So I kind of forget where I left off in Vancouver. The breakfast with Mark and Erin (and I know they’ve been waiting to hear how it went) was excellent. I forget the name already but it was a dutch waffle and pannekoek house on Cambie Street they recommended and it was some good eats. It was cool to catch up in person – I’ve kept up with Mark’s blog but hadn’t actually seen him in over 10 years.
After breakfast it was off to Seattle with Steve where we hit the Pike Place Market. What a place – it was quite cool. We saw the famous Pike Place Fish Market with the throwing fish and all, and more importantly for me, the very first Starbucks. More on that later. Steve dropped us off at the Inn at Queen Anne just outside of downtown, a great hotel choice if you’re going to be in Seattle. We headed back downtown to try some dinner at Emmett Watson’s Oyster Bar – no website for this little hole-in-the-wall buried inside the market, but some great inexpensive fresh seafood to be had. Back to the hotel with a quick stop at Uptown Espresso, home of the velvet foam. And indeed, I received velvet foam. Unfortunately the barista misheard me and made mine with soy milk. How on earth anyone drinks that stuff voluntarily I have no idea. I tried them again yesterday morning with real milk and it was much better.
The one thing to know about Seattle is that it’s built on a series of hills. Many, many hills. Both small and large. That means that most of the land by the market and down by the water is set so that one block up from the water rises substantially uphill. I’ll have pictures later to show you, but the weird thing is it doesn’t stop there. We walked along 3rd at one point and looked to the east to see the road drop down a fair amount along Pine. A few more blocks up at Marion the same look to the east saw a six block incline. This takes place throughout the city, and can make walking difficult if you’re not used to it. I guess I’ll hit some more details later on – some more good food, sights, and an almost completely successful tour of the filming locations from ‘Singles’. And really good coffee.
Cheers!