Seattle Thurs: Surprise! It's the Pike!

After the bakery, we wandered through Pike Place. The parking gods were with us. Look at the amazing spot we got for our black rented SUV!









A trip to Pike as always, included a stop at Beecher's.











Flagship cheese on the move



Picked up a pretzel I think at 3 Girls Bakery - maybe Auntie Em's...it's all ablur of foodstuffs swirling around my head



We also stopped off at Pike Chowder where we tried a sampler of seafood chowders. The basic clam chowder was the best.








Kids are so adorable



We got some pierogie at Cafe Yarmarka for the road, which was lucky because Justin was starving after his exams





Plus the border crossing took forever, so our picnic basket of collected treats was really needed. By the time we got to our gorgeous room at the Vancouver Westin Bayshore, I was happy to just order room service and a movie while Justin and mom went out for dinner with Uncle John.



And maybe just one of their freakishly giant beers afterwards.

Seattle Saturday cont.: Pike Pike Pike

We met up with Anne and Ed and pushed our way upstream to Beecher's where I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich with crab and a small mac and cheese.



The mac and cheese was amazing -- as always, with a bigger cheesy sauce to mac ratio than I remembered. The crab on the sandwich was just gilding the lily really. Dungeness crab is a little fishier than the blue crab I'm used to.









Anne and I went for a walk along the little cobblestone side streets. We startled a group of pigeons, and they fluttered over our heads. One fell short and hit me right in the face. Just like Fabio on the rollercoaster. We were doubled over with laughter. As funny as it was for us, my friend Ellin later pointed out, "I bet that pigeon went home and was like, 'You won't believe what just happened to me!'"

Anne and Ed had Thai food, which looked good enough, then they headed back to the hospital. I noticed we were right next to Cafe Yarmarka Even though I was stuffed, I placed an order for a combination to take back to the hotel for dinner. And a few Eastern European cookies for good measure.





Eartha was coveting my mac and cheese so she and I headed back to Beecher's but they were all out. Denied! I picked up some of their Flagship cheese and Cowgirl Creamery triple cream to take home as well. In addition to the usual guava paste they had a variety of fruit pastes and I couldn't resist the apricot.

We added some lovely raspberries and perfectly ripe blueberries to the growing grocery bag. I made a fatal error in not picking up a loaf of bread somewhere.



But then I spotted the Roadfood-recommended Crumpet Shop. Sadly there was no bread or scones but we got a pack of crumpets. We ordered an open-faced pesto sandwich out of curiosity. It was a little disappointing.







I asked Anne to bring some crackers to the hotel when they stopped in at dinnertime and we all had a nice Pike picnic. The meat pierogie were a tad spicy but far better than the potato-cheese, in which the cheese was barely discrenable. I wish I had gotten some dufferent pastes and another wedge of Beecham's cheese to pack in my suitcase.

Seattle Saturday: Instant Auntie

I got an urgent call Saturday to fly to Seattle. I reserved a hotel near the hospital and headed to the airport.

After a visit to the Medical Center, we had a late dinner at the little hospital take-out. We headed back to my hotel so everyone could take a break. My friend Anne's 12-year-old daughter Eartha hung out for awhile. Then I just kinda kept her. And I didn't give her back until she had to return to school. As much as the fluffy bedding might have helped her feel more comfortable during a rough week, Eartha's boundless energy and fearlessness were exactly what I needed. (her name has been changed, and yes, she picked her own).



Sunday morning we ordered room service and cozied up in our beds watching Twilight. Little did I know that was going to be one of many, many viewings of Twilight. Eartha figured out that if you paused the movie 5 minutes before it was over and rewound it you could watch it over and over and over...





We hit Pike Place market in the afternoon. There was a huge crowd, it being a long weekend.



Sadly World Class Chili is no more. Most likely due to the recent loss of the owner, Joe Canavan.

Mr. Canavan died Nov. 11 2008 while vacationing in Maui with his wife of 48 years, Dorothy. While snorkeling for the first time, he took in water after possibly suffering a heart attack or stroke and died the next day. He was 78.

Mr. Canavan had bounced back from a heart attack in 1980 to run a marathon and climb Mount Rainier. More recently, he had returned to the Market after a hip replacement.

Luckily there were still donuts. Fresh out of the fryer, they are the best donuts in the world. After sitting for a few hours, they are pretty comparable to grocery store donuts.







I can't get enough of the market.