My experiences in Seattle prior to the current trip I'm on have been brief. In the first, I drove though it via Greyhound bus on the way into Vancouver in 2000. In the second I was headed back to San Francisco and decided to take the train home instead of the bus - which was a painful experience, I promise you... and yet I had to take the bus from Van to Seattle to go through customs, and then hop on the train in Seattle.
But this trip has been much more informative and entertaining.
I got in late Friday afternoon, just in time for a tour of my hotel (the Fairmont Olympic, which is freakin' fabulous, I have to say) and dinner. I retired to my room and did a little work, then fell into a deep, Sleeping Beauty-like sleep in a bed that was so comfortable it felt like I was snoozing on a cloud. I remembered the feel from this bed, and I couldn't place why until the next morning: I'd stayed at a Fairmont when I was in Barbados. Gotta love consistency.
The trip I'm on is focused on sustainable eating, so we kicked off our day by wandering Pike Market with chef Gavin Stephenson. Gavin is a rock star, but a humble one. He's celeb-chef caliber and then some, but without all the BS attitude that comes along with that. As he walked us through the market and took us into stores, he was greeted warmly - like family. It was cool to see. We also made a pit stop at the world's first Starbucks, where I nabbed myself a decaf soy latte (thanks, Shar, for the suggestion) before becoming mesmerized by the rows and rows and rows of tulips. It was super hard for me not to buy any. If only they'd last a plane, train and automobile ride home...
One of the spots we stopped at - besides the place where they throw fish - is the Daily Dozen Donut Stand. They make mini-donuts kind of like those ones they sell at the Conklin fairs (like Stampede and Klondike Days), except they also have ones with powdered sugar and sprinkles. One of my travel mates eyed the sprinkled ones... which were red and green.
So what do I say? "They look like Christmas!" (Naturally.)
"I was thinking that too!" she said.
"I'm nuts about Christmas," I admitted.
"Me too. December first? The music comes on."
I wrinkled my nose. "You wait that long? I start as soon as Halloween's over."
(This reminds me of a conversation I had with Sharolyn, wherein she was looking at a home that I thought would be fabulous to decorate for the holidays. She said, "Yes, the sacred holiday of Christmas that starts October 31 and finishes December 26th." I'm so impressed. It only took me nine years to get her to understand!)
Anyway.
Our next plan of attack? Take a sea plane out to Penn Cove Shellfish Farm. In the past I've joked with people that I have acute boat narcolepsy, where I'm able to fall asleep the second I set foot on a boat (I had to stop telling this joke because people took me seriously when I said this and became deeply concerned that I had a serious condition.) I can't say that happened on the sea plane, but something about it was deeply relaxing and put me into a meditative state. I have no idea what that was about, but whatever, I went with it. It must be something about the white noise of the engine that made me so relaxed.
We landed at a dock and deplaned, then hopped aboard a boat that took us out to the mussel farms. It reminded me of the pearl farms I saw in Tahiti, except without the little houses. Oh, and it was cold. Very cold. Mainly because it was misting rain and a bit windy, so the combination of the two chilled us all to the bone. I think the only thing that kept us going was how fascinating the explanation behind the farming was. We saw baby mussels on the line, then scooted over to the oyster farm, where we ate freshly-shucked oysters.
This is when one of my travel mates asked that time-honored question: "Are oysters really an aphrodisiac?"
I snickered... because I was debating asking the same thing.
Our host went through an explanation of how it is for men more so than women, that high zinc content helps, and then he said, "I probably shouldn't go here, but I'm gonna..." And he shucked an oyster, separated it from the shell and drew his shucking knife down the side, then gently started to pull it apart and peel it back until it started to look like... the folds of...
"Can you zap that in the microwave for about a minute?" he asked one of his co-horts, who did exactly that and returned exactly a minute later.
And wouldn't you know, it looked like a--
"See, right there is the little man in the canoe," explained our host. "Which I've only ever heard about, I've never found it."
So many pictures were taken that you'd think Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and Paris Hilton had been caught together in flagrante delecto.
"The way I see it," he continued, "If it can do that, you never know what it can enhance. It's good for both of you, you know?"
So there you go. The more you know.
Early tomorrow morning I'm off to Vancouver via train, where I will be partaking in a reunion 20 years in the making. You will likely hear the squealing from wherever you are.
↑ close
