Sleepy in Seattle

Not much sleep last night - maybe two hours max - mostly because I was packing for our Seattle trip. We left the house at 5 AM for an 8 AM flight out of Orange County. Gary likes to hurry up and wait. I packed strategically in two small carry-on's for both of us. That meant only two pairs of shoes - a big stretch for me, even with a bad foot. I also forgot about the "No Liquids" rule, so I lost a really nice bottle of hand lotion and some expensive hair product. Thankfully, Gary left his torch cigar lighter in the car.

After the delay at the security check-point, we were still able to go out earlier on the 7 AM flight. I had hoped to sleep, but not a chance. Too much excitement. Gary cut his hand putting the bags into the overhead and proceeded to bleed all over his light gray Washington Huskies golf shirt and blue jeans before he would allow me to ask the flight attendant for a napkin. Another great start to a vacation. He looked as if he had been in a slasher movie.

We enjoyed spending the day with niece Lindsey and her enormous Himalayan cat, Paris. We left Paris and went with Lindsey to Burger Master for lunch - great burgers! Seattle has fabulous restaurants in my opinion. We dropped Lindsey at her house to wait for her mom and other family members who arrived this afternoon, and drove downtown to check into our hotel. I had planned to take a nap, but that didn't happen because Gary needed to go find a place to have a cigar. That's not easy in this town. We ended up in a park halfway to the waterfront where Gary could puff away along with a few dozen tatooed Goths, each sucking on some kind of cancer stick or "medicinal weed." A braless young woman with eye-popping fuschia hair and hundreds of piercings on her face and neck, sat on a bench playing a bongo drum, tapping her platform steel-toed commando boots to the beat. Several of them sported "guyliner," apparently unaware that it's now in the mainstream thanks to Adam from American Idol. Watching the Goth brigade made us think about how Seattle gave birth to Nirvana many years ago. Today, it's "Bongo Babe" and company.

After all that entertainment, we walked down to Pike Place and I took photos of the fragrant fish and flowers. Sweet peas and salmon...an unusual for the senses.

Stopped for a light dinner at yet another wonderful Seattle restaurant called The Steelhead Diner. It's on the hill above Pike Place, across from the Inn at the Market boutique hotel, so it's got a great view. We laughed about the "Flash Fried Cheese Curds" because one rarely encounters those outside of Minnesota and Wisconsin; but Alec the bartender told us the cheese comes from Bleecher's Cheese Factory across the street. We'd been there earlier to watch them making cheese. And the Diner serves the cheese curds with "tangy mustard & tartar sauce." Yum. The woman next to me ordered a beautiful "work of art" dish - "Heirloom Beet Tartare with Rogue Creamery Oregonzola & Crispy Yucca Chips." I mean, we just don't get that kind of creative food in Mission Viejo. I think I'll be able to go to sleep now in joyful anticipation of tomorrow's dining adventures. Oh, and Lindsey's graduation too!!