The only place to stay…Seattle–

MMM!  This hotel ROCKS in a town that ROCKS…it’s The Edgewater–check it out!

Built on and over the edge of Elliott Bay on pier 67 is The Edgewater Hotel in Seattle. . .everyone has stayed here: The Beatles, The Stones, Hendrix, Pearl Jam dudes, Led Zeppelin–they had the infamous shark incident here that involved a woman, a shark, and some sort of sexual act…Google it to learn more…fascinating.

Many others have stayed here as well and had great times, wild times, illegal times, etc.. . .so fun to wander the halls and feel all of the fun vibes past-present-and-future. . .plus, the rooms are really nice…a tad rickety and worn in…but lovely nonetheless.  We prefer a larger room on the 4th floor facing pier 66 so we can watch the cruise ships docking and undocking as we sip wine and gobble crab eggs benedict or seafood stew with our gas fireplace burning away. . .mmmm, aaaah!

The staff here are efficient and helpful–no b.s. anywhere. . .the lobby bar–Six/Seven–sits right over the edge of the bay where we enjoy tasty bar grub and delicious champagne and wines. . .on the weekends they have live music with dudes channelling past grunge greats like Chris Cornell and Kurt Cobain and current dudes like Eddie Vedder and Layne Staley. . .LOTS…OF…FUN.

I send you easygoin’ vibes from the grounds of The Edgewater Hotel in Seattle. . .feel them. . .they will keep you safe and scary and rockin’.

It’s lovely out there.

Tasty burger…Seattle–

BAM!  Here is the tastiest burger we have found thus far in Seattle: The Quinn’s Burger at Quinn’s Pub over on East Pike Street. . .mmmm, aaaahh!

Quinn’s is a delightful little gastro-pub serving up extremely tasty grub and delicious potables…we prefer the Substance Vineyard Cabernet with our Quinn Burger–how about you?

This burger is good because it has a substantial yet not-too-heavy bun, nice 8 oz. patty cooked a perfect medium-rare–juices drip out of this thing as we inhale it, just the way we like it. . .there is some cheese involved as well.  We apply a little mustard, and we are good-to-go.

It appears that this place gets busy at night. . .we find it totally soothing to pop in just after their 5 p.m. opening time to do our sipping and gobbling before the maddening crowds arrive–jaaaa!

Seek out Quinn’s Pub if you have a hankerin’ for a good burger the next time you pop into Seattle. . .you will love it–I gar-ron-taaaaay!

It’s lovely out there.

Great bar…Seattle–

So, it is said that this Seattle bar is the last place that folks saw Kurt Cobain alive before he famously offed himself back in 1994…let’s check it out and see what’s what here.

Linda’s Tavern opened in February of 1994 right here on Pine Street in the Melrose section of town…Kurt did his thing in April of 1994…just a couple of months after the grand opening.  It’s sad that Kurt is not with us, yet it’s uplifting that we still have Linda’s with us because this is a great bar.

There are big windows that let in lots of light during the day…perfect for sipping some brews and gobbling the Cowboy Burger–nice 8 oz. patty topped with sautéed onions, bacon and an egg…throw some cheese on there too–yummy!

The staff are all nice and efficient…lots of tattoos on most of them…lots of chill and relaxed vibes. . .lots of patrons chatting and sipping and gobbling snacks. . .lots of animal heads on the walls–the best being a large bison head behind the bar…jukebox goin’ with cool tunes…exposed beams in the ceiling with lots of dust and grime from activities over the past 25 years in here, etc.  We love this bar. . .we could hang here a long time. . .and we do, sippin’ and gobblin’ and chattin’ the day away.

I remember hearing about the Cobain suicide 25 years ago–total downer…fascinating to sit in here today imagining what could have happened if he had figured himself out and found the strength to carry on.  What a shame…but we have the music he created to help us carry on. . .thank you, Kurt, wherever you are now.

Come to Seattle. . .walk around. . .pay homage to Kurt and Jimi and Chris Cornell and all the other great musicians who come from this place.  Sip something nice, gobble something delicious, breathe some air, and carry on. . .still so much to see and do and soooooo little time.

It’s lovely out there.

Seattle ROCKS…and TOLERATES–

WOW!  We have the Jimi Hendrix statue over on the corner of Pine and Broadway…we have colorful crosswalks symbolizing tolerance…we have signs explicitly stating high levels of tolerance. . .plus so much more–Seattle really does ROCK and TOLERATE!

Yes, Jimi Hendrix was born here–so easy to forget this. . .well before the days of grunge Jimi was traipsing around town and then the country and then the world becoming the greatest guitar player who ever lived…or at least one of the top 3 or 5…fun to pay homage to him by leaning on his statue and snapping a pic.

These colorful crosswalks are wonderful…we love them…there should be all kinds of these all over the country symbolizing this or that or simply making things a little more colorful. . .colors make us happy, this is a proven fact–look it up…(I hope I have this right–grrrrr).

And it is always nice to wander around a town where folks say ‘no’ to nasty stuff and ‘yes’ to just about everything else.  We say “yes” whenever we can. . .how about you?

Anyway, Seattle…kool town with lots of chill people. . .we could spend a long time here if it were only a little warmer most of the time.  And the rain, the damn rain. . .ugh…I need a hot coffee NOW.

It’s lovely out there.

#1 seafood joint…Seattle–

Here it is, our pick for the number one seafood spot in all of Seattle: Taylor–the original one over on Melrose Avenue. . .mmmm, aaaah!

Taylor serves wonderful Dungeness crabs, sea urchins, geoducks, clams, oysters, chowders, stews, etc.. . .most of this stuff is sitting in tanks fresh from the sea and waiting for you to gobble.

The particular Taylor location on Melrose is next to an old seafood market and a newer upscale butcher/gobble spot. . .it is cozy and chill and totally set up to serve us the freshest items cooked in the best way whenever we want…or raw in the case of oysters, clams , urchins and geoducks.

During our visit we devour two crabs, a dozen oysters, one geoduck, and three urchins. . .all of this is washed down with a nice crisp white burgundy–magical and delicious.

There are lots of places to inhale seafood in this town. . .many of them are quite good, but from our experience there is nothing better than hangin’ at Taylor, suckin’ on some crab, and watchin’ the game–jaaaaa!

Come to Seattle…find a Taylor location near you–there are three or four of them…have a seat…gobble extremely tasty seafood that will make you smile real big like…enjoy.

It’s lovely out there.

Fine dining…Seattle-style–

POW!  We finally make it to Canlis–Seattle’s famous fine dining joint.  Let’s check it out and see what’s what…jaaaa!

Canlis is located in a structure built in the 1950s in the Queen Anne section of town.  Mid-century modern is the design and decor…lots of dim lighting…lots of hushed diners enjoying the soothing vibe, the magical views of the evergreens and water outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, and the calming attention of the staff.  We feel real good in here. . .we are happy to be here.

We are greeted swiftly as we enter the lobby area…we are checked in efficiently and told to wait in the bar until our table is ready.  We hit the bar, we sit, we order glasses of champagne, and we listen to the song stylings of the dude playing a grand piano just steps away–not too loud, not too soft, just about right.

We sip our champagne and BOOM our table is ready.  Our hostess grabs our glasses and walks us to a wonderful table with side-by-side seating–our favorite seating arrangement.  In fact, we are in a room that is encircled by a soft bench that allows for side-by-side seating for lots of folks. . .very nice.

Now if only the food matched the entire experience thus far. . .sadly it doesn’t.

The meal is four courses…each of us chooses an item from four sections, and the magic is supposed to begin.

For our meal we do the ‘famous’ Canlis salad, chawanmushi, spot prawns, bbq carrots, sea bass, and duck.  Everything is ‘good’ but nothing is great. . .food arrives warm as opposed to hot–kind of strange…and the flavors are there but not magically there.  Dessert is a souffle–quite good…and a fruit stick thing–quite tasty as well.

We wash the whole meal down with a nice white Burgundy, and we are on our way.

The bill includes a 20 percent service charge so we don’t have to fuss around with figuring out a tip. . .fine by us.  Quite pricey for Seattle standards and anywhere else, frankly. . .but not good value for the food that we consume.

Overall, we agree with a reviewer from The Infatuation: she says, “Eat here once, then move on.”  We agree…we have eaten here once, experienced the magical decor and service of Canlis, and will now move on to more satisfying meals.

Definitely consider eating here the next time you are in Seattle…lots of fun to experience this storied dining establishment in this great town…but just don’t expect to be blown away. by the food…do expect a dent in your wallet that you will not feel entirely satisfied with.

Upward and onward…

…it’s lovely out there.

Breakfast at The Edgewater…Seattle–

The sun rises and sets over Elliott Bay here in beautiful Seattle…makes us hungry standing on our balcony at the legendary Edgewater Hotel watching the sun come up, go down, come up, go down, etc.

To satisfy this hunger we order room service brekky…and the Edgewater does a brekky most-worthy of your attention. . .crab eggs benedict and a soothing frittata jam-packed with crab meat–mmmm, aaaaaahh!

Wash all of this stuff down with lots of Seattle coffee and a bottle of Pinot Grigio, and we are good-to-go, baby!

Come to Seattle…stay at the Edgewater…eat good room service grub while watching the sun travel across the sky…sleep…repeat…most wonderful!

I send you cloudy/misty/sunny vibes from Seattle. . .feel them. . .they are good for your circadian rhythms.

It’s lovely out there.

Rockin’ grub…Seattle–

BOOM!  We land in Seattle…cab to the hotel…drop our bags…splash our faces…drinks in the hotel bar…then BAM!–we head to Matt’s In The Market for din-din. . .mmmm, aaaaahh!

Matt’s In The Market is one of the best dining joints in all of Seattle. . .it is located in an old building across the street from Pike Place Market…lots of large windows provide fabulous views of the market buildings and the Seattle skyline in the distance.

Even better than the vibe and the views is the food. . .this Matt dude can cook–mmm-hhmmm!. . .and he is surrounded by a great team of folks all focused on making our dinner dreams come true.

During this visit we do oysters, seafood stew full of fish and clams and shrimps and mussels and scallops–lovely, and a roasted sea bass–delicious.  All of this is washed down with a dry French white…magic.

For dessert we are told that they have bourbon ice cream this evening. . .gotta have that…and a nice strong Seattle coffee to bring the meal to a close.

Please consider dining at Matt’s In The Market the next time you visit Seattle. . .Matt is a rock-and-rollin’ badazz chef who will satisfy your hunger and send you on your way with a solid fist-bump, if you like.

It’s lovely out there.

Gettin’ busy…Pacific Northwest–

KAPOWY!  We always love returning to Seattle–our favorite town in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S of A.

The sunsets make us go, ‘aaaaahh’…the oysters make us go, ‘mmmmmm’…and the glasses of champagne always make us go, ‘yeeeeee-haaaaaaa!’

Yes, it’s cloudy a lot here…yes, it rains a lot here…but when the sun does pop out from time-to-time it puts a smile on our faces as wide as Elliott Bay.

The people here are chill and welcoming no matter what the weather is doing–real troopers.  We don’t mind bumping into the occasional local. . .though most of the time we keep to ourselves and just watch everyone flow with the passage of time.

The trees are evergreen, this town is ever-uplifting, and our eyes and stomachs are ever-searching for the next great pile of seafood for us to gobble. . .mmmm, aaaaahh!

I send you easygoing vibes from Seattle. . .feel them. . .they will help you sleep real well tonight.

It’s lovely out there.

Fabulous charcuterie–

MMM!  This is the famous “Salumi” here in Seattle, Washington. . .Mario Batali’s father owns this place, and it is full of some of the tastiest charcuterie that we have ever tasted anywhere. . .mmm, aaaahh!

During this visit we are doing the charcuterie sampler that includes blood sausage, pork sausage, spicy port sausage, hard salami, mortadella, etc….it is all totally delicious stuff.

We are also devouring a porchetta sandwich that is so delectable I could eat two or three more with no problem at all, but I gotta stay focused.

Yes, Mario Batali is having his difficulties back in New York right now, but this is no reason to resist a visit to his father’s place in Seattle.  Papa Batali is a cool dude…he quit his job as an executive at Boeing a number of years ago to learn butchering and sausage making in Italy.  Then he opened this place, and it is a pilgrimage site most-worthy of your attention now if you are a lover of cured meats as we are.

Please pop on out here for a visit…gobble some cured meat goodness, and you will be a better person for supporting this fine establishment.

I send you porky vibes from Salumi in Seattle. . .feel them. . .they are good for your vitality and overall constitution.

It’s lovely out there.