My flight out here on Sunday night was pretty smooth, no serious problems, and actually landed 40 minutes ahead of schedule due to the winds working in our favor. Now many people have been asking me, "Why Seattle?", and the answer was that I was visiting a dear friend of mine and Seattle has been a place that I've been wanting to visit for a while. Something about the flannel reputation, coffee culture, and mysterious weather that intrigued me. Plus, since Ashley moved out here she has told me nothing but the best about it.
So after getting getting off the plane at the Seattle/Tacoma Airport on Sunday, I anxiously walked toward the door of the airport to get to feel the temperature of the night air. Upon walking outside, the air felt quite moist and cool, but nowhere near the blistery temperatures that I left behind in New York. I was looking at around 50 degrees and cloudy skies. My thick wool sweater and light khaki jacket with scarf was enough to keep me warm. Gideon, Ashley's fiance, picked me up from the airport, and brought me through the city to their apartment in a duplex house in the trendy neighborhood called "Capitol Hill." The hills in this neighborhood are extremely steep and one thing about all of Seattle's neighborhoods is that they are extremely lush and green due to the high amount of moisture in the air and the mild temperatures. We went to visit Ashley at the coffee shop she works at, and waited there until she finished closing up. The coffee shop, Roy Street Coffee, is owned by Starbucks and has a very local coffee shop feel, with every coffee made to order, really friendly employees, wine, beer, and an area for indie film bookings (that Ashley actually is in charge of.) I had a vanilla rooibos tea, which was sweet and fabulous, and a tomato soup, with some type of fluffy pastry with black olives inside. Delicious. I also had a glass of Malbec while I was there and was pleasantly surprised.
On Monday morning, Ashley and I woke up, went to a vegetarian breakfast at Cafe Flora (I got biscuits and vegetarian gravy, Ashley got this fluffy omelette with amazingly fresh garden tomatoes and carmelized onions with cheesy grits) and then mosied through a beautiful arboretum with different colored bushes of budding flowers. The air was still quite moist and foggy, and the whole city had an eery vibe. The air was so wet that I actually felt moisture gathering in my nose and I had to keep sniffling. The arboretum had a rich aroma of earth, and due to the moisture many of the trees had a thick, healthy layer of moss growing on their trunks. I picked one of the flowers from a bush and put it in my front pocket because I was in such awe of the fact that flowers were blooming in the middle of February.
We spent the rest of the day exploring the city, I did a little thrifting in the Capitol Hill area and bought a cute shirt and sweater and then had a coffee from this spot called Vivace . After, we went to this market with goods from all over Seattle, mostly local, home grown items, only to be found in Seattle. The market was set up right on the water, with the back drop of the Olympia Mountains and the Sound. There were street musicians, some of which were actually pretty talented, fruit stands, chocolate sellers, clothing, anything, really. The vendors were friendly and courteous seemed to genuinely be interested in the customers. I liked that :-). After indulging in tasteful goodies (READ: macaroni and cheese made with with homemade cheese, OMFG) we went to a gay bar by the house called Madison Pub and enjoyed some Slim Chance beers, which are from a brewery just outside Seattle. It was a light beer, but with a good flavor. The bar was pretty empty when we walked in even though it was Happy Hour, at least in New York it was.
We came back to the house tired and drunk, after a long day of sightseeing, and Gideon made the most delicious meatloaf and quimoa. I was very happy :-). We had some beers, chatted for a while and passed out early. And here I am on day 3, itching to get outside and enjoy the beautiful day.
Anthony
