This post will cover the last couple of days. Yesterday was mostly spent in driving from Montana to Seattle. Unfortunately I had to be put on the injury report for the last couple of days with back problems. Fortunately we had on board two wonderful new talents who were able to step up and jump right into the starting lineup. The girls did a great job as a Driver/Navigator team while I did my best to rehab my back and get back into the lineup.
I can't give you many observations about the drive other than Idaho - lots of construction, and a quick observation that was made by the backup driving team that coming into Coeur D'alene Idaho, there was nothing but forested lands as far as the eye could see. Once through Coeur D'Alene and Spokane (sister cities) they were back to rolling hills and scrub brush. As one of the team said, I didn't realize rolling tumbleweeds was a real thing until this trip.
Our arrival at the campground outside of Seattle was interesting. The campground is one large parking lot with very small spaces and lots and lots of RVs. Our driver did a great job getting the rig into a spot and can pretty much be assured that any other RV park she rolls into will be easier.
After getting set up we headed for a restaurant in Seattle, Ma'ono. As regular readers will remember we try and make sure we taste the signature dish for any city we play in. For Seattle that is coffee. Running a close (as in barely able to see the leader) second is Asian and Asian influenced foods, especially sea foods. So we headed for Ma'ono which is supposed to have great Hawaiian dishes as well as the best fried chicken around. Oh, and did I mention they also have an extensive whiskey list and do food/whiskey pairings? Ok, I realize chicken isn't seafood, but Hawaii is Asian influenced. The food was very good and we tried a wide variety of small plates. We did not include anything with Spam. I know - very nontraditional but I could not - just could not make myself do it.
Dishes included:
Manapua - Steamed BBQ PorK Buns
Kalua Pig Tacos - good flavorful tacos
Sesame Roasted Carrots - I was not so much a fan but everyone else loved them.
Stir-Fried Pea Vines with Garlic - really good
Warm Portuguese Sweet Rolls - picture large better tasting Hawaiian rolls
Mac N' Kimcheese
Fried Chicken - really good, but I wouldn't drive 2,000 miles to get it again.
and Loco Moco Wood grilled chuck, Portuguese sausage, fried egg, neckbone gravy, rice, grits, grilled pineapple. Sounds strange but it was everyone's favorite dish.
Afterwards we checked out the stadium to get the lay of the land before the game and then headed back to the RV for some games and sleep.
The next day (Saturday) we had a full schedule. We started with coffee at this cute coffee shop called Wayward. It is a geek themed coffee shop with Serenity posters, x wing fighter models, a variety of other movie posters and toys all sci-fi based. The drinks were named to reflect the theme with drinks like Mals and Jayne's favorites. For all of you who don't get the references, you have a lot of catching up to do.
After that we headed for Pikes Market. This is the home of the flying fish. Flying as in one person tosses fish to another person on the other side of the fish mongers stall. There are also some hundreds of other shops. I spent about 10 minutes there to satisfy tourist requirements and then headed back for the car. A couple of hours later when the rest of the squad showed up we headed for EMP.
EMP stands for Experimental Music Project and it is so much more. Dedicated to the history and exploration of popular music, science fiction, and pop culture. it is a geeks happy playground. Again I worked on getting back on the field and rested by back while the squad went through the exhibits. If you are ever in Seattle you should check it out.
Next on our busy schedule was Unicorn Bar. It is in the LGBT neighborhood and it is a very strange place. I am not going to try and describe the place in detail. Carnival strips, weird taxidermy, arcade games, strange carnivalish foods, and an eclectic crowd is the best I can do. Here is a description from one of the local papers: The Unicorn, with its absurd name, rampant stripes, salvaged carousel
panels, and menagerie of taxidermy, is insane. The bar serves Jell-O
shots, and the place gets wild. The food is carnival-style deep-fry,
including various corn-dog configurations, unicorn balls, and elephant
ears, as well as good, inexpensive burgers made with Painted Hills beef.
Additionally, you may have them DEEP-FRY AN ENTIRE HAMBURGER
After a drink or two, we headed out for Starbucks Reserve. This is a special place that Starbucks has set up to create their small batch reserve coffees, to teach the public about special coffees and to show off their alternate brewing methods. I hate Starbucks and I was really impressed. The rest of the team got a coffee to go after we spent almost an hour there learning and watching coffee being prepared.
Before I go on I need to say something about Seattle for those people who have not been there. Lets start with - they are crazy for coffee. You heard about the movie "Sleepless in Seattle"? Maybe they should have tried decaf for some of the cups they had each day. There is at least one coffee shop on each block. Most of them have two or more. And that is just dedicated coffee shops. For example Starbucks alone has 108 free standing stores. That does not include the several hundred counters that are not stand alone. Like ones in gas stations, in Targets, in office buildings and so forth. That comes out to one stand alone Starbucks per 6,500 people and one Starbucks of any kind per 2,500 people (man woman and child). And Starbucks is not the only kind of coffee. There are probably at least as many independent shops. And they drive like they drink that much caffeine. Enough said about that.
After our most recent coffee experience we decided to go to Mashiko, a top rated sushi bar and Japanese restaurant. The food there was outstanding and I would go back there in a heartbeat.
I will detail the dishes at a later time as this post is getting a bit long. Tomorrow is the game and interestingly enough the fans here are worried that the Seahawks will lose. There does not seem to be a lot of confidence on either side at this point. Of course if they new we didn't have our starting Quarterback or wideout and that the next two wideouts on the list are also questionable I think they might feel a little better. But we shall see.
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