Breather

I am in love with San Francisco, but I have a crush on Seattle.

I've been poking around the wilderness for awhile now. I am starting to miss relaxed city life a little. When you're traveling, you can get kind of torn whether to keep on pushing forward and seeing new places... or whether to relax and enjoy the places you really like.

The two plus days I spent in Seattle with Darren were great, but didn't feel like nearly enough. I enjoyed the people and the neighborhoods and I wanted to feel it out some more.

Although I initially set out to explore British Columbia much deeper, I also gave myself permission to skip it if I was having a good time somewhere else. I needed a rest from the daily grind of moving from place to place, and I wanted to relax somewhere I knew I'd enjoy. I had completed my big loop around Olympic National Park, so I headed back to Seattle for a breather.

I had a choice to make about accommodations. I could probably find a nice creepy parking lot or industrial neighborhood to hide in at night for free. Or I could go in style and spring for a motel. It seemed almost like cheating on Rusty to do so, but after a couple of weeks alternating between wilderness and pseudo urban homelessness, I was ready for a soft bed and a shower of my very own. So I got on Priceline and booked myself a two night Travelodge fantasy vacation.

Since I already wrote about the city before, I won't blather on about day to day movements. But I will breakdown the highlights of my stay.

Paseo - One day I rode my bike a surprisingly long way to the nearest laundromat to repair my road funky clothing. While walking up the final block along Fremont Street, my nose caught wind of what I later learned is a town gem. My spider sense also noted the giant midweek lunchtime line in a quiet residential neighborhood. I suspected something special. This little neighborhood food stand cooks up Caribbean and Cuban goodness. Their specialty is a grilled pork sandwich dripping with aioli and smothered in caramelized onions and pickled jalapenos. It would be a grave mistake to try and eat one without a healthy stack of napkins nearby. But it is every bit as delicious as it sounds.

Alissa - Thanks to the magic of Facebook, it came to my attention that my friend Alissa happened to be in Seattle on business one of the days I was there, but we only had about two hours to try and meet up before she left town. So I biked downtown and met her and her coworkers for happy hour. I learned that she had a new job working for a non profit called Code for America. One of her coworkers who came strolling in was none other than Tim O'Reilly, a profoundly high ranking nerd hero for those of us in the tech world. Tim, who sits on the board for the company, is far from a nerd himself, however. He was very friendly and hung out with us until it was soon time to leave. It was an unexpected and fleeting brush with greatness.

The Tractor - I was somewhat indecisive about whether to see Antibales at Neumos or Jesca Hoop at the Tractor Tavern one Tuesday night. It came down to weather I was in the mood for a wild dance party or a more intimate acoustic evening. I had already been to Neumos and heard good things about The Tractor. After a long hot day of biking around town, I opted for the latter. The Tractor is in the Ballard neighborhood, on a lovely strip roughly similar to Hayes or Noe Valleys in San Francisco. I grabbed a bite nearby at a marvelous, authentic Mexican restaurant called La Carta de Oaxaca. Great vibe and fantastic food. While walking down Ballard Avenue toward the venue, I was mesmerized by a beautiful acoustic guitar shop which was sadly closed for the night. For some reason, before I left on this trip, I had a vague premonition that I was going to buy a guitar in Seattle. I knew I needed to return to this place another day.

The show started later than I expected, so I actually caught both opening acts as well.

• Kaylee Cole - A young town-hipster with some real talent happy to have a break to play a good venue. She came with nicely written songs and was charming and comfortable on stage. I got to chat with her for awhile after her set and let her know how much I enjoyed her music.
• Blake Mills - He was really Jessica Hoop's backup guitar and vocalist, but had an album of his own and has some serious guitar skills. I wanted to buy his CD, but he only sold cassette tapes. How tragically hip. I scoffed and passed on it, but regretted it later on when I realized that the boom box I carry in Rusty actually has a tape player.
• Jesca Hoop - She has an interesting background, including nannying for Tom Waits before her career started. She and Blake paired up with their acoustic guitars and mounted their two stools on stage. I was blown away by the performance and also by how empty the venue was for their show. She somehow balances a happy go lucky personality with that of a total perfectionist. She is soulful, funny, cute, and a fantastic performer. Go see her if you ever have the chance. It's rare these days since she lives in England now.

Erin was scheduled to fly in to Seattle to finish out the road trip with me in about a week. I had a few days to kill in the vicinity and was thinking about hitting the San Juan Islands. But I wasn't too sure which island to choose. You have to take a ferry to each individual island, so I really needed to pick just one of them to visit.

I was chatting with a friendly guy in a cool little coffee shop in Fremont. After talking with me for a bit, he decided that I would probably like Orcas Island the best. He also suggested that I return for the Capitol Hill Block Party, a three day music festival in the streets of downtown Seattle. I didn't recognize most of the artists on the bill (either because the bands were mostly local or because I'm mostly out of touch with popular music lately), but the dates were just before Erin was to arrive to meet me.

I took his advice. I bought tickets for the show and did some research on Orcas Island. I had a few days to kill before the music festival. It would work out just right.

Orcas, here I come.