Seattle

Seattle. Place of seagulls and no accommodation. I should give Seattle more of a chance because it’s one of the places I was always curious about. Perhaps due to watching countless episodes of Frasier in my youth, but nevertheless, the space needle and coffee culture aspect of Seattle were enticing to me. 

Seattle Waterfront

My first impression of the grungy town, aside from being grungy, was slight panic due to the lack of affordable accommodation on the go. We later found out that there was a huge baseball game on between Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners at Seattle’s Safeco field. It was also the start of Seafair 2015 which is a huge annual festival running over several weeks and the grand parade was scheduled to kick off that weekend, in the middle of the city. 

World travelling note No. 1: look out for large sporting games and annual festivals. I thought I had done that, but due to our rather ambitious itinerary I think there was just too much to investigate and it slipped me by. Spending the night at King Street train station had become a true possibility. 

Steps from the Waterfront up to Pike Place Market

After hours spent at a coffee shop, then the information kiosk at Pike Place and the Visitor centre at the Seattle Convention Centre, we finally managed to secure a reasonably rated room. It was to be a beautiful evening spent amidst drunken baseball fans at The Kings Inn, my first American motel. Sigh. The biggest problem with this, was that I wasn't one of the drunken baseball fans. It was an exciting experience being my first motel, but it was also at this very place that I discovered how challenging plumbing can be for a residential establishment. 

Pike Place Market

Whilst the Mariners were playing ball, the weather wasn’t so much. This does tend to dampen the ambience of a city. We didn’t find the waterfront very appealing, nor so the space needle. It looked out of place, like someone had thought; "We need to build something impressive and tall", and so they did. Perhaps if we’d taken the time to learn more about it, it may have made more sense, but we didn’t. 

The Space Needle

I’ll tell you this for free though, the people in Seattle must be the friendliest folk in the world. They honestly go out of their way, like ‘run across a highway in the rain to give you an umbrella’ kind of friendly. Somehow, people noticed that the pair with flip flop tans on their feet and backpack indents on their shoulders, were foreigners, and they literally poured out information on what we should do. Amidst our happy hour search for the cheapest cocktails we could find, this lovely young lady, eating her Mexican salad at "El happy hour" Mexican bar, just volunteered a laundry of things for us to do. We were surprised, and grateful. We didn't do any of them, but it was really thoughtful of her. 

Police walking the Seattle streets

Another A list mention is the food. The seafood. Oh my, we ate at Lowell’s, as recommended by the couple on the train over from Chicago. Twice we ate there. We shared fish taco’s and fish and chips the first time and a blackened salmon caesar salad the second time. I just drooled on my keyboard again dammit. We should have tried the chowder at the buzzing Pike Place Market, but don’t judge me, I’d eat at Lowell’s a third time if I went back there. RGB, which is Rachel’s Ginger Beer at Pike Place Market also hit the spot in most winning way. The concept was one of simplicity, flavour and colour. Those Moscow Mule’s went down like little Ninja’s twerking in my throat. 

Lowell's Seafood Spot at Pike Place Market

Other than beating the streets of Seattle, we popped into Fremont which was more of a residential neighbourhood over the river, harbour, channel thing. We were headed there to do laundry but also found the troll under the bridge, a statue of Lenin, Fremont brewery, and a meat and potato dumpling place which shared its premises with a tattoo parlour and a yoga studio. 

Luckily we managed to secure a second dazzling evening at the Kings Inn, at an even lower rate. They moved us to the last available room which we don’t think they usually let out. I’ve had better showers with a water pistol. As we weren’t too keen to spend much time at the inn, we hung out on the streets of Seattle watching the Seafair parade. The parade that had it all. It started with a couple of Jesus fans walking up and down the roads with pickets and microphones, telling us how we should fear God and all that. I wasn’t quite listening, I was too busy judging them. 

Repent or you will be in trouble..

Shortly thereafter, this endless river of performances and floats came down the road. Air-hostesses to indian chiefs and politicians to clowns. Oh, that may have been the same float. There were so many it's hard to recall. The giant balloon killer whale and the Seahawks band and drill team were probably the most impressive for me. 

Seafair parade

That was Seattle. It was unusual and interesting. I wasn’t sad to leave, but I'd definitely go back.