Not once, but TWICE.
We played Twist and Shout, and because it was so much fun the first time, how could we not do it again the second time? I played the drums to I Love Rock and Roll this go around! Mom rocked out on the keyboard, Penny jammed on the electric guitar, and Travis did the vocals. Half way through filming, he remembered that the song was actually penned by a woman, Joan Jett, for those of you who don’t remember, and he had to fight to keep his composure when the lines: Said can I take you home / where we can be alone / An’ next were movin’ on / He was with me, yeah me, singin’ - popped up on the prompter.
You get the picture...We all burst out laughing afterwards. We bought a dvd and poster of our performances. So look for our band the Toasti Heads to come to a town near you. Just don’t expect him to perform another Joan Jett song. Once was enough for him.
Performing makes you hungry so after meeting up with some more good friends who are actually Seattle natives, Eric and Liberty, we take the monorail from the base of the Seattle Needle and head downtown. It’s a great feeling, flying through the city. I love the view! We are whizzing by buildings, watching strollers below. It stops at the mall and everyone is scrambling out. I look at Eric, “Don’t tell me that’s it!” (This was the first stop). He nods. It is it! What in the world? One stop on the monorail?? Ridiculously too short! Expand your monorail, Seattle! It’s fun to ride...
We have decided to combine two great local places to create out lunch. Beecher’s Cheese shop and Pike’s Place Chowder both located downtown at Pike’s Place Market - the official hub and most
recognized place of the city. Beecher’s makes their own cheese. You can watch a humongous vat filled with cream, enzymes, and salt churning and curdling into delectable, mouth watering cheese...They have all kinds of cheeses that can be sampled. I try one spotted with green peppercorns. AHHHHH!!!! They have fresh macaroni swimming in different cheeses and tremendous grilled cheeses on their takeaway menu. My group orders the flagship - a grilled cheese with their original cheese, arugula, and fresh tomatoes - holy moly is it delicious. We carry our hot wrapped sandwiches down the cobblestone road, across the street covered in street performers and shoppers, and head down another alley where Pike’s Chowder is turning out a variety of chowders. We order the sampler: a
seafood chowder, a salmon and dill chowder, and the traditional clam chowder. The six of us get tables on the street and watch the locals strum their guitars as we get lost in food heaven! The salmon chowder is my favorite...It’s fresh and the dill compliments it perfectly.
We decide to walk off our lunch around the market. Pike’s Market is world renown for its variety of fish, fresh produce, local crafts, and
beautiful flowers. Anything under the food sun can be found under its roof and proceeding tents: King Crab legs, monkfish, boysenberry jam, habenero and jalepenos jelly, apples, oranges, chocolate covered washington cherries, and chocolate linguine (I tried it, and it’s delicious). If you think of it, it’s probably there.
At the main fish monger, we taste fresh smoked salmon and watch as each order is placed the fish are thrown from one end of the booth to the other.
Impressive!
Eric again dashes my excitement by telling me that they throw the same fish every time. The men aren’t actually throwing the freshly ordered fish. There is a “throw fish” just like there is a sample lotion, a sample fragrance at department stores.
Thanks, ERIC!
I guess this makes sense, after all, would you want to buy the sample lotion or a fresh lotion still in the box??? Yeah exactly...
We admire the rows and rows of bright flowers. It’s one of the prettiest groupings of flowers i’ve ever seen. The colors are overwhelming, the variety leaves you lacking for nothing. Mom runs off like a rabbit that sees something shiny down one of the alleys and Eric and Libby chase after her. Travis, Penny and I decide to take a seat in the park that overlooks Elliott Bay on the north side of the market. The view is stunning. From where we sit on our bench, we can see Highway 99 and the Alaskan Way - cars are whizzing by on both. Traffic can be ridiculous here. On the other side of the road is the boardwalk that feeds all of the piers and the cruise docks. There is a massive cruise shipping up the bay now towards the Pugent Sound and most likely up towards Alaska. Seattle is the hub for the Alaskan cruises. Thanks be to God because it’s a sunny day we can see the mountain! Southwest of us, to our far left, we can see Mount Rainier; it’s peak covered in snow. The three of us sit here in awe and praise the Lord for our view. It’s culture, water, road, and mountain all in one sweeping glance.
We get a text message. Libby has found my mom, and guess what, it’s time for coffee!!
Eric’s favorite coffee shop in all of Seattle is Caffe Vita in Capitol Hill, what I like to refer to as the “edgier” part of town. Now keep in mind, all of Seattle is edgy, so you can imagine what Capitol Hill is like...
Yeah...
I ask Eric what I should order and he recommends a tall extra hot vanilla mocha, so I order 2 - one for me and one for dearest mommy who despite being in coffee country still only says to get her whatever i’m getting or “just something good” when asked what she would like to drink.
Ah, mom...
The vanilla mochas are phenomenal! The espresso tastes different than the espresso we had earlier at Peet’s. Where Peet’s was dark. This coffee is perhaps even darker. It definitely has a kick. It punches you in the mouth when you sip it and has a bit of a bitter taste when it goes down. MMMmmmm. This is what espresso is supposed to taste like. Caffe Vita is relatively new on the coffee scene. The company started in 1995 and consists of five cafes and a roasterie making it strictly a local’s venue. This is quintessential Seattle because yo
u can’t get these beans anywhere else making it divine in my opinion.
I mean who wants something that everyone can have, right?
We again sit, sip, and people watch. The people don’t disappoint. Anything from girls in fishnets and mini skirts, to a fat asian man in an all silver body suit walks by. Mohawks, sleeve tattoos, little dogs, and loads and loads of people who have chosen the opposite of a heterosexual
lifestyle walk by.
I’m not profiling.
I swear...
It’s entertaining to say the least, and why else do you travel, but to sit, sip, and observe other people’s cultures and ways? I mean I didn’t fly all the way out here to look at donkeys and goats, I can see that at home.
Dinnertime has now arrived and for tonight we are headed to Tacoma, a quick drive south of Seattle, on the southernmost part of the sound. Tacoma is jokingly the resting place for the castoffs of Seattle, but whatever - I want to see this for myself. We have dinner reservations at Indochine, an asian dining lounge to be exact at 7:00. It’s only 6:30, so we decide to head across the road, carefully avoiding the trolleys, to walk around the park dedicated to the works of Chihuly, perhaps the greatest glass artist of all time. I am overwhelmed, for in front of me are giant, and I mean giant, glass sculptures in all colors. We walk over a bridge and overhead is a display of glass in the shape of fish and seaweeds and anemones. It’s underwater overhead in glass...Impressive.
We continue along and there is a wall with sections and each section containing a glass sculpture in the shape of flower vases, animals, and indiscernible shapes in every color imaginable. It’s overwhelming! I want to buy a piece until I learn that they are thousands of dollars...yeah i’ll pass.
With my art in, it’s time to fill my stomach. Indochine does an amazing job. It’s a fusion of all the asian cultures shoved together. I gobble up peanut flavored chicken, pad thai, and spicy beef with chopsticks and finally have to make myself pull away from the table in sheer ecstasy. It’s by far one of the best meals I’ve ever had in my entire existence.
That’s 20 years people!
It hits me at the table, how tired I really am. I’ve had a busy day: I made two music videos, rode a monorail, ate chowder, tasted and tested samples of the coffee war raging in Seattle for the coffee kingship, saw giant glass shaped pirañas, and devoured an asian meal. Geez!
Penny looks at me, “What are we doing tomorrow again?” She is enjoying the fact that I’ve planned everything and she is simply tagging along, exploring, and tasting.
My eyes double in size as I realize what I have ahead of us tomorrow. I fight back a yawn, “Oh, we’re only hiking Mount Rainier.”
Bed first please! Mountains to come...
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