It turns out that we had one mission in Seattle…eat our way through it. I say, with little doubt, that we succeeded.
We started yesterday off with a Pike Place tour (thank you Puigs!!) and what a blast it was. In addition to eating the most popular and famous tastes of Pike Place, we learned a lot about the history and the stories of this iconic farmers market. I’m sure the others will go into detail about the food, but oh. my. god. I know I like food, and I really, really like good food, not fancy schmancy, hoity toity food, but the food that makes my soul feel good. That is Pike Place. Beechers mac and cheese, Piroshky Piroshky, Seattle Donut, Henenus Greek yogurt, Pike Place Chowder, cherries, chocolate, crab cakes, everything. It was the best morning. And filled us up until dinner.
We spent the afternoon wandering around the city and decided to just go to the Kimpton restaurant for dinner. Now that was a fancy, schmancy, hoity toity meal. I went with the salmon and the sadly small portion was served with caviar nearly smothering it. The bread (which was $6 for three rolls) was served with pork lard and beef lard and arrived in a paper bag. It was all fine, but not good, like all the tastes were earlier in the day. Turns out I’m more of a market girl.
We woke up this morning with no big plans for the day and having no idea what would be open in the city on the Fourth. It was agreed that we should head back to Pike Place and just get bites to share. We ended up with many of the same things as yesterday, but tried several new things as well. In a way, it reminded me of all the years I have spent the Fourth at Taste of Chicago. Yesterday our guide told us that Anthony Bourdain said that the food at Pike Place is better than it needs to be. Tourists are the biggest customer base and touristy places don’t need good food. (See Moab for an example.) Pike Place is inextraordinary. I’m so glad we spent so much time there.
We spent the afternoon napping, because all that food, and playing games. Fireworks are an obvious way to end the day, so we have a nice plot of grass on the lake and a picnic of Whole Foods goodies.
I hope you all had a great day and that we collectively resolve to work hard for all those who are in our country. That we work for peace and justice. That we will work so that every city and town is draped in pride flags, like Portland and Seattle are, and not just in June. That we will work so all children in this country have access to humane conditions. A lot of work has to get done, but we are stronger and better together. Happy Independence Day.
