Woooo! Looking forward to receiving your collective wisdom, and the trip itself.
I've just realised I was very unclear on one part. I think the kids will be asleep quite early in the evenings (due to the jet lag) and we won't have any baby-sitting, so any plans to meet up in the evenings won't really work. This limits things to Seattle Unfoggedbabysplosion representatives or the idle rich in the week days, I suppose. Also, Sunday afternoon we'll probably have to bail early.
We'll probably be staying in Queen Anne if it makes a difference.
Walk around the Central Library (free), look at boats at the Chittenden Locks (free), visit the old water tower and conservatory at Volunteer Park (free), take a ferry ride (cheap), ride the monorail (cheap), ride the ginormous Ferris Wheel (not so cheap, but not terribly expensive). Get rained on.
Eat at Salumi! It's not far from the passport office.
At the end, go to the Pike Place market and buy a salmon to take home with you. They know how to wrap them to be carried on. It should be fine all the way home.
IME, the TSA people, once they know it's a salmon, will interrogate you closely about how you plan to cook it.
4.2: To make sure you're not going to ruin it?
Thanks for the tips so far!
What is the correct way to cook a Salmon? My favoured way is to grill salmon with ginger and soy sauce, but that probably won't work with a whole salmon. I don't want to end up in the clink because my cooking practices reveal unpatriotic sympathies!
I've had the TSA people in Albuquerque interrogate me as aggressively when carrying on a 3 foot ristra.
To be fair, I probably do look like the kind of person who's going to cook stuff wrong.
I really liked the Seattle underground tour when I was there as a (slightly older) kid.
6.2 -- This is not intended as legal advice, but I've had good luck with lemon and fresh dill.
6: Poached in a court boullion has always turned out well for me.
(Like Charley, I am not your fishmonger, and this is not culinary advice.)
Buy two, and turn one into gravlax!
When returning from France on my own I seem to emit some sort of clarion call along the lines of "this woman is totally packing underage raw milk cheeses and cured meat products!" Whereas when entering en famille we just breeze through.
Center for wooden boats is very interesting for those so-inclined and you can rent from them!
15: I brought in some kind of peach sparkling wine from France when I was 14. It was a gift from my host family. I was terrified that I would get caught in the US.
16: ha!
17: stepdaughter & her guy brought back camembert for her mum in carry on, were sitting there in their seats wondering who'd packed a decaying rat/was experiencing epic gastric distress, when boyfriend opened overhead bin to retrieve something from his bag and they realized the stench was from the cheese. They did not open bin again until end of flight, spent the rest of it quaking in apprehension of retaliation from fellow passengers. Of course in the event of rebellion the solution was easy, to communally consume the problem, but a drag to waste a hood cheese on senses ravaged by airplane air.
good cheese, although who knows whether they bought it on the wrong side of the tracks or not, they were like 18-20 at the time.
I bet the flight attendant would have given them a plastic bag.
I enjoyed the underground tour too. It was a bit cheesy, in the mode of tourist traps the world over, but the underground sites and history are undeniably cool. It's also a bit saucy (lots of joking about the prostitutes of Olde Seattle frex) and might not be appropriate for five-year-olds (though they might be young enough that it all goes way over their heads).
I'll be in suburban Seattle for work that week, and could conceivably make a meetup if I could find a ride.
If they don't learn about sex from tour guides, they'll just learn about it in school.
|| Anyone for a NY meetup next week (Tuesday to Thursday)? LA meetup the week after? |>
I'm no good on Tuesday, but could be cajoled out for a drink Wednesday or Thursday. Teraz? Freed? Jackm? Blandings? Who am I forgetting?
I'd prefer Thursday but Wednesday and Thursday both good.
I can't do Tuesday either, but Wednesday and Thursday are fine.
Wednesday or Thursday works for me!
The Center for Wooden Boats is great but it's mostly out in the cold and wet. The Fish Locks and walking along the Ballard cut looking at industrial and pleasure boats and then having a nice meal in Fremont or Queen Anne would be relatively easy and tire out two small kids a reasonable amount.
I'll probably be in Seattle this weekend, be more specific about where and when you might meet, Breeze, Yawnoc?
Also out in the weather, but on the way to some other good stuff: the relatively new sculpture park between Queen Anne and the Pike Place Market.
Wednesday it is! See you all You Know Where from about 6.30 or so.
Wait, no, Barry said Thursday was better. Thursday it is!
If Knecht can do Wednesday then let's make it then. Otherwise Thursday. Knecht?
Also I was just reminded that JM and I have a conflict that precludes our doing Wednesday.
We'll pour out a Rusty Nail for you.
clew, Yawnoc: we're staying in Queen Anne. Anywhere near there would be fine with us. Tues and Weds I'll be working in Bellevue. Otherwise we'll all be free during the day. At night we'll be stuck in our appt, as the kids will need sleep early and we won't have babysitting.
Thanks for the all suggestions so far, and I'm amused this thread was used to organise another meetup :)
Center for Wooden Boats on Sunday (free public sail, or rentable puddle boats for the kids) and hanging out in one of the many many big restaurants there? Maybe a visit to MOHAI?
http://cwb.org/events/?trumbaEmbed=date%3D20141026
except Yawnoc probably won't be here yet.
During the week, with Yawnoc: downtown's relatively easy from Queen Anne or the Eastside, but the restaurants aren't as lingering-friendly or kid-friendly as the lake ones. I'll ask around about places in Seattle Center/Queen Anne that are.
I'll be working and staying in Kirkland, available Tuesday or Wednesday. I don't mind taking a cab or a bus into Seattle.
Is Kirkland where they make all those Costco goods?
I liked MOHAI when I went a couple years ago, mostly for a re-photography exhibit they had up. I think they were in the process of moving to a new building, so I'm not sure what it's like now.
In the process of determining if "Kirkland Signature" actually refers to the city of Kirkland, Washington (it does), I just read several Wikipedia articles about Costco and the warehouse retail industry in general, through which I learned, among other things, that Costco precursor Price Club (which still existed when I was a kid; my parents had a business membership because of the trading post) was actually named after a guy named Price rather than the common word "price." There's also an interesting and complicated story about his relationship with Sam Walton and the origins of Walmart.
My parents still sometimes say Price Club when they mean Costco. No trading post, though.
Costco precursor Price Club (which still existed when I was a kid; my parents had a business membership because of the trading post) was actually named after a guy named Price rather than the common word "price."
Like how the Outerbridge Crossing, a bridge in the outer boroughs of NYC, is named after a guy named "Outerbridge".
Price Club ... was actually named after a guy named Price
My favorite example of that sort (and one you're certainly familiar with) is that the Goodnight Loving trail.
The Bridgewater Canal, in English coal country, is named for a Duke of Bridgewater who had the title before building his elevated aqueducts.
QAnne local's comment on hangouts with kids:
Hmm. Maybe TS McHughs, the pub on Mercer? They have a large restaurant-y section and don't seem like they'd be bothered by kids. They are still a pub though and get noisy if there's a game on. Most of LQA tends towards either bars or dimly-lit date spots I think. I'll keep an eye out next time I head out for groceries.
Upper Queen Anne has a lot more families with kids though. I haven't been to either, but maybe Grub, Queen Anne Cafe, or Five Hooks (top of hill, reachable by #3, #13, or by 20 minutes of aerobic exercise)? They all advertise family friendliness & have nooks with toys (maybe for kids younger than 5 though).
And then there's the many generations of Outerbridge Horseys.
And all those "standpipes" you see around town are actually named for Mr. Bridgeplate.
Also, speaking of NYC, I was watching The French Connection last night, and wondered about the portrayal of "Popeye" Doyle's lodgings: It appears that he lives in a public housing project. Is that accurate? Did city employees get preference or something at that time? Seemed weird.
52: Sadly this one, from your NYC meetup, was not.
Outerbridge Horsey IV:
He started distilling at the age of 19 producng Horsey Pure Rye and a special brand called Golden Gate, the latter being aged by loading barrels of it aboard ships and sending it around Cape Horn to San Francisco and then back to Maryland by train.
Outerbridge Horsey VI (who was a diplomat):
"I am the sixth Outerbridge Horsey and my unhappy son is the seventh. In fact, the only trouble with any new post is explaining the name to people" (Time, 30 November 1962).
I'm personally very fond of the opening line "There were at least seven Outerbridge Horseys."
Although I think the tense is off, since Outerbridge Horsey VII is apparently still alive. "There have been" would be better.
Repeating a bid: 6pm Tuesday, 5 Point on top of Queen Anne.
Sorry clew, I'm going to have to bail. The kids could barely make it to 6pm tonight and I probably won't be back from Bellevue till 6-6:30pm anyway. Really appreciate your help and attempts to arrange a meetup.
Oh well! Yawnoc, if you're still interested, the Pike/Pine hill is easy to get to from downtown, easy to get to from my house, and full of new hip spots. Or we could go to Ada's Technical Books until 8pm.
I hope Seattle has been adequately amusing on its own? You even got some proper weather.
44: was actually named after a guy named Price rather than the common word "price."
Likewise Dick's Sporting Goods.
I'm starting to worry. There should be an eighth Outerbridge Horsey by now.
I'm stressing out about transit from Kirkland. If Breeze is out, I think we may lack a quorum.
Yeah, that's been a nightmare for decades. (Are we building transit lanes across the lake? No. WSDOT is building one end of a very expensive auto bridge, with (a) higher capacity than the roads it needs to empty into in Seattle (b) billions of dollars funding short as we start (c) instead of seismic upgrades end-to-end. Argh.)
Seattle has been awesome. Really really enjoying this place. Sad to be leaving on Friday.
And of course saddened that we couldn't arrange to meet up.
I regret it didn't work too. I should have driven Yawnoc to serenade you in Queen Anne.
But seriously, I would so like a meet up in Ada's. More caffeine than alcohol! And it's intentionally kept quiet enough to talk! And there's stuff for kids to play with, which they will want to take home and solder.
Maybe next time.