Thursday, February 14, 2008

A cool article in the Seattle PI today about why we love Seattle. Not all of these apply to me (razor clams?? Eeewwwww), but still cool.


A Valentine to Seattle ...
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Last updated 8:43 a.m. PT

P-I STAFF

Because so many people feel ambivalent about Valentine's Day, the P-I decided to turn away from the world of couples and instead looking outward toward the city. Herewith, some of the many reasons to love this place, even in the gloom of February.


Razor clams, Dungeness crab and black cod



Bonfires at Golden Gardens Park in Ballard


Power-tool racing in beautiful downtown Georgetown


Public staircases


Richard Hugo House when serious teenagers are reading serious poems


Top Pot doughnuts on Fifth Avenue as the Monorail glides by


The shocking red meeting room floor at Seattle Central Library


Madison Street's hilly traverse from Sound to lake


Outdoor movies


Running along Alki at sunset


Driving across state Route 520 with Mount Baker to the north and Mount Rainier to the south


Citywide panic when it snows


Panama Hotel for its ground floor tea room and respect for hidden histories


Awesome, ever-changing clouds


Hearing elephants trumpet when walking through Lower Woodland Park


The kiss of cold, wet wind


Uncontrolled intersections


Dogs on buses


Annual Space Needle passes


The community pot patch in Discovery Park


The Fun Forest (R.I.P.)


historylink.org


Whitecaps on Elliott Bay


Direct flights to London


Old grunge musicians all cleaned up


Vera Project


Kubota Gardens


Interlaken Avenue


The Ballard Locks


UW canoe rentals


Fantagraphics


Assisted-living facilities for drunks (hooray for harm reduction!)


The view from the Aurora Bridge


The views from all the hills, for that matter


The Space Needle as a sci-fi beacon of hope


Beer and garlic fries at a Mariners game


The vaguely sick-yet-victorious feeling often produced by attending a stadium event


Seeing the latest costumes on "Waiting for the Interurban" sculpture in Fremont


Native writer Charles D'Ambrosio, who referred to the "Waiting for the Interurban" sculpture as "my nightmare"


The clouds part and Mount Rainier is revealed


Pro women's basketball team Seattle Storm, now owned by local women


The wild length of Burke Gilman Trail


Ezell's. In particular: Ezell's mashed potatoes drowned in gravy


Dick's Drive-In: in particular Dick's Deluxe at 1 a.m. after one cocktail too many


Amazon.com


Gates Foundation


Pike Place Market's flowers, cheeses, magazines and citizens who call it home


The view of Elliott Bay from the top of the Alaskan Way Viaduct


The dream of taking down the viaduct to open up the waterfront


Hot coffee and cookies at Magnolia Post Office at Christmas


Houseboats on Lake Union


Fantasizing about living on a houseboat on Lake Union


Lawrimore Project's pink-striped exterior


Safe and Sound Swimming's 90-degree pool


Northwest Film Forum


Seattle International Film Festival


The Cinerama


The Lusty Lady and its witty marquees (best current example: "American Eye-Dolls")


The strippers who work for the Lusty Lady


The janitors who clean up at the Lusty Lady


The museum guards at SAM across the street


The new SAM


The spunky Henry Art Gallery


The revitalized Frye Museum


Live theater: infinitely varied


The jeweled skyline mirrored in the water as the ferry glides out of Colman Dock


Pioneer Square's pergola, the graceful 1910 landmark that even a sharp-cornering 18-wheeler couldn't kill


The autograph wall at All for Kids Books & Music


Yesler Way school-day mornings: all ethnicities await the yellow bus


All cars still stop for the school bus, in both directions


Urban wildlife: raptors, coyotes, sea mammals, great blue herons, raccoons (and the volunteers who look out for them)


"Open Door Day" at the mayor's office


75 to 80 degrees in the summer, at least until global warming kicks in


The Smith Tower: elegance in architecture


Walks at Shilshole Bay Marina


Fran's Chocolates: There are pretenders to the throne, but Fran is still the queen


Urban Rest Stop


Olympic Sculpture Park


Fremont Troll's ugly mug


The lumbering comedy of "Adjacent, Against, Upon" in Myrtle Edwards Park


The SLUT going nowhere


The Greenlake loop, full of people, dogs and ducks


The hot ladies who jog around Green Lake


The hot guys who jog around Green Lake


The cold misanthropes who walk around Green Lake, or decide not to


Seattle Central Library for its sweeping blue diamond grid


EMP for being a sculpture, not a building


St. James Cathedral for gravity, air and light


Jazz Alley: great musicians up close


Safeco Field's upper west concourse awash in afternoon sun


The enthusiasms and ingenuity of chef Tom Douglas


Beacon Hill with its shining industrial views


"Louie, Louie" during the seventh inning stretch at Safeco Field


Native son Jimi Hendrix, adopted son Kurt Cobain


The rise of local hip-hop


Emerald City Soul Nights


Home Alive and the refusal to forget murdered singer Mia Zapata


Fresh salmon


Uwajimaya food court


Uwajimaya bookstore and its multicolored, pricey notebooks


Downtown temps on lunch break, writing down their thoughts in overpriced notebooks


Rat City Rollergirls


23rd Avenue and Union Street on Sundays, when church is getting out


Meredith Matthews East Madison YMCA


The way walking up Queen Anne makes your legs strong


Seattle Symphony's Tiny Tots weekends


Jumping into Lake Washington in early May


Rainier Avenue South and its fleet of nail salons


Archie McPhee's: where you can buy princess gear and fake severed fingers in the same shopping trip

No comments: