24 Hours in Seattle
I’ve been incredibly lazy on the technology front recently, taking ages to do simple things like get a new USB cord for my digital camera, move my PC stuff to my Mac, etc. etc., but I’ve finally got on the ball and have a bunch of photos from some trips I’ve taken over the past few months that I hope you’ll enjoy. First up is Seattle, WA, home of fresh coffees, shredding, and wearing tee shirts with down vests. I only had one full day to explore the city during my West Coast jaunt last week, but my boy French and I put in work. Check it out…
We woke up pretty early, had a bomb breakfast near UW, then headed over to the Filson flagship store near the football and baseball stadiums.
Filson makes chronic flannel shirts, as well as a bunch of other awesome outdoors/hunting garms. The store is like a hunting lodge, complete with a fireplace and the requisite wood-and-leather decor. There’s also a window into the factory where you can see some stuff being made by hand, which is pretty cool. While we were in the store, I ripped an insanely loud fart (a direct result of my Texican-Mexican breakfast). It seemed to startle some of the other customers, but if they want to fell a buck they better be prepared to not be all JUMPY when they hear an unexpected sound!
After Filson, it was time to sample Seattle’s greatest delight: coffee. And if you ask most Seattleites (satellites?), ain’t no brew fresher than Vivace.
I made the faux pas of ordering a drip coffee when they only serve Americanos, but no harm was done. Really, I don’t want to be a huge d-bag and attempt to describe this coffee, but I will say it tasted like no other coffee I’ve ever had. Very fresh, with almost a fruity taste and no bitterness. Their whole claim to fame is something about brewing the espresso at the absolute ideal temperature. Not only does it appear to work, but the main storefront is also right across the street from one of the greatest stores in America: REI.
Cabela’s may have a little more going for it as a monument of Americana, but REI is sort of cooler insofar as it has more stuff that I’d actually find use for and isn’t built around the sport of killing animals. When you walk in, there’s a blackboard of all the upcoming clinics and lectures you can take for free. It’s more than a store. It’s a goldmine of information and enthusiasm for outdoors pursuits (park services even has a desk in there where you can get the lowdown on any hiking/camping trip in the state of Washington).
Not only is the store surrounded by a miniature network of trails where you can test mountain bikes, but it’s also got a massive climbing wall in the middle.
This is the weird fake walkway where you test out boots and stuff.
I was feeling this cruiser bike. Thinking maybe I need something a little more luxurious than my Mongoose for NYC.
This Electra joint would do the trick as well.
A block away from REI is Feathered Friends, a fine purveyor of all things down. They seem pretty ‘core in there. Mom, if you’re reading this (only joking, I know you’re not), I really need this Mammut Hybrid Jacket!
I needed to “see the sights” and get my Sleepless in Seattle on so we hit up the famous Pike’s Market. You can vaguely make out the bottom of Mount Rainier in the background.
An accurate representation of what the Seattle sky usually looks like.
A lot to ogle in the market, including those chaunces who “throw fish.”
Dope chowder spot. Smoked salmon chowder was pretty much the contents of a lox sandwich in soup form, including cream cheese. Mad good. We also saw a woman get attacked by a pigeon, which I enjoyed in a perverse sort of way.
Freddie Ljungberg plays in the MLS?!?! The “Seattle Sounders” are a team?!?? What the hell’s going on!?
There was a lot of confusion during the course of the day about use of the words “brews,” since I was using it interchangeably to refer to beer, coffee, and tea. At this point in the afternoon I actually wanted a coffee, but when French took me to The Pike Brewing Company, I wasn’t complaining. They make some solid ales on the premises and have a cool museum of beer memorabilia.
Ain’t nothin’ like a sampler party!
THE MASH TUN.
After some beers we needed a nice cup of tea and a sit down. Luckily, a tea emporium called Perennial Tea Room is in an atmospheric alleyway nearby. I was impressed to find some extremely knowledgeable tea merchants (one of whom said of a tea, “This is what I used during my thesis,” as if it were cocaine), and even more impressed that they sell the hilarious book A Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down, along with many of the biscuits reviewed therein!
After brewing some loose leaf at home, we decided to hop on some bikes and head over to the 1-5 Colonnade.
This place is unbelievably sick. It’s a 2-acre network of trails, obstacles, jumps, etc. that they recently built under the I-5 freeway. It’s a wonderland for mountain bikers and BMXers right in the city.
French slayin’ a log.
Some sick flow lines that I was too intimidated to ride.
The bump field.
Jumps and graffiti.
I think my camera is perpetually stuck on “artistic mode.”
Gears of War 2 and homebrew. This is pretty much how French rolls. We spent the rest of the night gaming and watching shredding videos, including TGR’s Tangerine Dream, which I highly recommend. Got me excited to shred some blower this winter. Hopefully I can get out to Washington again…
