I just got back from my annual visit to see Brian. I always go in August to celebrate his birthday. He just turned 47 last week. Hard to believe I have a son that old... or one with gray hair!
We finally got to have dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant - Fogon's. For the past 2 years, they've been closed for their summer employee party. This year, it was a good thing I called in advance, because they were having their party on Monday (the day we'd planned to go), so we had to shift it to Tuesday.
Normally, I just meet Brian and Amber downtown at the restaurant, but on Tuesday I'd gone out to Redmond to play board games with Brian. So, instead of taking the bus back downtown, we all hopped into an Uber. I take mass transit all the time, but this was my first Uber ride. Thank goodness our Uber car had air conditioning, because it was 93° outside and many homes in Seattle (including Brian's) don't have A/C.
I always try to do something new when I go to Seattle. This time I took a walk north along the waterfront to several different places. This was Olympic Sculpture Park - an offshoot of the Seattle Art Museum. I don't know if they were undergoing renovation, but there were a lot more sculptures pictured on their website than there were on the grounds. But this one was nice with killer views of Bainbridge Island to the west and the Space Needle to the east.
I walked all the way to Belltown (only about 1.5 miles) and had dinner at Moto's Pizza. It was a quirky little shop in a renovated warehouse with just about the best pizza I've ever had. It was deep-dish with tons of toppings, but the sauce wasn't soupy like Chicago's deep-dish pizza tends to be (sorry Chicago). The pizza doesn't come in slices, but big rectangular chunks. Totally delicious.
The next morning, I went to Ghost Alley Espresso (I found this on Google Maps hidden next to Pike Place Market). Their specialty is a "Mystery Mocha" (right up my alley). They ask if you have any allergies and then mix up their own concoction. Mine tasted a bit like coconut and, of course, dark chocolate.
To get to the coffee shop, I had to walk up Post Alley and the famous gum wall. It's supposedly considered a "work of art," but it's really a bit disgusting. Those are all wads of used gum that people have stuck onto the walls, windows, and posts along the alley. Ick.
Since I took the Uber back downtown from Brian's, I had an extra bus ticket, so I went up to Capitol Hill to VooDoo Donut. This place is known for its bizarre combinations of donut toppings. I got the Old Dirty Bastard. I thought the brown squiggles were going to be caramel, but they turned out to be peanut butter... still tasty.
A block away from the donut shop was an REI store. This store is on a huge piece of property that includes patios, firepits, and a bike trail for testing out bike repairs or purchases. All this greenery looks a bit deceiving that the store is out in the country, but actually it's right in the heart of the city. I-5 is just behind all those trees.
They finally completed the renovation of the waterfront and it is gorgeous. There are planting boxes and benches everywhere (my hotel is just a block away).
Some of the seating areas are swings where you can just rock back and forth and enjoy the view of the water. The overhead walkway in the background connects the ferry terminal to 1st Street. You used to have to climb about 200 steps to get up to street level, so this new walkway is really convenient, especially for commuters.
A couple years ago, I posted an architect's rendering of what this waterfront renovation would look like. I never thought it would really come to pass, but it has. This is a giant seating area (also climbs up to street level) where people can sit and look out at the water. Sometimes they hold concerts here, but there wasn't one going on while I was visiting.
You can tell I took these pictures early in the morning. There aren't nearly enough tourists. There was a Norwegian cruise ship in port the day before and the place was packed.
