[3.4] East Meets West (Part One)

[First an update on Lisa's first post: No progress. We now return you to the blog]

It's tough to say who our first visitors were in Seattle. With so many folks clamoring for the right to lay claim to that title (at least we'd like to think people are clamoring), we may have split the rights:

• Scott (old friend of Dave) wins "First Out-of-Towner To Visit", but we were not in our new home yet.


• Margaret (Lisa's sister) wins "First Seattle House Guest", but she only came up from Portland and we anticipate many visits.

But this weekend, Earle and Kelli, long time friends and carousing companions from the old stomping grounds in Hoboken, paid us a visit. We will give them the title, "First Guests To Plan A Visit". They were actually the first people to commit to a Seattle visit, having planned to be here anyway for the wedding of Earle's friend from college, Kaiser. Kaiser, now also a Seattlite, is a former big man and all around gunner for the b-ball team that Earle and I played on in NYC, the Bob McAdoo All-Stars. As I understand it, JJ, the team's founder, player, coach, and social coordinator is struggling to keep the McAdoos in the NY Urban Professionals League due to aging, failing bodies and the fact that the Seattle area leagues keep plucking players.

E&K had wedding activities on Friday and Saturday, but we met up on Sunday morning and as she usually does, Kelli had our itinerary planned out in advance. We would have brunch, then go on the Seattle Underground Tour, and then head back to our neighborhood for a few pre-dinner cocktails while we decide on a place for dinner. So after a delicious brunch at Cafe Campagne down by the Pike Place Market, we walked over to Pioneer Square for the tour. Lisa and I had seen the tour advertised and it interested us as well. It is 90 minutes and gives a good history of Seattle. The bulk of the tour, however, weaves the group through the underground sidewalks of downtown Seattle. The story, in brief is that originally Seattle streets down by the waterfront were not far enough above sea level, which caused problems back in the late 1800s with water/mud in the streets and sewage problems at high tide. So they basically raised 30 square blocks of the downtown area by around 12 feet. This means that most of the older buildings have their second floor now at street level and the old sidewalk still exists underneath the current one. The picture of E&K above shows them below one of the skylights that looks up to the current street level. Fun tour, but it was time to head back to our neighborhood where we gave E&K the grand tour of the house and lavished some attention on the animals.

Since Kelli is allergic to cats, we made our stay brief and wandered downhill for dinner and drinks, not necessarily in that order. Earle wanted to see our local British-style pub, so we flattened our butts and filled our pints at the George & Dragon, a very authentic pub experience. They show the English Premiership and other soccer matches on the "telly" there and the replay of the USA/Brazil match was just starting, so we watched that as Kelli pulled out her trusty deck of cards and we played a game of "Oh, Hell". Not that it's important to mention, but I won.

After the G&D, we walked across the Fremont Bridge to a restaurant that we'd been hoping to try. Ponti's Seafood Grill is right on the water next to the bridge so we got a seat out on the balcony and enjoyed a great seafood dinner (thanks for treating, E&K). Unfortunately we lost Lisa after the appetizers as she had not been feeling well all day and walked home to lay down and wait for us. After dinner it was already late and I had to get E&K back to their hotel, so we walked back uphill, stopping at one point to enjoy some local Fremont shrubbery art. Apparently one of our neighbors got bored while trimming. Sort of looks like Easter Island meets the botanical garden meets the Three Stooges. Yes, we live in a neighborhood that is a bit "different".

Earle and Kelli are now off to Portland for a few days, but will be coming back through mid-week, so look for part 2 to this post later in the week.