So, in a bit of a happy coincidence, I find myself back in Seattle on the 20th anniversary of Shadowrun. Eric and I spent last night in Chicago and flew out here this morning, in preparation for the Penny Arcade Expo. It's been about four years since I've been here, and it's Eric's first time taking a cross-country trip without the folks being involved, so it's a bit of a big deal.
Seattle's probably my favorite US city (at least, of those I've visited) -- I'm not sure why, entirely, but I know that as soon as we got on the shuttle to head to the hotel, I was probably in the best mood I've been in in weeks, if not months. Of course, any sort of vacation might have had the same effect, but Seattle really is such a beautiful place -- green everywhere, and you can see the trees with all actual terrain, instead of it just being...well, flat. It is easy to walk around and it seems to have a lot of character packed in a small space.
We just took it easy today (Eric was a little wiped out too), but we did do some walking around, just down to Pike's Place Market for lunch and dinner -- yeah, maybe a little touristy, but it's a really cool part of the city to me. We had lunch at Bayou on First, a Cajun restaurant near the market which was kind of a little hole in the wall, but it was pretty good for what it was -- I had a gumbo that was pretty tasty on a day like today, which was cool and drizzly. A little overpriced, maybe, but I sort of expected that for the area. For dinner, we went to Matt's in the Market, which Eric picked out -- though he appeared to have missed the prices (something not to forget next time!). On the other hand, I think mine was at least worth the $25 -- and that's something I wasn't sure about when I ordered, considering what it was: squid ink fettucine with chorizo-stuffed calamari and cherry tomatoes in what I think was a ginger sauce. I wasn't sure when I ordered, but it ended up being amazing -- I guess it's hard to go wrong with chorizo, and the squid ink doesn't really flavor the noodles at all (but it makes it look pretty striking). Eric took a picture, so when I can get it from him I'll stick that up for folks to see.
Tomorrow, Eric and I are heading out to Mt. Rainier for the day, which I'm really looking forward to. But, it does mean a bit of an early day again -- it will be nice to take a bit of a breather on Thursday before going into full-on con mode.
Seattle's probably my favorite US city (at least, of those I've visited) -- I'm not sure why, entirely, but I know that as soon as we got on the shuttle to head to the hotel, I was probably in the best mood I've been in in weeks, if not months. Of course, any sort of vacation might have had the same effect, but Seattle really is such a beautiful place -- green everywhere, and you can see the trees with all actual terrain, instead of it just being...well, flat. It is easy to walk around and it seems to have a lot of character packed in a small space.
We just took it easy today (Eric was a little wiped out too), but we did do some walking around, just down to Pike's Place Market for lunch and dinner -- yeah, maybe a little touristy, but it's a really cool part of the city to me. We had lunch at Bayou on First, a Cajun restaurant near the market which was kind of a little hole in the wall, but it was pretty good for what it was -- I had a gumbo that was pretty tasty on a day like today, which was cool and drizzly. A little overpriced, maybe, but I sort of expected that for the area. For dinner, we went to Matt's in the Market, which Eric picked out -- though he appeared to have missed the prices (something not to forget next time!). On the other hand, I think mine was at least worth the $25 -- and that's something I wasn't sure about when I ordered, considering what it was: squid ink fettucine with chorizo-stuffed calamari and cherry tomatoes in what I think was a ginger sauce. I wasn't sure when I ordered, but it ended up being amazing -- I guess it's hard to go wrong with chorizo, and the squid ink doesn't really flavor the noodles at all (but it makes it look pretty striking). Eric took a picture, so when I can get it from him I'll stick that up for folks to see.
Tomorrow, Eric and I are heading out to Mt. Rainier for the day, which I'm really looking forward to. But, it does mean a bit of an early day again -- it will be nice to take a bit of a breather on Thursday before going into full-on con mode.
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