Day Seven: Hail Queen Anne!
We woke up at the filthy hostel at about 10am. The bus was predictably waiting outside the filthy hostel when we emerged from said filthy hostel. Once we got downtown, we determined that we had about forty five minutes to eat and walk to the train station. We found some small Italian place for lunch, and walked heavily up to the train station. It turned out that we'd have to wait for a little longer in line, as we waited for seat assignments on the train that was already waiting on the platform.
An on-time departure made us feel great though. In the four hour trip(by far the shortest yet), the movie Akeelah and the Bee was played. I thought it was excellent, and by the time it was over, the train was trundling along Puget Sound past Fort Lewis and Tacoma. Through a series of in-seat naps, we arrived more or less instantaneously in Seattle after that.
Back in San Francisco, Alicia told us that we'd probably need sweaters or jackets for Seattle, and that it's usually liable to rain in some measure there. You can imagine our surprise when we saw that the sun was shining brightly, and not a hint of clouds was visible. What we didn't expect was the temperature. The wall of heat that rushed over us as we stepped off the train was shocking. It was sunny and 93 degrees.
We lugged our packs through completely unfamiliar downtown streets, listening to distant seagulls, and looking around for signs for the #4 bus, which would take us to Queen Anne Hill, where we were staying. After a bit of wandering, we were drawn inexplicably to 3rd Ave, where about fifteen or twenty bus lines all converge for about ten blocks, and soon found a stop for the 4.
Not long before, I had arranged for a place to stay, with Peggy, an old friend from the Duhawk days. She lives in a great apartment in Queen Anne Hill in Seattle, and very generously offered us a place to stay, and to be a tourguide around the city for us. I happily accepted, thanked providence for the stroke of great luck, and cancelled the reservation I had made at the Red Lion for $179 a night.
Then, bad things happened. Peggy was called by her employer to leave for an annoyingly long time that included the entirety of our visit. She arranged for us to be able to still stay at her place, but completely without her there. So, we have a fantastic place to stay, for free, which is a great thing, but I was looking forward to seeing and hanging out with Peggy. Now we're pretty much on our own to find things to do in Seattle.
Seattle is weird. On their buses, you pay when you get off, not when you get on. Everybody backs into angled street parking stalls, so their headlights face the street. Not only can you not smoke in bars and restaurants, but you can't even smoke within 25 feet of them. Also, the people are friendly, helpful, and excited to tell you about their city.
After Erp and I had been out for a little while, we stopped at a diner that had a tap selection better than most in KC. The waitress/bartender, named Renee, was infinitely helpful. She had the "kiss my grits" attitude down, but she was also very attractive. We started talking beer with her, and she became a wealth of information about local breweries and pubs. I told her that if she was ever in Kansas City that she should give me a call so we could get married.
We came back to the apartment and went happily and dizzily to sleep.
We woke up at the filthy hostel at about 10am. The bus was predictably waiting outside the filthy hostel when we emerged from said filthy hostel. Once we got downtown, we determined that we had about forty five minutes to eat and walk to the train station. We found some small Italian place for lunch, and walked heavily up to the train station. It turned out that we'd have to wait for a little longer in line, as we waited for seat assignments on the train that was already waiting on the platform.
An on-time departure made us feel great though. In the four hour trip(by far the shortest yet), the movie Akeelah and the Bee was played. I thought it was excellent, and by the time it was over, the train was trundling along Puget Sound past Fort Lewis and Tacoma. Through a series of in-seat naps, we arrived more or less instantaneously in Seattle after that.
Back in San Francisco, Alicia told us that we'd probably need sweaters or jackets for Seattle, and that it's usually liable to rain in some measure there. You can imagine our surprise when we saw that the sun was shining brightly, and not a hint of clouds was visible. What we didn't expect was the temperature. The wall of heat that rushed over us as we stepped off the train was shocking. It was sunny and 93 degrees.
We lugged our packs through completely unfamiliar downtown streets, listening to distant seagulls, and looking around for signs for the #4 bus, which would take us to Queen Anne Hill, where we were staying. After a bit of wandering, we were drawn inexplicably to 3rd Ave, where about fifteen or twenty bus lines all converge for about ten blocks, and soon found a stop for the 4.
Not long before, I had arranged for a place to stay, with Peggy, an old friend from the Duhawk days. She lives in a great apartment in Queen Anne Hill in Seattle, and very generously offered us a place to stay, and to be a tourguide around the city for us. I happily accepted, thanked providence for the stroke of great luck, and cancelled the reservation I had made at the Red Lion for $179 a night.
Then, bad things happened. Peggy was called by her employer to leave for an annoyingly long time that included the entirety of our visit. She arranged for us to be able to still stay at her place, but completely without her there. So, we have a fantastic place to stay, for free, which is a great thing, but I was looking forward to seeing and hanging out with Peggy. Now we're pretty much on our own to find things to do in Seattle.
Seattle is weird. On their buses, you pay when you get off, not when you get on. Everybody backs into angled street parking stalls, so their headlights face the street. Not only can you not smoke in bars and restaurants, but you can't even smoke within 25 feet of them. Also, the people are friendly, helpful, and excited to tell you about their city.
After Erp and I had been out for a little while, we stopped at a diner that had a tap selection better than most in KC. The waitress/bartender, named Renee, was infinitely helpful. She had the "kiss my grits" attitude down, but she was also very attractive. We started talking beer with her, and she became a wealth of information about local breweries and pubs. I told her that if she was ever in Kansas City that she should give me a call so we could get married.
We came back to the apartment and went happily and dizzily to sleep.
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