Rock, Paper, Scissors!

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Seattle travel blog

Elan, Mark and I once again headed out of town for a concert. This time to Seattle to see Sting and Peter Gabriel together on stage! "Rock, Paper, Scissors" was one of the best concerts ever!

We chose to stay at an Air BnB on Capitol Hill. A wonderful choice though a bit noisy. It is on the middle of the city after all. Just around the corner is the most delightful bakery. Brown sugar brioche was so tasty! As well as Elan's smoked salmon croissant.

After coffee and pastries we headed to the Woodland Park Zoo. The tiger put on quite a show, preening and stretching on a rock right in front of us before heading off out of the sun and into shade. We saw many different birds, much to our delight and one even flew right over Elan's head causing him to duck suddenly. Sassy troupials! Of course one of the highlights for Mark were the gorillas. " gorilla gorilla gorilla" otherwise known as the lowland gorilla. And baby Yola came out to see us as well. His mom was quite protective and when he did not go in the direction she wanted, she just reached out and placed her hand on his head to guide him. It brought unite a chuckle among the many parents in the crowd watching! If only it was so easy with human babies! Elan's favorite animal was the sloth. We watched it sleep upside down. Nothing unusual as it is spends most of its life upside down. After many hours of wandering around we hopped back on the bus up to Capitol Hill.

Dressed and ready for the big event, we headed out again in search of some sustenance. Since Aqua swears by Yelp and has always found us good places to eat that way, we used it as well. We found a tapas bar not too far away. It was perfect! Since I had not posted food pics from our recent Portland trip, I made sure to take food pics this time! And the food was as good as it looks! Our waitress was fantastic as well and we spent a lovely time chatting. She works at another restaurant in Belltown, The Innkeeper with a Don Quixote theme- so of course we will head there Saturday or Sunday.

We went out to wait for the bus to go to Key Arena which did not come and did not come and did not... So we hailed a taxi and spent an enjoyable ride chatting with the driver who is from Ethiopia.

Peter Gabriel & Sting: Rock, Paper, Scissors Concert!

Into the Key Arena we went and to our seats. We sat almost in the middle, just to the side of the sound booth, first row above the floor seating! Mark is a genius at choosing the best seats in the house! Elan chatted with the concert goers around us and we were all laughing and having a good time waiting for the concert to begin. Peter Gabriel and his band and Sting and his band shared the stage for two hours of non stop singing. Some songs together some alone, each played back up for the other as needed and sang each other's songs as well. What a concert! And the visuals were stunning too with multi media screens above the band showing interpretations of the songs by students from the College of Visual Arts work. I had hoped Melanie, Peter's daughter would be on the show but she wasn't. They did have violins and a cello on stage and of course the incomparable Tony with his array of stronger guitar-like instruments! He is a delight to watch! We do hope this concert will be made into a DVD!

Waking up early this morning, had a glass of tea and sitting watching the morning begin out the window but now I think I will go take a nap!

Friday
First stop was the lovely bakery. Elan had a sandwich and Mark and I shared an apricot pastry. Mochas and cappuccino too! Yummy.

Then, because I am collecting Row by Row patterns for quilting, Mark and Elan went along when we made our second stop Pacific Fabrics & Crafts in the industrial area. Since I used to work at Pacific Fabrics in Anchorage once upon a time, it was a fun visit. Of course I also picked up a variety of fun patterns! (No fabric though!)

After the store, it was about time to head to dinner. Machine House Brewery in the old Rainier brewery building in Georgetown. On the way walking towards the brewery, we went into a very high end used vintage shop. Nice to look at. Just next door was another antique store, if 1980's stuff can be considered antiques! Of course they had a variety of much older stuff as well.

Anyone who knows Mark well, knows that not only does he have a good eye for this stuff, he thoroughly enjoys finding treasures! Suffice to say, we now are the proud owners of an antique phone from 1913! We look forward to your next visit to see the phone in place at our home.

The brewery was just a bit farther down the road. A food truck was there as well with British fish and chips. This was not your typical American fish and chips with a few pieces of fish but this was one whole filet of cod tasting fried up. It was delicious and even was served with a side of mushy peas. I liked the peas but they were not as I remembered having, these had mint in them!

We walked around after dinner and went to another bar to sit and chat with Kelsey and another friend who had met up with us earlier.

Piling into our friend's car, we headed back to Capitol Hill... and decided to go to one more place. Coincidentally, Rick just texted and suggested we visit The Stumbling Monk, bar with Belgian ales and beer and more importantly, games! Elan and Kelsey play Go, after one game of shesh-besh, or backgammon between Mark and I, Mark, Lor and I played three-way battleship! Lots of fun. Then next door Elan and Kelsey decided we should end our evening at Captain Black's for fried chicken and waffles. (Sorry no pic for that.)

Lor kindly drove us back up the hill to another restful night's sleep!

Saturday
Get up. Get coffee. Get car. Get breakfast. Get phone.

Breakfast in the Georgetown Liquor Company! All vegan choices! And the chef shared his gravy recipe with me. When I go home I will work on recreating it. Elan had the "Wrap of Khan". Vegan fajitas. Very tasty! Mark had vegan biscuits and gravy. I enjoyed an oh so tasty biscuit and gravy with a side of vegan maple pepper bacon! Yummy!

After picking up the phone, we drove to the Bellevue Pacific Fabrics, just happened to be on the way to the St. James Faire! Arriving to the faire, we paid our entrance fee and went to see the knights battling.

If you have ever attended a Renaissance faire, even the Three Barons for example, this is not that. This is a permanent 14th century village. There was a candle maker, a man with a forge, a bookseller, a weaver... There was a trio of musicians with a wonderful array of instruments including a hurdy gurdy! A storyteller and most enjoyable, a jongleur, Master Payne. He performed feats of magic and amazement.

On our way back to Seattle we went by another Pacific Fabrics for the 3rd Row by Row quilt pattern. The 4th one is in Bremerton, anyone going that way?

Next stop was the International District and Chinatown. We walked all over and came to the Kau Kau BBQ, rated very highly on Yelp. We have found that Yelp is a good barometer of what might be a tasty restaurant to go to. This did not disappoint us at all. We shared roast duck, steamed rice and Chinese broccoli in a most delicious garlic sauce.

After walking around some more we headed back to Capitol Hill. Kelsey and Lor mentioned the Dilettante Mocha Martini Bar on Broadway. If you have ever been in the Seattle airport or on your next trip, be sure to stop for a chocolate drink at the Dilettante Chocolate & Coffee stop! Well back to the one on Broadway, we went in and since it was still fairly warm outside we chose to sit outside. Elan chose a chocolate cherry martini and a Rigo Jansci torte, Mark chose a classic chocolate martini and carrot cake, and I chose the Valencia Spirit Martini and chocolate decadence cake which was the star of the show! Molten hot chocolate cakey-pudding-fudgy plate of deliciousness served warm!

Sunday
We had plans to go to the Center for Wooden Boats but by the time we got up and packed the phone up... Only after deciding that we should not take it with the generator inside on the plane... We were never going to have it as a working phone anyway. We were able to easily leave our bags at the BnB till the evening. Took the car back and it was already later than we planned so we looked in our trusty guidebook and saw there was a open air market in Fremont. So first some breakfast then the market.

A short bus ride and we were in Fremont for a wonderful afternoon of meandering through the market. Of course we found a few treasures, some old buttons, an old book or two and time for me to have some henna designs for my hands. We shared a wonderfully cooked naan with a garlic sauce on it as well.

Then the plan was to have a nice relaxing dinner before heading to the airport but we meandered a bit too long and decided to head back to Capitol Hill for one last time and pick up our bags.

We did have a nice relaxing dinner at Anthony's though and boarded out plane home.

Oh? I forgot to mention that a little earlier our good friend, Ellen, who so graciously stays at our home when we go on trips texted to let us know she heard a squirrel in the house and Oakley was going bonkers to get at it. From her description it seemed like the usual noise I hear when they scrabble in the roof. We did ask her to move the cats and dog to the kitchen and close the door so just in case it was on the house, there'd be no altercation ms with animals.

When it rains, it sometimes pours and Ellen found a bucket to put under the leak in the house as well.

We got home and the animals were delighted to see us. Mark took a flashlight and intrepidly went in the cabin to see what was happening. Some of you have been to our home, remember the big silver garbage can we have next to the wood stove for wood and kindling? We had used up most of the wood on there except for a short 2x4 piece...and one squirrel! While the animals and I stayed in the bedroom, Mark dispatched of the squirrel. We then went on a search for holes that it might have used to come in. Found some big ones right above where the garbage can was. We figure the squirrel got in and promptly fell into the can!

After patching the holes as best as possible at 3 in the morning, we finally got to bed.

Monday Post Script:
While cleaning the house, I saw two squirrels again just outside in the hardware cloth that is supposed to keep them out of the roof...they are still in the roof. I just hope they stay out of the house!

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Photos

Freemont weather vane
I want to build one of these!

Cafe Vacilando
Crust with veggies romesco

Cafe Vacilando
Spicy bean dip

Cafe Vacilando
Meatballs

Cafe Vacilando
Clams with cilantro