The Road Trip Part 8. Of Space and Needles.

This was one of several
clever little signs in Seattle

Alright boys and girls. Looks like we've got some catching up to do. Let's get to it.

So the 4.5 hour drive from Portland was all in all, pretty decent. Listened to some music, talked on the carphone. I left in the afternoon and spent a pretty dark evening driving through rainy freeways. Honestly I would not recommend doing it that way if you ever choose to make that drive. My car skidded on rain-slick roads at least six times and my heart jumped a good eighteen inches or so each time.

Truck Lunch

At any rate, I arrived in Seattle damp, but largely unharmed. I went to bed in my hotel without really paying much attention to my surroundings and then when I awoke, I was pleased to wander outside into the gray city to find a food-truck brandishing a host of delicious food-meats.

I partook and was genuinely pleased.

I wandered around town a little more looking at shops and stuff, but come dinner-time there was really only one reason I chose Seattle:

Pictured: Heaven.

Soup, mother-effin' Dumplings.

The Seattle Branch of the illustrious Din Tai Fung was all in all, pretty cool. It was bigger than the one I was used to in Arcadia, and the food had a slightly different flavor. They also had some Soup Dumplings infused with Truffle Oil which I tried. They were on the border of way too rich and were a fascinating experience in decadence.

Books!

My Seattle Adventure continued in the truly tremendous Seattle Public Library, which was a great time. The building was this big triangular number and was filled with books and escalators and college students.

Ye Olde blogging material.

After that I went to the pier where I hit up a Curiosity Shop, which I suppose would be a convenient time to mention the Kickstarter that recently opened up wherein I did some writing for my sister and her husband's awesome illustrated book thingy. Also, the shop had a dead guy in it.

Holy snap deliciousness

Then I went to the Pike Place Market, which was fabulous. It had bookstores, and Truffle dealers and buskers galore. I had a delicious lunch at a place called Pike Place Chowder, which had a gigantic line but I didn't have anywhere else to be that day. I waited in line and read some Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom until I managed to get a seat, followed quickly by a cup of chowder and a crab sandwich. They were FANTASTIC.

Don't swallow your gum, kids.

Then I saw a gum wall.

The cool thing about it was that every few feet there were little gum murals asking people to Prom or other such pronouncements.

Art?

I went to the Seattle Fine Art Museum and saw some Fine Art

Also: Blue trees. 

Art.

Then I went to get some hot chocolate because I'm cool like that. There was a little bar at the back of the chocolate store where I was expounded upon the distinction between hot cocoa and hot chocolate. Fascinating stuff, really.

The line to the top was
too long.

Then I went to the Space Needle. 

This gun, is the best gun.

Which was conveniently located near the MUCH MORE INTERESTING Museum of Science Fiction.

Seriously, they had Unhinged
Box sets.

All in all, it was a pretty good trip. 

My last night in Seattle was pretty awesome I was out on the edge of town where there was a little street with [little shops]. I stopped by a truly fantastic gaming store in time for Friday Night Magic, bought some more dice, and just ogled at their selection of games and cards. 

Then I went to a Diner called Beth's. 

I wish I could convey how awesome this diner was. Instead I'll just leave you with this:

This Diner is the Best Diner.