Seattle in the Winter

!Long Post Warning!

The yearly AWP writer's conference was in Seattle this year. I haven't been on a plane in far too long and Seattle has been on my list of places to visit for a while, so I was excited for the excuse to buy tickets for a four-day getaway with Bry. Strong coffee, fresh seafood, an abundance of hipsters, and slightly warmer temps made for a good time.

Day 1: 

Before the conference, we took our first walk around downtown and found our favorite breakfast spot of the trip, Cafe Fonte. Their Aztec mocha was bitter and divine. 

 

After the day's sessions were over for me, we headed to Pier 50 for the water ferry to West Seattle and a long walk to Alki Beach. The views of the water, mountains, and downtown were beautiful, especially as the sun set. We were lucky to have a semi-clear day. We found a chowder house and experienced our first taste of Seattle seafood. Dungeness crab chowder and WA mussels for me.

After ferrying back to downtown, we took a night walk through Pikes Place Market and stopped by the first Starbucks. We'd heard it was busy, but thanks to the fact that it was a late evening in February we had the place to ourselves and were able to chat with the barista about their mascot, the giant pig covered in coffee beans above the door.

Day 2:

At the end of another full day of learning for me, about the time when my head felt like it might explode, we started off for the Capitol Hill neighborhood. (We decided not to rent a car for the trip, which meant many long, long walks during our visit.) Our destination was Volunteer Park. We climbed the old brick water tower for more amazing views. The conservatory and the houses in the residential area around the park were also lovely. 

Then it was on to Victrola Cafe, Elliot Bay Bookstore (which was crawling with writers in town for the conference) where I bought Notes from No Mans Land by Eula Biss, and Sitka & Spruce. This was probably my favorite restaurant. The kitchen was part of the restaurant and we watched the chefs cook our swordfish in a giant fireplace across the room. I felt like I was in someone's home…a very, very cool home.

Day 3: 

We decided to head back to our friends at Cafe Fonte for another satisfying breakfast. 

The downtown streets are just so pretty. For example, this is their Banana Republic:

After my last day of book fair wandering and still more lectures, I collapsed in the hotel room while we planned our evening. We were originally intending to take a taxi to a swanky, sports-coat requiring restaurant on Lake Union, but at this point the jet-lag, late nights and early mornings were catching up with us. We decided instead to stay in our comfortable clothes and head back to Capitol Hill (my fave) to check out a few of their super cool shops and have dinner at a place we had passed by the day before and liked the look of. With the new plan, we had time to do some reading at yet another coffee shop, and sit down to sample local cheese from a cute indoor market. The seafood choice for me that night was a quinault river steelhead. Wow. So good.

Day 4:

Sunday started off with church at Mars Hill Downtown, which was conveniently located a couple of blocks from our hotel.

Then it was on to tea and crumpets at The Crumpet Shop. One lemon curd ricotta and one pesto for me. The place was packed and I wondered what all the fuss was about. I was not prepared for the wonderfulness of these crumpets. As I was eating them I suddenly became depressed about the fact that these were now my my favorite little things ever…and they were about as far across the country as they could be from me. Ah, the heartbreak. But as Tennyson wisely said...'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

Back to Pikes Place Market during the day. Had to stop by to see the guys who throw the fish.

For our last day, we had the pleasure of experiencing the Seattle rain…along with unusually cool weather. Being from Indiana, we toughed it out for a walk along the harbor to the Olympic Sculpture and Myrtle Edwards parks and back through Belltown. 

We were a little grumpy (maybe from the weather, maybe from different expectations for the last day, maybe from the impending transition back to normal life) and had a nice, heated discussion at one last coffee shop to warm us up. It wasn't overly pleasant at the time, but it brought to light issues that we did need to discuss, and we both decided it was good in the end. We finished the afternoon off with dinner at a famous french restaurant in the market, overlooking the bay (cassoulet and Bry's first escargot). 

And then it was time for the light rail ride to the airport and our red-eye flight back to Chicago. I am so thankful for this trip. Surprisingly, I was less sad to return home (to more snow) than I thought I would be. It was just so good to see my girls and my house again. Overall, it was a refreshing little boost…for my relationship with Bry, for my schooling, and for my overall joy and contentment with the life I have been given here.