Seattle- Post Vacation

In My Humble Opinion
1

Seattle: The Queen City.

One of my favorite cities, as of now.

My wife and I went on vacation over the Mem Day weekend to Seattle, out of curiosity as to what was out that way. It was rainy, stuck in the 50’s (while it was the first hot weekend of the year in Chicago (90’s)), and generally gloomy.

I loved every minute of it. The hotel was really nice (Hotel Andra on 4th and Virginia), the food (specifically, the seafood) was excellent (Flying Fish, Ivar’s especially), and the umbrellas were evident.

Growing up as a “Flatlander” (per our WI brethren), I have always appreciated a little…well…contour in my non-Chicago cities. I especially liked the way all of the houses and hotels strive to view the Sound…it gave me the feeling of being in an ampitheatre when I was down near the water. Queen Anne was a very nice section of town, and my wife and I went walking through a good amount of the neighborhood (I was wearing an orange fleece, if anyone was looking), and I’d now like to live there at some point! For those of you familiar with Chicago and unfamiliar with Seattle, it was like a little Wilmette perched on a huge hill with a panoramic view of Puget Sound. Gorgeous!

Pike’s Market was every bit the madhouse I had hoped for. I was allowed to toss a crab to one of the counter-guys at City Fish, so that was good. My wife and I wandered over the whole market, and still think we could have spent another day. I got my souveneir T-shirt at Pike’s Place Brewery, so that was good.

The people are nice, but there are some major differences between Seattle-ites and Chicagoans. There are no elaborate hair-dos in Seattle, at least that i could see. Hairspray must be non-existent. Also, there are very few blonde people (natural or otherwise)! I also didn’t see many Irish-American people, but I could have been looking in the wrong bars. Just different enough to be slightly strange. Almost 50% of the Seattle-ites had cups of coffee as they walked. Odd.

I tried Top Pot, and loved it. I’ll buy Tully’s stock if it goes public (is it already?). I went to the original Starbucks and was interested to see the craptacular original sign, sans [ol]
[li]Pizza Places.[/li][li]Fast Food[/li][li]Bread given before my meals.[/li][li]Salads included with the entree.[/li][li]Pork on menus, or much beef, for that matter.[/li][li]Cars on Alaskan Blvd splatting unwary pedestrians. I swear they slowed down and stopped at the crossway![/li][/ol]

I’m now waiting for Sufjan Stevens to do a Washington album so I can join in the laudatory bits.

I now have a second-favorite city, and her name is Seattle!

-Cem

2

Glad you enjoyed it. Give us more advance notice if you visit again, and I’m sure we’ll be able to organize a reception of some sort for you.

3

It’s the only city have any real degree of familiarity with, I lived there during college (and may move back soon). I like it quite a bit. I’m glad you like it too.

You mention the cooler temperatures, the funny thing is that the weekend before you came it was very hot for that time of year, like in the 80s (which, I know, isn’t so very hot compared to other places, but feels pretty nice around here).

As you say everyone is very polite (in general). This can actually be a bit annoying at times.

4

I lived there for about 25 years, and you describe it well. I’d never thought of downtown as being like an ampitheater, but you’re right – that’s just how it feels.

I used to know how to get from the waterfront to 5th Avenue without walking uphill, by using escalators and elevators in a building on each street.

Did you make it to Pioneer Square? It’s touristy, but it’s my favorite part of the downtown area (next to the Market, of course).

5

I always thought it was the Seattle Post - Intelligencer.

6

Lamar, I think there is the Seattle Times and the Post-Intelligencer. We got the Times on our doorknob. So, unless it’s some hotel-produced rag, there are two newspapers in Seattle.

AuntiePam, I honestly wouldn’t want to avoid the uphills. Being from Chicago, I enjoy the hills and elevations!

Question…I was under the impression (from personal observance only!) that Queen Anne was the nicest area in Seattle proper. Am I correct, or incorrect?

-Cem

7

And yes, I did make it to Pioneer Square. My wife and I loved the Underground Tour, which pointed out the similarities between early Seattle and Chicago (there are a few, beieve me!). I wish we’d had more time to go into the assorted galleries (and up on the Smith Building), but we hit Pioneer Square on a Sunday, and nothing opened up until 11am or so. Once we were out of the Underground, it was 1:30pm, and we had things to see! I did get a chance to go into the Elliott Bay bookstore…very nice!

sjc, in the Midwest, we have a phrase…“Minnesota Nice”, which implies a polite exterior and a not-necessarily-matching interior. I didn’t sense that too much in Seattle (but hey, I was there 4 days!), but I got a slight “hippy” -type vibe, much like I see in San Fran. Do you agree?

I will say this, though…it seemed like Seattle-ites were better-educated that I’m used to (mostly well-spoken, seemed to like talking to strangers, and I talk a LOT to strangers when I’m on vacation), and had interesting opinions.

-Cem

8

An odd coincidence; I grew up near Seattle, lived on Queen Anne Hill for a couple years, and just got back from my first ever trip to Chicago. Nice place; good architecture and museums.

Queen Anne is nice, but not ultra-ritzy (I lived in a basement apartment on the north slope, looking toward Freemont). I seem to remember some nice areas in Magnolia, Ravenna, Laurelhurst, and in Madison and Washington Parks, I think. The old money is on Mercer Island, nouveau riche on the Eastside.

9

I’m glad you liked the city. Come back!
No, the “must spend several hours getting ready before being seen in public” look doesn’t exist as much here as it does in other parts of the country. And the coffee you noticed? It’s for the gloom. I’ve heard someone say that they grew to appreciate all the different colors of gray (which you do) but after 8 months straight, chemical stimulants help.

You’d have to define “nice.” I love Queen Anne - but there are places like Madison Park (which is where richer Seattlites used to have their summer homes overlooking Lake Washington while the winter homes would be on Puget Sound) and a few more areas to the list if nice is synonymous with affluent. If nice is synonymous with “lots of single family homes” there’s a whole range of neighborhoods that fit the bill and Queen Anne would not be so high on the list.

We read a lot (the gloom again - it encourages indoor activity).

10

Smith Tower, you mean? I worked on the 16th floor for many years. I’d worked there for quite awhile before I realized that the door and window frames weren’t made of wood, but metal painted to look like wood. Love that building. One of the elevator operators retired while I was there. He was near 70 and that was the only job he’d ever had.

11

Stupid imprecise language-use!

By “Nice”, I meant the following:
[ol]
[li]Nice, 1/4 acre lots (or more).[/li][li]Pretty houses like on the “Sound” side of Queen Anne. (Unless that’s Magnolia…is it?)[/li][li]Or some arts-n-crafts style houses (my personal fave).[/li][li]With one fo those great gardens everyone seemed to have (gotta love not getting a killing frost in WA![/li][/ol]

I can only imagine what it must be like to look out your patio doors and see the whole Sound below you.

-Cem

12

I just now got the joke here. :slight_smile:

13

Allow me to say: “Huh?”

14

The thread title – Seattle Post-Vacation. :slight_smile:

15

“Post-Vacation” (from your post) and “Post-Intelligencer”.

We actually do have two daily papers in Seattle - the Post-Intelligencer (usually called the P-I) and the Times. Thought they’re owned by separate companies, they have some sort of bizarre joint operating agreement where they share billing systems, and produce a ‘joint’ Sunday edition. Never exactly figured out how it works (not that I’ve spent a lot of time doing so).

We moved here 4 1/2 years ago and love most of it - although the constant traffic problems do begin to wear on one’s nerves. Sadly, the deteriorating health of my wife’s parents may force a return to Indiana in the next couple of years, which would make me sad.

16

Short answer: not very well at all. :wink:

17

We used to subscribe to both papers. The P.I. came in the afternoon, and the Times in the morning. Or maybe it was the other way around.

Anyway, they were different enough so that it was worthwhile subscribing to both. We liked the Times comics better, and their Friday entertainment section (the 206?). I don’t remember what we liked about the P.I. One had Dave Barry, the other didn’t.

The merger was kinda sad, and IMHO the result didn’t have much personality.

18

Sigh…it’s bad when you set up a joke and then don’t understand when the punchline arrives. More caffeine, stat!

It seemed to me that people liked making fun of the Seattle P-I, and accorded the Seattle Times the reverence normally due the “better” paper in a two-paper town (e.g. the Tribune in Chicago vs. the more columnist-oriented Sun-Times).

I tried Googling for a map of Seattle’s neighborhoods. Does anyone know if there’s such a thing?

Also, I just finished the book I bought on the Underground Tour. Sons of The Profits was pretty good, actually. It’s written like a news story, so it reads quickly and is entertaining. I had no idea that “Skid Road” was the progenitor of “Skid Row”, and that SEattle coined the term. I have to check that one out.

One thing my wife mentioned. Being a tennis couple, we tend to notice tennis clubs and outdoor courts (for the first, just look for the 120-degree roof of a certain size). Neither of us remember seeing either of the two. Are there any tennis clubs in Seattle? We ask because we may be playing in a SanFran mixed dubs tournament, and wanted to take another 2-3 days beforehand in Seattle, practicing and re-enjoying Seattle.

-Cem

19

Apparently, that’s a bit of local boosterism. The earliest cites in the OED refer to logging operations in the Adirondack mountains from 1880. And our local history site acknowledges the controversy.

20

Strangely enough - several years ago, the PI did a weekly series on Seattle neighborhoods. It’s old and parts are out of date - but a lot isn’t (change happens slowly); the map is pretty good.

Seattle proper is all of section 1, all of section 2, the top half of sections 9 & 10 and the bottom half of sections 3 & 4.

I don’t play tennis, but I do know of two private outdoor tennis clubs in the city and at least one park with outdoor tennis courts. I’m sure there are others - but I’ve never looked.