Ah, Seattle. You grabbed my heart when we first came to see you, and you still have it. In September, Seattle was a shockingly sunny, warm, and easy place. We were told by multiple people that, believe it or not, Seattle is not always gray, but actually had more sun and less rain than most people think it does. That Summer had been particularly sunny, but even so, it is not unusually to see the Seattle denizens sporting mild tans by the end of August.
This time, it rained. A lot. Every day. Off and on, so you couldn't really plan around it. The advantage of all that rain, however, is this:
One of our friends we visited is a well versed mycologist, and had just dragged in a massive load of chantrelles (the yellow mushrooms) and lobsters (the lobster-y looking ones). Fry those suckers up with a bit of butter and garlic (or in our drunken case, as this was Halloween and drinking is always a requirement on the 31st of October) a LOT of butter and garlic, and they are tasty.
This is what Seattle looked like most of the time.
This was about as sunny as it got. Not much, in other words.
Our hotel was awesome. A little kitchenette, and free breakfasts. As we are now accomplished travelers, and also have no shame, we made a habit of sequestering as much free breakfast food for later consumption as possible. The trick is combining whatever you can pack away into something that resembles a real meal later.
So if you grab a bagel, some peanut butter, a banana, and a handful of chocolate chips, you end up with a pretty tasty snack sandwich. Ditto with a miniature cheese omelette, some tomato slices, some jalapenos, and a slice of cheese.
We tried doing a bit of ameteur mycology ourselves. Anyone know what this is, and what sort of medical attention I should be getting if I maybe, just possibly, ate it? (I kid. I cooked it in butter first.)
If the photo didn't come out clear enough, and because my camera phone doesn't have a zoom lens, this reads "For Sale: The World. Call: The Man". God Bless Fremont. It's a pretty great neighborhood.
The light, on an overcast day in Seattle, is pretty good. As is the random overgrown greenery.
Okay, the bike path is good, too. Again, Seattle has my heart, and if I ever live here, it'll have my bike's love as well.
On a walk to check out an area of Fremont/Ballard. This particular area is becoming brewery central for the metro area. Unlike late 19th and early 20th century brewery areas, it isn't based on a ready source of clean water, but rather on the ready availability of cheap warehouse space.
And hipsters. Lots of Hipsters. This means you need bike racks. Sorry about the blurry.
This is at Hilliard's Brewing. They have DME 60bbl fermentors and bright tanks currently, and are even using the same labeling font for them as St. Arnold did when I worked there. A huge flash back, but at last St. Arnold named their tanks thinks like "St. Columbanus" or "St. Bertha" or "St. Elvis" and nothing boring like Bright Beer Tank 1.
On the walk back. A pedestrian walkway over Highway 99, looking at our hotel.
A view of the city from the top of the hotel.
And a panoramic photo. I'll keep taking these as long as my phone allows.
There was a sweet gas fireplace up there, too. But a bit too windy to really stay up for long. And the ever present rain, of course.
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