The first time I saw Seattle, it was raining (well, isn't that a surprise!), blustery, and cold. But it was January, after all, so I was expecting that. Still, when the wind howled so that it rattled the windows of my high-rise hotel room, it did get my attention.
I'd come up for a professional conference (NASPA regional), intending to check out the area as a possible place to move if I could find a job here. I'd been hearing about all these Californians moving to the Pacific Northwest, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I'd lived in California most of my life (all over the state--Redding, Los Angeles, Newport Beach, San Francisco, Burbank, Santa Barbara) except for a year in London (junior year abroad) and a lo-o-ong two years in Carbondale, Illinois (grad school). I was ready for a change.
So I schmoozed and networked at the conference, and when the days' meetings were over, I explored. I went up in the Space Needle, did the Underground Tour at Pioneer Square, saw Pike Place Market. I listened to local radio stations, read the local papers, and checked out the bookstores. And I liked what I found.
After the conference I rented a car and spent two days driving around the Hood Canal and up the west side of the Sound to Port Townsend, then by ferry over to Whidbey Island. It was still stormy. I remember one moment, driving along beside the Hood Canal, with steep, tree-covered hillsides coming down on both sides to the fjord-like waterway. The clouds were blowing around, but once in a while the sun would come out for a few minutes. And all of a sudden, through the rain, the sun broke through and there was this enormous, bright, perfect rainbow arching over the canal and ending in the trees on either side.
By the time I left, I was determined to come back. Over the next few months I applied for jobs all over the northwest. I had interviews at several schools in the region. I applied for a few jobs in California, too, ones that were just too good to pass up, but I was really concentrating on Washington and Oregon. So I was surprised when the first offer I got was from U.C. Santa Barbara. But I took it, and put my plans to move north on indefinite hold.
Then, two years later, I met Tony. If he'd lived in Salt Lake City or Topeka or Dallas, I would have been a lot less willing to agree to move there. But as it was, he didn't have a very hard time convincing me. I pulled out my notes and lists of schools in the Seattle area and started sending off resumes. A few weeks later, I got an offer, and a few weeks after that, I moved.
I still love it here. The weather is a drawback when it's gray and wet (which, admittedly, is a lot of the time, especially November through June), but when it's not, it can be staggeringly beautiful. And, as I already knew when I got here, even the bad weather has its moments. Seattle is a very civilized city, with lots of interesting arts and cultural activities and a reasonably progressive political climate. It's a big enough place to have a lot going on, but small enough to feel manageable. Most of the locals are miserable drivers--especially in the snow
--but what they describe as terrible traffic here makes the California transplants laugh. There are plenty of good restaurants (though the Mexican food is mostly just so-so, and they can't make pizza worth a damn) and they do make some good beer. That, and a latte stand on every corner...what more could you want?
These are some of my favorite Seattle links:
Seattle in general
Seattle Wiki is a website about Seattle that anyone can edit. Here you can read and write about places to go, things to do, community, organizations, happenings and events, resources, politics, and anything else related to the greater Seattle area. Visit, learn, and contribute!
Northwest Culture "A place to sample the local flavor of the Northwest"
Seattle Lexicon's Seattle Directory links are some of the best I've found
101 Fun Things To Do In Seattle
Exploit Seattle! "Help in Finding Cool Stuff In Seattle"
Go Seattle Card If you're doing a tourist blitz of Seattle, this discount card can help you hit the high points (the Space Needle, EMP, the Underground Tour at Pioneer Square, Argosy Cruises, a tour of Pike Place Market, the Museum of Flight, plus lots more) for a lot less money.
Seattle statistics more than you ever needed to know
Seattle sights
Here are some of my favorite Seattle live webcam sites:
KIRO-TV's weather page features the Mid-Town City Cam, the Queen Anne TowerCam, the Sea-Tac Airport Cam, and the Snoqualamie Pass Cam
KING-5's Live Cams are trained on a variety of local sights: Leavenworth, Orcas Island, Stevens pass, and many more
The EarthCam shows the Space Needle.
The University of Washington's camera shows the view across Red Square, including Mount Rainier (when it's out).
The LoftCam looks out at Elliott Bay and Puget Sound.
Woodland Park Zoo's BearCam shows the brown bears in their Northern Trail habitat, while the CrabCam gives a look at critters scuttling across the bottom of Puget Sound.
The FerryCam looks at ferries coming and going from Seattle, Bremerton, and Bainbridge Island
And, some views we'd often rather not see...Washington DOT's Puget Sound Area Traffic Cameras
Seattle PictureBox Screen Savers has some great photos of Seattle sights and landmarks.
Seattle Daily Photo
VRSeattle Through the use of Quicktime VR, you can interactively view hundreds of locations throughout Seattle and Washington State.
High Seas Collection is one local boater's collection of personal photos
Local media
MISCMedia.com is a report on popular culture in Seattle and beyond, created by Clark Humphrey, a strange and wonderful man who writes for The Stranger.
Eat the State Politics with a bite
Pacific NW Portal News and information for progressives
TidePool.org "News for Salmon Nation"
KUOW and KPLU are the local NPR stations
KBCS "A New Tradition" Bellevue Community College's public radio station, featuring an eclectic mix of music, including jazz, folk, world, and blues (and lots in between), as well as Pacifica News
NorthWest Cable News Our local answer to CNN
Our quaint customs
A Seattle Lexicon: Lingo From the Far Corner
The Pacific Northwest Highland Games and Gathering of the Clans
What happens to fraternity bad boys who refuse to grow up? Some of them become Seafair Pirates.
You know you live in the Northwest if...
Our beverages of choice
Double Shot Buzz "A monthly account of a Seattleite's search for coffee in the Land of Tea, along with caffeinated e-mail-induced ramblings"
The Seattle Times weighs in with its list of Seattle's best coffeehouses.
Frequently Asked Questions About Coffee Brought to you by those fine caffeine addicts who frequent the rec.food.drink.coffee, alt.coffee, alt.food.coffee and alt.drugs.caffeine newsgroups.
About.com's Coffee/Tea Links A glossary, recipes, and lots of ads
Lavazza's Barista Terminology or "How to Speak Latte"
Starbuck's Drinks Simplified (Kinda)
The Oracle of Starbucks can tell you everything about your personality by what you drink at Starbucks.
The Northwest BrewPage is all about the other official Seattle beverage.
Rainier Beer is made in California now, but these classic Rainier ads bring back the days when it was a real local brew
MikeL's Guide to Washington State Wineries
570Bars the chronicle of two average guys who live in Seattle and planned to drink in every spirits-serving establishment within the city
Unofficial Guide to Seattle Happy Hours
Drinking Cheaply Around Safeco Field How to drink beer but not spend $40 for it over the course of a game
Our natural wonders
This Armchair Tour of Mount Rainier features some gorgeous photos of the mountain.
The U.S. Geological Survey's Cascade Volcano Observatory site has a wealth of data to remind us that our mountains are far from inactive--and information on what will happen when (not if) the next time one wakes up.
For those of you from parts of the world that stay put underfoot, you can now experience a Seattle earthquake from the comfort of your home.
NW Natural Hotsprings features descriptions and directions to hotsprings around the region.
Waterfalls of the Pacific Northwest will lead you dozens of waterfalls, a few accessible by road and many only accessible by hiking or paddling in.
Mel's Hole What is it? this Seattle Times article doesn't have the answers, but it sure raises some good questions.
Puget Sound Fresh lists local farmers markets, information on local produce, recipes, and more
PickYourOwn.org lists local growers that let you gather your own produce, as fresh as it gets
Other cool (or just strange) things found here
He's everybody's favorite local billionaire...unless he's their least favorite. But love him or loathe him, you can't argue that Bill Gates is a Seattle institution. Learn all about him at the The "Unofficial" Bill Gates site. Get an update on his present fortunes (and how much you're personally contributed) at the Bill Gates Personal Wealth Clock. Take a look at his $97 million house, or get a more extensive tour. If you're less than fond of him, you may enjoy this MPEG movie of Bill getting hit in the face with a cream pie. Or here, you can make him say any dumb thing you like. So many choices!!
If you had very nearly as much money as Bill Gates, and more of a life beyond Microsoft, what would you do with it? Paul Allen built the Experience Music Project.
The Microsoft Lexicon chronicles the language and culture found in the halls, the well-stocked kitchens, and the company volleyball courts of Microsoft in the mid- to late-1990s.
Ride the Ducks of Seattle Drive around town seeing the sights and quacking at people from an Army surplus landing craft that doesn't stop when it gets to the shore of Lake Union.
Metro Employees Historical Vehicles Association
Pigs on Parade consisted of over a hundred fiberglass pigs, decorated by local artists, which were displayed on the streets of downtown Seattle in the summer of 2001. They've now been sold now to raise money for the Pike Place Market Foundation--but that worked so well, they're making another set!
The Fremont Summer Solstice Parade is an annual event that celebrates community spirit, creative expression, and volunteerism in a way unique to Seattle. Anyone can participate, and there are only three rules: 1) No motorized vehicles except wheelchairs (this keeps floats human powered and human scaled); 2) No written words (this encourages communication that is direct, interactive, visual, and energetic); 3) No live animals (except assist dogs).
Other fun things you'll find in Fremont include The Fremont Troll , Waiting for the Interurban, and the Fremont Outdoor Cinema
Hat n'Boots For years they were a crumbling ruin, but they've come back!
Seattle is home to more Art Cars than perhaps any other city in the world.
The Post Alley Gum Wall
Meeresschaum is a site celebrating one woman's collections of rocks, glass fishing floats (hey, who am I to talk? I have a page on my floaty pen collection) and other stuff collected on the beaches, mountains and valleys of Washington. She also has a lot of good Coast Guard information
Greenstage visits Seattle-area parks every summer, doing top-quality productions of Shakespeare and other classic works and asking only donations for admission.
The Seattle Mariners have a beautiful ballpark, Safeco Field. It replaced the Kingdome (a really bad place to watch a baseball game), which was imploded in 2000. I never get tired of watching that eyesore come down.
Rat City Rollergirls Roller derby lives!
The Phinney Neighborhood Association is a priceless nonprofit community resource that serves folks far beyond the bounds of Phinney Ridge. They offer a great assortment of events and services--an art gallery, a soup kitchen, a preschool, a senior center, a tool lending library, a Spanish conversation group, and classes on everything from earthquake retrofitting your home to Linux to Kung Fu to Scandinavian folk dance.
Seattle Floating Homes Association aims to "to protect, preserve and promote the vitality of Seattle’s unique floating homes community through education, advocacy and collaboration" (plus they have some great photos)
The Kalakala is a motor ferry that served the Seattle-to-Bremerton route for over thirty years. When she was launched in 1935, the Kalakala was the cutting edge of design and technology. Her streamlined shape and shining silver hull were a sensation, described as the finest art-deco sculpture ever crafted. In her heyday she hosted nightly dance cruises on the Sound, featuring Joe Bowen and the Flying Bird Orchestra. But the years were not kind to the Kalakala, and by 1997 she had ended up a rusting hulk stuck in the mud in Kodiak, Alaska, abandoned after years of use and abuse as a seafood processing plant. Around that time a group of enthusiastic supporters organized the Kalakala Foundation to restore the ship to her former glory and turn her into a waterfront landmark. They they brought her home to Seattle and tried to raise the money it required, but the Kalakala's bad luck wasn't over yet--they went broke long before the work was done. Since then, purchase agreements have fallen through, lawsuits have been filed, promises have been made and broken, and hopes raised and dashed. She's been called a monument to unfinished projects. But we haven't given up hope--she's still afloat, so stay tuned!
Back in the late sixties, there was a popular TV show called "Here Come the Brides." It was set in frontier-era Seattle and it's probably best remembered for introducing teenybopper idol Bobby Sherman. But did you know that it was loosely based on a true story? You can find out more about the real "Mercer Girls" on this well-researched site.
Want more northwest history? Unsettling Events tells "true-life tales [that] chillingly capture the dark side of of our state's history." The Tacoma Public Library, sponsors of this great site, promise "Today's tabloid journalism positively pales in comparison!"
HistoryLink is an evolving online encyclopedia of Seattle and King County history.
A.G.H.O.S.T. is interested in a part of the region's history that may still linger: ghosts. They investigate potential sites of paranormal activity, offer classes, and give tours of legendary haunts like Pike Place Market.
Other people are looking for ghosts in and around Seattle. MarketGhost.com also offers ghost tours of the Market, and Private Eye Tours does one of haunts around the city . Real Change reported on Urban Apparitions: Seattle's Historic Downtown is a Year-Round Haunt for Local Ghosts. Jefferson Davis has written several books and maintains a website on The Ghosts of Washington and Oregon.
Seattle Museum of the Mysteries "Washington State's only Paranormal Science Museum" UFO history, Bigfoot and ghosts--plus Seattle's only Oxygen Bar!
Seattle Municipal Archives Photograph Collection The Photograph Collection Index contains descriptions and digital images of over 44.000 historic photographs in the Municipal Archives. You can search by time period, neighborhood, or keyword.
Postcards from Seattle's Past is another collection of historic photographs of Seattle from 1865 to the present day.
Boomtown Cafe says their mission is "to provide healthful, affordable food in a safe and dignified atmosphere, while creating a community of respect." They started out as a nonprofit that let homeless and low-income people eat and pay full price if they could, or work off most of their bill if they couldn't. The organization his a rough patch and had to close the doors a while back, but the community has pitched in and is doing fundraisers to help them re-open soon.
The Wet Spot "Seattle's Sex-Positive Community Center"
The Reptile Man Not a site for the herpetophobic
HorsesAss.org This site started out as headquarters for a petition drive to get a statewide initiative on the ballot officially declaring Tim Eyman (Washington's own anti-tax entrepreneur and professional initiative huckster) a horse's ass. Since then, David Goldstein has continued in the same vein with his unique brand of political commentary
Capitalism at its finest
Archie McPhee "Outfitters of Popular Culture" This was the only place where we wanted to register for wedding gifts. Oh, Tony's parents made us register at the Bon, too, but the best gifts (tiki lights, lawn flamingos, his-and-hers giant rubber elf shoes) still came from here!
Babeland Playthings for consenting adults
The Rubber Tree an education-oriented, community resource project of Seattle Zero Population Growth
The Erotic Bakery makes some unique, explicit--and tasty!--dessert goodies
Edge of the Circle Books "Seattle's resource for Paganism and the Occult"
Elliott Bay Book Company is Seattle's biggest and most diverse independent bookstore
Tenzing Momo "Seattle's friendly herbal apothecary" Helpful, pagan-friendly, and incredibly well-stocked. On my first visit to Seattle I wandered in here, more or less by accident. It was one of the places that made me think "Hmmm...I think I could live in this town!"
Pike Place Fish "Caution: Low Flying Fish!"
Beecher's Handmade Cheese makes some tasty artisan cheeses, not to mention a killer macaroni & cheese
Salumi Artisan Cured Meats An ex-Boeing engineer's retirement project has become the darling of local foodies and carnivores.
Big John's PFI Another favorite of the local gourmet cooking crowd, PFI features an odd assortment of imported cheeses, olives, cured meats, olive oils, herbs and spices, and much more, mostly with a Mediterranean bent. They're open weird hours and they're damned hard to find, but people keep tracking them down for their prices and selection and quality.
La Costa Mexican Restaurant For a long time after I moved here from California, I despaired at finding some decent Mexican food. People kept telling me to go to Mama's Mexican Kitchen in Belltown, but that place serves the sorriest plate of bland, flavorless glop, drowning in grease and Cheddar cheese and beyond the power of tacky, wacky faux-Mexican decor to make palatable (I know--I tried them at least three times, on the theory that anyplace that comes so highly recommended must have just been having an off night on my first visit. But alas, off nights seem standard there.) I figured, if this is what people here think is good Mexican, then there's really no hope. Then, just when I'd about given up, Tony and I discovered La Costa. It's in a dumpy little strip mall in Burien. Most nights, at least half the clientele is Latino (still an unusual thing in mainly-gringo Seattle), which is always a good sign. Most of the servers have been working there as long as we've been visiting, more than ten years--how often do you see that? The jukebox features Spanish-language pop tunes, and often as not, the TV in the bar is tuned to a soccer game between a couple of Latin American teams. On weekends they have live music (Friday nights it's often the most kick-ass Mariachi band I've heard...well, ever!) And the food...it's just good, damn good. A review on the wall says the founder is one of the Ramos brothers who own the Azteca chain. On one visit, the host told us his dad had started the place because he wanted one restaurant where he could serve Mexican food the way he likes it. Well, I like it, too!!
Los Taco Trucks Unitas is a guide to the region's finest Mexican food on wheels
Ye Olde Curiosity Shop home of Sylvester the Desert Mummy
Elephant Car Wash worth a visit for the neon alone
Kenny's Northwest Experience "The world's largest outlet of chainsaw carvings!" Or, if you want to learn to make them yourself, try the George Kenny School of Chainsaw Carving
Brown & Haley the makers of Almond Roca, Mountain Bars, and more Northwest favorites
Liberty Orchards is the home of Aplets, Cotlets, and other candies made from fresh Washington fruits.
Pyramid Ales makers of my favorite Apricot Ale
McMenamins started out in Portland, but they've opened a few of their pubs in Seattle, offering really good food, good beer, and a cozy atmosphere.
