Our February travel marathon continues with a trip to Seattle to see Turpin and Michelle.
We’ve visited Seattle before, but saw little of the city. At the time, we also made the mistake of booking ourselves into a gay-owned bed and breakfast in Capitol Hill. In addition to an unfortunate bathroom situation (the info we received failed to clarify that our bath was shared with other guests), the owners seemed more focused on getting people into the clothing-optional hot tub than on the overall cleanliness of their property.
Staying with Turpin and Michelle, however, proved to be a great pleasure. They’ve bought themselves an open. light-filled home nestled in the emerald hills of Kirkland. We were there for three days, and the view out the upstairs window — towering, feathery evergreens looming over neighborhood houses — never failed to amaze me.
In addition to hosts, M & T played tour guide, taking us to all the hot spots. Clyde and I missed the Space Needle the first time around (we wouldn’t have seen much, what with all the clouds and rain, either). During this visit, though, we enjoyed almost two full days of sunshine and clear skies. The result? Jaw-dropping views from the top of Seattle’s most distinctive landmark.
We also hit the elegant East/West Bookshop, where we found new copies of Putting the Tarot to Work gleaming on the shelves. I even found a copy wedged on the shelves at Edge of the Circle Books, which proved to have the most extensive inventory of Tarot cards in the city.
(And, in one of those moments that makes an author’s heart glad, we wandered into the local Border’s Books and discovered several copies of Putting the Tarot to Work had been selected for special display on a great eye-level shelf in the metaphysical section. Thanks, guys!)
Our home town of Jackson offers one incredible Thai restaurant — Seattle seems to have a few hundred Thai options. We chose Jai Thai, which proved to be a good choice. The chef isn’t afraid of spice, so my “Thai hot” entree arrived with just the right amount of kick … yet Michelle’s “extra mild” selection proved absolutely manageable.
Later, the sangria and monster burritos at Tia Lou’s made that night’s dinner one to remember … but we confess that Turpin’s grilled salmon and chicken with sides of roasted asparagus and chopped new potatoes was our favorite meal overall. Oh — and if you like hearty breakfasts (Clyde’s favorite meal of the day), don’t miss a morning at George’s in downtown Kirkland.
With all the coffee shops side by side in this town, you’d think Seattle would be filled with wired, herky-jerky people on a non-stop caffeine buzz … but everyone we met, without exception, struck us as friendly and crunchy in that peculiar northwestern way. Maybe it’s the local passion for hemp products — but whatever the reason, folks in Seattle were really, really, really laid back.
Example: at Borders, where fifty thousand bright red signs proclaimed “Paperback Sale: Buy Three, Get One Free, All Paperbacks!”, the fellow at the checkout counter blinked sleepily and said, “Oh? We got a sale? For real?” My impression: we could have said all the books were free — and he would have happily complied.
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