Perils of Caffeine in the Evening

You probably think we Seattleites are kidding when we discuss the severity of our weather.  Think again.  It was a stroke of good fortune that this umbrella, stripped from its owner’s hands in the midst of one of our hourly maelstroms, found this fence instead of the chest cavity of some unfortunate pedestrian. 

We have an election here next Tuesday that, despite the fatigue everyone feels from last year’s blowout, has a lot of important races and issues that require thoughtful attention. Since I’m headed to Milwaukee next week, and I didn’t cop to the fact that I’d be missing election day until earlier this week, I needed to head downtown to the King County elections office to get an absentee ballot.  There wouldn’t have been time to get one in the mail, and I don’t believe I’ve missed an election since I’ve lived here.

And since I’m travelling all day Sunday, I didn’t think playing a little hooky this afternoon was such a great crime (thanks, M, for deferring your upgrade).  My plan was to catch a bus downtown and walk around a bit to see what had changed, since I don’t get down there as much as I’d like.  At the last minute, Mrs. Perils offered to join me, and off we went.  I didn’t think a midday bus ride would be all that eventful, but it ended up being pretty full, mostly of high school kids just off of school and shouting clever rejoinders at each other.  Their loquaciousness dimmed, but did not mask entirely, that other segment of midday bus riders, represented today by an extemely twitchy mullet-head and a ski-cap guy who kept telling himself he was going to the library to get some peace and quiet (glaring at the school kids), then bitterly chiding himself because “now everyone knows I’m going there.”

We exited the bus as it reached midtown, since I can almost always walk faster than a bus in downtown traffic.  I obtained my ballot, and we decided to head toward the Pike Place Market to find lunch.  Despite the rain and bluster, the walk promised a lot of fun things to see and photograph.  Click the photos to enlarge - the Lusty Lady below will thank you!

This (above) is the below-ground entrance to an Italian restaurant at First and Cherry. We’ve eaten there many years ago, when it was a really nice place. I’m not sure what’s there now, but my appetite might not survive the trip through the door.

The marquee of the venerea venerable Lusty Lady strip club on First is always good for a laugh.

Back in the mid-80s the Pike Place Market raised $1.6million by selling around 46,000 tiles imprinted with personal messages. Since the Market wasn’t very crowded today, we were able to locate ours.

Here you can see the tiles surrounding a musician, who is playing bluegrass music on what I believe is a Saw Duang It seemed to fit right in on a rainy, slightly off-kilter day.

After wandering the Market for awhile, we sought out lunch, and Mrs. Perils recalled a place we’d tried to go for dinner once, Matt’s In the Market.  Since it was a little before 2, we were able to get a table for a late lunch without any trouble.  It’s just as narrow as it looks above, with a counter that wraps around a cramped kitchen and not all that many tables in the back.  The window looks out over the top of the market, with a peekaboo view of Elliott Bay.

Our simple fare: cups of borscht for both of us, a pulled pork sandwich in a tangy barbeque sauce for Mrs. Perils, and Mama Lil’s honkin’ hot albacore tuna sandwich for me, wasabi crusted and seared rare.  Although 5pm is usually our boundary line for alcohol, almost everyone else in the place was sipping wine with their lunches, so here we see Mrs. Perils is drinking a Rioja rose, and I a really tasty Barbera called Il Dufo from a California winery which I will endeavor to find more of. 

We each saved half a sandwich for later, but still felt a little stuffed.  Just about simultaneously, we decided it would be fun & healthful if we walked home instead of bussing.  Our route took us over Queen Anne hill, back down to Fremont to cross the ship canal, then back up the hill to our place in what?  I guess they’re calling it Tangletown these days, wedged between the Wallingford and Greenlake neighborhoods.

It looks like my umbrella is blowing away, but that’s actually an on-point street sculpture mounted on a pole, that swivels with the wind.  It’s on Western Avenue just north of the Market.

Looking west on the ship canal from the Fremont Bridge.  The poplars at the right are the same ones I photographed from the ground here.

Almost home - crossing Aurora Avenue on a footbridge, we look back to downtown, where we started our trek.  It was a great way to spend an afternoon in Seattle, and it’ll take a little of the sting out of having to spend next week away.