We first went to the lower level to figure out what this whole Orca thing is, Seattle's main transportation company. We bought a card to be ready for our other travels, but definitely noted that for a Saturday at mid-morning, this large station was virtually empty.
So, we took the Monorail over to check out this Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival I read about at the Fisher Pavilion. We walk in and there are about 50 people max, mostly Japanese and maybe 20 sad looking kiosks. We did a lap, grabbed some takoyaki and bounced.
The takoyaki, I would like to note, was Jeremy's idea. I tasted it, but wasn't a fan. The consistency of testicles, but with an octopus center...you decide. So, we continued on our journey and walked over to this Tom Douglas beer hall type place I had read about, Brave Horse Tavern. I got a spicy, large Bloody Mary complete with pickled veggies and a side of bad beer, and Jer got a couple IPAs by recommendation of our friendly waitress. We also got a couple of soft pretzels, which is their signature, accompanied by smoked salmon and chive cream cheese.
This was the least Jewish display you can imagine, but delicious, house smoked, and gone quickly. We decided to ask the chatty waitress for some advice on the Orca situation and she explained how to use the card and where to use it. The conversation led us to discover that she too was from New York and had recently moved out here. Funny isn't it? She gave us some additional recommendations and sent us on our way. We took a stroll to Espresso Vivace, which is hailed as Seattle's best coffee and only a few blocks away. Grabbed a Cafe Americano and decided it was, in fact, pretty damn good.
So then we left to take the street car home using our handy Orca card and jumped on the line going by our hotel. It turns out you don't even swipe the damn thing anywhere, you just pull it out if anyone happens to ask. Oh, Seattle.
After relaxing a bit back at the hotel, we decided to check out the Seattle Great Wheel (aka a giant Ferris wheel on the waterfront). It was OK, kinda cool. Honestly, just one of those things you do as a tourist to really "see" the city from an aerial view.
We went right to dinner from there, utilizing our new Seattle transportation skills and Jer's wonderful map skills. We went up to the Ballard neighborhood to go to the acclaimed Walrus and the Carpenter oyster bar. We found the place down a long random hallway, but it took a few minutes and a few false entrances. We were warned by many sources of the extremely long waits and no reservation policy, so were only slightly surprised by the 3 hour wait time. Luckily, our nice waitress from earlier had told us to check out this place Bastille up the street while we waited. We headed over there and sat at the bar for a few cocktails (delicious by the way) with some cured meats and olives. Why not right? Besides, we were starving and couldn't wait 3 hours.
After about 2.5 hours I got antsy and we went to check on our table status. After only maybe 10 more minutes we were in! I swear, this reservation guy might be the most powerful man in Seattle. Once fully inside, I realized why there was such a long wait, the entire place has a max capacity of only 45! Anyway, I was a little nervous because I've tried oysters a few times and never enjoyed them, but as a foodie I have really tried to change that. I feel like I'm missing out on something. So we ordered half a dozen oysters of different varieties (some sweeter and some more briny) along with Smoked Trout, Shrimp Crudo, Shrimp Bisque, and Hamachi Crudo. Plus an order of bread and butter. Let me tell you about these oysters. They have changed my view on oysters completely. They were DELICIOUS. I get it now, it just has to be the best of the best and I'm in. The Shrimp Crudo was interesting with raw shrimp (I think?) yet baked shells in such a way that you could eat them. I actually didn't care too much for this dish, but the rest of the order was pretty good. I enjoyed it more than Jer, but I think he was just grumpy about the wait.
We then successfully figured out the bus home and voila! Day 1 over and out.
No comments:
Post a Comment