Friday morning in Seattle started with Pike's Place Market. A coffee at the original Starbucks and a croissant and pastry from Le Panier and I was ready to hit the town. I hustled up to the University District to meet a friend/coworker, John, and his wife Lisa. They treated me to deep dish pizza at Delfino's and a cupcake at the nearby cupcakery. It was fun to see John and great to finally meet Lisa, and of course thanks to both for the lunch! Lisa, being a Seattle-ite, gave me some recommendations for my time there so I started with a visit to Gasworks Park. I had studied this park in an Urban Sociology class for my Sustainable Environments minor so it was great to actually experience it. To add to the interesting mix of industrial and organic scenery, it was an absolutely beautiful day. I spent nearly an hour on the top of the hill soaking in the sun and watching planes land in Lake Union.
Next stop was the Fremont Troll which is an art installation under the Aurora Bridge. It's of a troll that has seemingly snatched an actual VW Beetle from the bridge, as well as my bike. When I was ready for a picture there were two people already on the head so I asked if they minded being in my picture. "Not at all!" Noel and Robert came down and asked me to email the pics to them and we got to chatting about Seattle. Robert had some great recommendations so I set out with a task list.
I visited the Ballard Locks which regulate watercraft traffic in and out of Puget Sound, as well as having ladders for salmon migration. I got to watch the lock operating and a solitary Chinook hanging out in one of the ladders weirs. After the Locks I continued on the Burke-Gilman Trail that follows the water line and makes for beautiful bike riding, up to Golden Gardens and saw the beach there. After all that riding I had quite the appetite so I cruised up to Paseo's Caribbean restaurant and had one of the best sandwiches to ever enter this 27 year old mouth. I got the smoky chicken thighs and they came on a baguette with a garlic aoli and the most amazing grilled onions ever. I still hadn't had a beer yet so after discovering that Google Maps dislocates Two Beers Brewing in an apartment complex, I found my way to Fremont Brewing.
Fremont Brewing Co has great beer as well as a funky tap room that's basically a bunch of tables and chairs on the floor of the brewery itself. I sat down with my sampler tray and struck up a conversation with the three next to me. Danny, his girlfriend who's name escapes me, and Bjorn ended up being great people and we had another round at which point their friend Frank showed up as well. Frank was pretty excited after buying a fifth of whiskey at the supermarket that day, which was understandable since that day, 6/1, was the first that liquor didn't have to be bought at a state-run store. In celebration he was planning on making Manhattan's, and I was asked to join the rest of them at his apartment. Not quite ready to leave yet I said of course and we joined four more of their friends at Franks. A couple beers and a delicious Manhattan later I decided it was finally time to make my way back to Katrina's. I still can't believe the luck I had meeting that group of Fremonsters, as the locals are called, and going to a house party! Not something I would have ever imagined happening on this trip but it capped off a great day of exploration in Seattle. The only downside to the day was that I took the bus back to Katrina's and when either loading or unloading I knocked the mirror off my helmet, and being a bit inebriated, didn't notice until the next day. However the adventures of the day were easily worth the $18 to replace it. Now that I'm writing this it seems like I must also have left my little notebook which I used to get their names and recommendations for my last day.
Since my morning at Pike's had been cut short due to meeting John and Lisa, I headed back on Saturday morning. One could spend hours wandering around the market and I did. I filled up on a latte at Local Color, both rhubarb and chicken/mushroom piroshkis at Piroshki Piroshki, had a handful of kumquats to add some fruit, and a bowl of Beecher's mac n' cheese. Beecher's has fantastic cheese so I got a quarter pound of hard cheese to take with me for the next couple days. I picked up a couple souvenirs and watched fish being thrown at the fish market. As we learned in WOW orientation training, the guys at the fish market do a great job of keeping their job fun exciting, and fun for the consumer.
All that food was quickly worked off as I biked up to Kerry Park, one of the highest points in the city. I got a little lost which doesn't help my legs when it's hilly like that. But the view was well worth it, I got to take in all of Seattle and a faint glimmer of Mt. Rainier.
I cruised back to Fremont to try out another of Roberts recommendations, Theo Chocolates. I wandered the retail shop, tasting all the various samples of chocolate. They take the bars that don't pass quality and break them up for samples, and this belly will tell you that there are a LOT of samples. I signed up for the last spot on the factory tour and killed time by doing some grocery shopping for the next few days of camping.
I was flattered upon starting the tour that the guide asked me to put on a beard cover! I almost thanked her for the compliment before realizing that she just didn't want one of my seventeen hairs falling in the chocolate. The tour started with 20 minutes of fascinating information about chocolate, where it comes from, and how it's processes. Did you know chocolate is a fermented product? What about the fact that a single mature tree will only supply enough cacoa pods for 20 3oz chocolate bars per year? The factory itself was also very interesting, and we all ended on a theobromine, the euphoric chemical in chocolate, high after the many samples during the tour.
I rode back into town whistling away in the sunshine andthe met up with Katrina and her coworkers at Rock Bottom Brewery for drinks. As they had already eaten and were wrapping up some work, I stayed behind for a few more samples and some food. Rock Bottom was pretty underwhelming in its flavors, so unsatisfied, I decided to try out Pike's Place Pub. The beer was tasty, the wings were spicy, and the brothers I met at the bar next to me were hilarious. Brad and Trace were on an annual motorcycle trip and we exuberantly shared adventure stories and discussions. The conversation ranged from exploration to family divorce to revelations that neither brother knew about the other. We had a great time until we tried to order another round and the bartender cut us off. It was pretty ridiculous, none of us were drunk. Maybe it was the excited tone of conversation, maybe it was the innocent question of when he went bald (he was fairly young to be bald), but either way they brothers and I parted and I hopped on the bike to meet back up with Katrina.
Her, Vernon, Sam, and myself met at a bar then headed back to her place for beers and Lord of the Rings. It was a pretty mellow Saturday night but nice to hang out after all my running around. The next day I would head out for the Olympic Peninsula with no regrets about how well I spent my time in this great city.
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