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seattle – day 2

kdavis 1 Comment

our final day in seattle was a full one and started with a cozy breakfast at the condo. that is one of the advantages of a rental vs. a hotel: you usually have lots of space and kitchen access to cook for yourself if you care to. on our way back from the falls the day prior, we had stopped at the grocery store and scored a package of snoqualmie falls pancake mix! over sausage and pancakes and mugs of coffee, we gabbed and laughed and solved all the world’s problems. :)

we then washed up and made the short drive over to pike place market. the rain couldn’t keep us nor the locals and other tourists away. the streets were busy, and i can only imagine how swarmed it gets on the weekends and when the sun is out.

our first stop was a quick visit to the original starbucks. the line to order was stretched out the door, so we settled for a picture. i mean, a caramel macchiato here is a caramel macchiato there, right?

as we weaved in and out through the stalls and storefronts, we ended up joining in the fun at pike place fish market. this shop is known for its fish tossing attraction. yes, fish tossing! we did get to see some salmon thrown, and i decided it was time to face a decades-old fear of mine: eating a raw oyster. ages ago my mom and i were with some extended family for a west coast girls’ luncheon. the cousins insisted i have an oyster, and since my parents raised me to be a polite southern lady, i obliged. all i will say is that it’s a miracle i kept that slimy sucker down. now, older and maybe wiser, i figured if i was going to give them another chance, there was no better time or place. i paid my ten bucks, ripped the lid off the shot glass, and consumed that oyster with reckless abandon as the crowd cheered me on. the oyster was actually pretty small, and all the cocktail sauce certainly made the experience more tolerable. the best part, though, is that it was an historic moment that got captured in three parts. :)

i felt unstoppable and convinced mom and aunt cindy we should test our bravery with another seattle staple: the gum wall! folks, this thing is exactly what it sounds like and is as gross as you would think: two alley walls covered in gum. the smell is less than pleasant, but it was still fun to see it for ourselves (despite the faces i’m making here).

all this excitement had us hungry for a little snacky-snack, so we popped into piroshky piroshky bakery for some rolls. under flaky pastry were incredible aromas and big flavor, and mine reminded me of the meals you can get in the ikea cafeteria! the meatballs were well seasoned, but i definitely could have gone for more gravy. maybe a cup on the side for dipping? yes, i think that would have satisfied nicely.

now, what i have left untold until this moment is that aside from aunt nancy’s birthday bash and a general few days of pto, one of the next biggest reasons i was stoked for this trip was because of all the dates in all the cities in all the world, my favorite musician jamie cullum was performing in seattle that evening! the live music gods perfectly aligned all these things so that i could see him perform again. i’ve seen jamie’s concerts in atlanta, birmingham, chicago, and atlanta again. phillip and i had plans to see him in london once, but that trip was derailed due to the pandemic. so, i mean it when i say i’ve been waiting for years for this opportunity. now, we still had a couple hours until the doors opened and did not want to go all the way back to the condo and come all the way back out into town again. so, we spent some time nearby at pennyroyal. this spot is moody and dark but still inviting whether you’re there for a meal or just a cocktail. the drinks and food kept us warm, and it was the perfect way to bid the city farewell.

the time had come, so we hustled across virginia street and dodged the rain to arrive, at last, at the moore theatre for the concert. does this picture say it all? i was beside myself!

this intimate, old venue was full of character and drew a packed house to see jamie jump around on stage, dance with the crowd, hop on the piano, and sing all my favorites. mom and aunt cindy did not know his music and were so sweet to go along with me. as always, his performance was non-stop and energetic and reminded me why i love music (especially live music) so much. there was a lot of anticipation for this trip and this concert for so many months, and it delivered in every way i could have hoped.

seattle – day 1

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our first full day in seattle was packed with adventure and started with a proper french breakfast at le pichet. this spot had been highly recommended by several coworkers and was a delightful way to begin our morning. the space is narrow and cozy with tables close together. they have quite a spirits selection and proper espresso equipment, so i had the cutest cappuccino, and aunt cindy had a pretty and delicious latte.

our waitress mentioned the chef had a few buns left, so we ordered the last of them for the table. don’t these look food magazine worthy! they were slightly sweet and melt-in-your-mouth tender. so far so good!

we knew we’d need more than a little bread to hold us over for our upcoming excursion, so mom ordered the yogurt (a small serving but tasty, she said), aunt cindy enjoyed the oeufs plats jambon et fromage (i was grateful she offered me a bite!), and i ate the salad de tomates avec fruits a noyau, chevre et vinaigrette au jambon. all that produce was so fresh, and as fancy chefs say, a bite of it all at once just made everything “sing.”

with fuel in the car and our bellies, we drove east to tour snoqualmie falls. aunt cindy had heard of it and always wanted to visit, so visit we did! the fall colors were just starting to show off, and we lucked out with a warm (albeit windy) afternoon.

aside from the mighty power of these falls, my favorite element were these words all about the grounds. they were so playful and inspiring and very unique.

the clouds and rain eventually arrived, so we moseyed over to downtown snoqualmie and took refuge in snoqualmie falls brewery. i would have liked to belly up to the charming covered bar, but the weather just was not in the mood to cooperate. oh well, you can still drink beer and eat snacks inside! between sips of this and bites of that, we talked all about the latest in each others’ lives. it’s so interesting and fun getting to still be a daughter and niece to these ladies but having adult conversations. times change, life forms and reforms. i feel lucky to have this pair in my circle.

evening approached, and it was slow going back to seattle. by the time we shrugged off our coats and untied our boots, we were tuckered out and in no mood at all to head back into the city. cue doordash! since it had grown cold, we concluded big bowls of steamy ramen would hit the spot, and they sure did! we tried ramen-ya teinei, and our order was accurate and on time. while mom spooned up dinner, i worked my tech magic to get dancing with the stars streaming on the tv. the host didn’t have regular cable, so after logging into aunt cindy’s directv account and then airplaying her ipad to the tv, we were in business! hot ramen and reality tv. what more could we have wanted?

seattle – evening 1

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our visit to anacortes had come to an end, but we weren’t done with washington just yet! mom, aunt cindy, and i decided to tag on a few extra days and explore seattle. i’ve been to seattle once when my small group was passing through for a trip to alaska. so, it was like a whole new world!

we got a bit of a late start so only had time to really check into our airbnb and grab some dinner that monday evening. our airbnb was a clean, spacious, well-stocked condo in the queen anne area. the owner refers to it as the “kraken cabin,” and all the host instructions were easy to follow. i imagine this view west (and the sweet little porch) is even more pleasant when the sun is out. 🙂

we unpacked a bit and started to do a little online looking to figure out what we wanted to eat. sometimes you know just what you are craving. that night was not one of those nights, lol. so much sounded so good! however, the travel gods looked down on us because we found in the condo a binder full of recommendations from the host. what luck! page after page listed different types of food and different parts of town with all sorts of suggestions. you could find just about anything in there! with the rain picking up and our bellies rumbling, we decided the nearby queen anne beerhall was worth a visit. oh, and worth a visit it was!

as mentioned in another recent post, i have never had the pleasure of going to europe, but wow, this experience felt very authentic! long tables and benches as far as the eye can see, raucous kraken fans ready to root on their hockey team, and pint after pint of beer. what a find!

we squeezed into a table between two pairs of coworkers who were humorous and kind to us out-of-towners and all our questions. if any of you knows us three, you know we are not afraid to strike up a conversation. two of those folks we met were mustafa and christopher. mustafa is an attorney and christopher is a soon-to-be-attorney at a local law firm. throughout the conversation, we found out mustafa grew up in huntsville (what are the odds?) and that christopher has a little eastern europe heritage (again, who would have thought!). it was such a serendipitous meeting, and i could not have planned it better if i tried. we got their stories, they got our stories, and they were so sweet to recommend a whole bunch of local spots for us to try during our stay. i love that they obliged our “old school” request to write the restaurants down instead of just punching them into our phone. plus, this napkin will make for a great page in my scrapbook!

over our chatter and cheers and laughter, we shared the giant pretzel, grilled corn, beet salad, and cheese curds. everything was fresh and rich and flavorful, and i bet if i lived within walking distance i’d be a regular. even though it is good to go through life with a plan, sometimes the most unplanned things end up being the best. mustafa and christopher, thank you for tolerating our little trio. if you’re ever in atlanta, i’d be happy to return the favor!

oh my bagels

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there’s nothing better than a good icebreaker, and one of my favorites (albeit a little weird/maybe morbid) is to ask folks what their last meal would be if they could choose. you’ll learn a little bit about someone and, more than likely, foster further conversation around food, which is typically a pretty safe topic.

my answer has always been and, unless my tastes change dramatically between now and whenever, will always be a bagel with cream cheese. that’s it, kelsey? that’s all you would want? yes, no questions asked, no second thoughts, no regrets. equal parts cream cheese and bagel, sliced and toasted, that’s all i need.

as a self-proclaimed bagel and cream cheese superfan, i always welcome the opportunity to indulge this craving, and i think phillip and i have uncovered two spots in town that really have just set the bar high. part of me is glad they’re both a 20-minute drive away; otherwise, i’d need to be working out way more to burn off all these dense calories.

first up is the bagel hole in cumming. they’re a no-fuss, we-have-bagels-and-cream-cheese kind of place. i will say they do have fun flavors and also serve lunch, but their bagel and spread selection is fair, and the folks are friendly. they also have homemade bagel chips that i highly recommend! this place gets points for having an egg bagel (which has become my all-time favorite) and teaching me what a bialy is (our recommendation is to get it toasted with butter, simple and delicious). oh, and their coffee is fantastic.

next up is bb’s bagels, a spot known and loved by many. i think i heard about them on the local news (like i do so many places we try), and i can confidently say phillip is glad i recommended we check it out. this place has the diner vibes at 100 with a huge menu that will be sure to satisfy everyone in your party. the staff were very friendly when we went, and the portions made the drive well worth it. the bagels were wonderful and the strawberry spread scrumptious, and the sausage links were mouthwatering (and are flown in from new york, from what i hear). whenever the line is out the door (like it was when we went to bb’s), that’s usually a good sign. i’d say you can’t go wrong here!

do you have a favorite bagel place in town? what would your last meal be if you could choose? i need a new spot to try!

The Adventures of Kiwi Kyle | Part 2

kdavis 1 Comment

It’s time for the sequel, and let’s hope it’s better than the original!  With two weeks in the books, I’ve been able to explore Christchurch and the surrounding area.  First, a quick history lesson before we delve into my adventures.

Christchurch is actually the oldest established city in New Zealand, being founded in 1856.  The best parallel I can draw for a city in the States is where I was raised – Birmingham, AL!  Is Christchurch as glamorous as being on-site in Dallas or Chicago?  Unfortunately not, but I can easily see it being a great place to raise a family.  The next biggest highlight after being the oldest city is one of tragedy, I hate to say.  In 2010 and 2012, the city suffered a devastating series of earthquakes.  Some of the older buildings just were not equipped to handle that kind of natural disaster and have been demolished.

Such is the case for the first landmark I visited, the Christchurch Cathedral.  You’ll have to Google the cathedral to see it in its heyday, but you can tell how beautiful it was by what is left.  I can picture the Gothic Revival architecture and stained-glass windows even in its present state.  Right next to the cathedral is the Citizens’ War Memorial, which didn’t incur near the level of damage as the cathedral but is blockaded due to it being so close to the cathedral.  Each year hundreds come to this Memorial to celebrate and honor the Anzac Day service (New Zealand’s Memorial Day).

Switching gears to something more uplifting, I took a hike along Taylor’s Mistake, a beach and bay about 30 minutes southeast of Christchurch proper.  As you’ll see in the pictures, this hike was no mistake, but how in the world did it get that name?  That name comes from the master of a vessel running into the beach area during the night, thinking he was somewhere else.

Aside from the great views and four legged friends I ran into, the hills above the beach were fortified with two machine gun posts to guard a coastal defense battery.  The machine gun posts were built in response to a perceived threat of invasion by the Japanese after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the gun pits are still there today!

mexico – day 2

kdavis 1 Comment

sleeping in was an obvious choice friday morning, so much so that my dad and i missed breakfast!  cousin ali was parading up and down the corridor shouting our names.  “uncle milo!  kels!”

“here we are!” dad shouted.  everyone piled into the room, demanding we get ourselves ready, for ensenada awaited!  it was our one and only stop aboard the carnival imagination, and the time had come.

across the walkway we trooped to my first steps on foreign soil.  fireworks went off, and crowds cheered upon my arrival!  okay, that is not at all true.  it was much less of a production, but it was still exciting.  and i didn’t even have to awkwardly avoid the photographers, for they were swarming the families around us.

a quick pit stop and then we were aboard the bus and headed for town.  the tour guide dazzled us with tales of local shopping, horseback riding, sightseeing, and delicious eating.  our group, though?  we were headed straight to hussong’s for drinks.

around since 1892, hussong’s once was, and still is, the watering hole of choice when my father and his friends come down here.  we showed ourselves in, and i think milo was a bit taken aback.  hussong’s had seen better crowds in its hey day, but that didn’t deter us from staying.  i think their bartenders were glad to have our company!

several dos equis came our way with limes and salt, and we cheered our first drinks in mexico.  as we worked through beers two and three, i took in this local establishment.  very local, very mom and pop.  famous faces lined the walls, and you could tell this place is where people once flocked.

right as we were leaving an hour or so later, i noticed the place was actually starting to fill up with more patrons.  look at this trend we started!

we figured we had just enough time left in the afternoon to visit one more spot.  we turned right out of hussong’s and walked the grueling 100 feet to pull together some tables on the patio at papas & beer.  we had passed this place along our stroll into town, and it was already rowdy.  rowdy is what it still was, too!  the music was blasting, folks were being pulled up on stage for shots of jose cuervo, and people were just everywhere.

although the scene did not look much like one we would normally keep, we decided we could join in the fun.  buckets of dos equis (yes, more dos equis!) were ordered for the group, and then uncle craig grabbed the attention of a local street chef.  uncle craig had raved about his guacamole, and whenever something is made tableside just for you, you know you cannot go wrong.

the avocados were ripe, the lime gave it a lovely and citrusy zest, and the little bit of spice was the perfect kick.  two orders for the tables, please!

as the beer flowed, our dancing feet could not sit still.  it wasn’t long before we were all up out of our chairs, grooving along to the music.  they thankfully had a decent mix between new stuff and old, so even milo and uncle craig joined in on the fun.  we were posted up at papas & beer for a couple of hours and then made our way back through town to the ship.  thanks, ensenada, for an afternoon of fun!

kate and me!
dad and the local vendors. they were quite kind.
daddy-daughter pic!

we boarded the ship again, and although we had done nothing strenuous that day, we all decided that a quick rest before dinner would be just fine.  after checking out the exclusive adult deck at the stern of the ship, milo and i freshened up and headed upstairs to the bar for some pre-dinner drinks.  the theme for the evening was golden oldies night.  now, none of us may have really been in gold, and our outfits were not exactly “oldies” inspired, but you know, we cleaned up quite nicely that night!  everyone looked sharp and polished, and i was proud to be seen with these fine-looking folks.

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dinner that night was highly anticipated because our waiter alex had told us the evening before that lobster tails and lamb shank were on the menu tonight.  how fabulous!  it should come as no surprise to anyone that we all ordered at least one lobster tail that night, some of us even two.  a couple diners commented that the tails were a little on the small side, but considering the amounts of food we were getting with the appetizers and desserts, i was fine with a more modest portion.

was it the best lobster tail i’d ever eaten?  no, but i do not eat lobster frequently at all, so i savored that rich and buttery dish as much as i could.  we were all a bit more lively this evening since we’d been relaxing all day, and some of us decided to keep the party going afterwards.  brian was ready to check out the poker scene, so we headed over to the casino.

i’m not much of a gambler, except when i’m playing craps with my dad, so i was the perfect onlooker that evening.  i cheered shawn on as he played the dollar slots and then applauded as brian did some work at the texas hold ’em table.  watching people gamble is entertaining for only so long, though, so kate and i retired for the day around midnight.  goodnight, to all!