*Technically I didn't go as far as Seattle on that first day--instead, I went to the AirBNB in Lakewood which, depending on time of day, is anywhere from 45 minutes to two freakin hours from Seattle proper.
My time in the Seattle area was spent, for the most part, nowhere near Seattle. I had a whole list of libraries to go to, but I was tired. I was also very behind with this blog and needed to find a quiet space to write.
Upon arriving in Lakewood, I drove around a bit, getting a lay of the land while trying to figure out if it was okay to check in to the AirBNB yet, and somehow managed to cross a bridge, a very pretty bridge reminiscent of my beloved NYC suspension bridges, and as it turned out I was crossing the Tacoma Narrows Bridge...free on the way over to Gig Harbor, $6.00 on the way back. Massive Tourist Eyerolls abound. But I found my way back and had a fantastically relaxing evening at the wonderful AirBNB, watching the Blue Bloods and getting my life in order.
The next day I took a long journey into the city to see my friend Robyn, eat some chowder, and spend a little time in the Pike Place Market. The last time I was in Seattle, the weather was uncharacteristically sunny the entire time, so I'd never seen this sad, rainy Seattle everyone always complains about. This time around, Seattle made sure it was chowder weather.
I stood on line at Pike Place Chowder, figuring since I was early I could clear the line for both of us by the time Robyn arrived. I okayed it with the Gregarious Line Guy, whose job was to manage a line that split in half in the middle of a busy pedestrian walkway. Robyn arrived just as I got to the front, we got our clam chowders, and found our way to a little table outside.
 |
| Original Starbucks! |
Robyn was the first former PG person I'd seen in many months...having left NYC for Wichita in December. I wondered if I would have flashbacks, but was relieved and happy that all I felt was joy at seeing an old pal, one who'd been in the trenches with me and knew the story well enough. We didn't need to rehash much and instead talked about the present and future. It was wonderful seeing her. In fact, I was having so much fun talking to her I kind of forgot to taste my chowder. I am certain it was as good as the conversation!
We walked around Pike Place for a bit and I took my touristy photos. She had to go back to work, so walked me part of the way to the main Seattle library before we had to part ways. I will cover that humdinger of a library in a later post. I'm still not sure I can adequately express the feelings I have about that library. They are strong and hazy and abrupt and noisy and omg. Anyway.
 |
| Not the Elliott Bay Towers...??? No, really not. (But!) |
My car was parked in a garage just opposite the market and Elliot Bay. I looked up and down the street from my vantage point, which was pretty high at the 9th floor, and took some shots of the highrises nearby. Why? Because I'm a freak, that's why. And my obsessive Frasier viewings of course made me look up whether or not his abode at the Elliott Bay Towers was, in fact, real. It's not. But if the Elliott Bay Towers were real, this is where they would be, no doubt.
That was the first and last trip into Seattle itself. I decided to stick close to Lakewood and get some work done for the remainder of my stay in the area. After doing some research, I decided the Puyallup (Pew-allup, as in gallup) library would work best. Aside from being a smidge cold, it was perfect. More on that in a later post, too!
While in Puyallup, I decided to eat as Puyallapians(?) do, so the first night I dined at Charm Thai, about a 20 minute drive from the library. This whole trip I've been craving fresh rolls, so I have tried them at quite a few Thai places along the way. The fresh rolls at Charm were fine (though nothing compared to Thai Tradition in Wichita) but I was relieved that they didn't pull what I've now experienced in two different Thai places in two different cities: deli meat instead of fresh ground meat. Like, literal slices of dry-ass turkey meat rolled up into these fresh rolls. An abomination! I will not call out the restaurants because I feel bad for them but UGH. UGHHHH. Gross. And whyyyy? Better to skip the meat altogether.
Fresh rolls aside, the thing to get at Charm Thai is the Panang Curry. If you live in the Seattle area--if you live in Washington--go to Puyallup and have the Panang Curry. I don't know what they did to it--more coconut milk, maybe, I don't know!--but it was the most delicious tasting panang sauce of my life. And I've had a ton of panang over the years--it's a staple that I order consistently since I realized most pad thai is so dreadful it should be avoided at all costs everywhere except places I know can pull it off. Go get some Charm Thai panang curry!
I also decided I had to have pizza after my Handsome Pizza experience got me craving more more more. It took me quite a lot of searching before I settled on Wicked Pie Pizza. I knew I wasn't going to get Handsome levels of authenticity or flavor, but the reviews were raving and it seemed like a good choice. My only real reservation was that it was a 21+ establishment, with a big bar and happy hour specials posted on all the sites I checked. I was fine with it being kid un-friendly (sorry kiddos) but didn't know if I would be comfortable in a bar setting if it leaned more in that direction. There is a part of me, however, that gets highly pissed off about these fears now. Because I should be able to go places without worrying about bad feelings or temptations.
It turned out it was as much a pizza place as a bar, with a big pizza pie maker aquarium to watch the gents kneed and toss the dough about. I was pleasantly surprised to find that happy hour extended to the food as well. I got a small margherita pie for $8. A steal!
And it was a very good pizza--flavorful with a nice bubbly crust. Like I figured, it was not in the same realm as Handsome, but damn good and highly recommended if you are ever in the area. Plus if you do imbibe, it was a hot spot for couples and bros to clink glasses and eat pizza!
 |
| Puyallup Sunset |
No comments:
Post a Comment