vacation diary: downtown seattle/capitol hill/cascades/neighborhoods

Day 5: Back in Seattle, we stayed with my friends Mal and Kelly (hey guys!). In the morning, we grabbed coffee at QED, then caught the bus to downtown Seattle. We wandered through the Seattle Public Library, which is beautiful and also has a very David Lynch creepy red hallway.

Next we went to Pike Place Market, where we did our best to consume as much as possible. Our sampling included dumplings, a pork steam bun, chowder, and fish. There are also so many beautiful (and CHEAP) bouquets in the market.

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After stuffing our faces, we walked around the city for awhile until we needed more coffee. We popped into a shop called Drip City, which is a pretty unfortunate name, for some cold brew, then headed on to the Space Needle and downtown area.

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Next we climbed our way out of downtown and up to Capitol Hill. We wandered around Elliot Bay Book Company, which was a delightful bookstore and also provided some much needed rest.

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We had some happy hour drinks at a bar called St. Johns and watched the first debate before heading to dinner at Ba Bar. It was too dark inside to take a picture of the food, but my bowl of pho was one of the best.

Day 6: Greg, Mal, and I drove out of the city and a little ways into the Cascades to do a hike called Rattlesnake Ledge. This is a challenging hike, as you’re climbing most of the time, but the payoff at the end is well worth it. Incredible views of the surrounding mountains.

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After our hike, we crushed some fantastic tacos in Wallingford and had a drink at Fremont Brewing.

We made our way to Holy Mountain Brewing for some more David Lynch themes and hazy beers, and eventually capped off the night with pizza and affogato at Cornuto.

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Day 7A: We were headed to Portland via the Bolt Bus, so we got downtown in the morning and had coffee at Elm Coffee Roasters, where Greg proclaimed he met the nicest barista he’d ever encountered. And finally, we had some pretty crazy Chinese noodle soup at King Noodle in the International District before talking the bus driver into letting us on early.

On to Portland!

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vacation diary: seattle/port ludlow/olympic

It’s now well over a month since we got back from our trip to the Pacific Northwest, but that won’t stop me from documenting the highlights. Enjoy!

Day 1: Arrive late Thursday night. Go to bed.

Day 2: We walked along Lake Washington Boulevard to Leschi. We had a late breakfast at a cute restaurant called Meet the Moon. We shared the giant cinnamon roll, which I highly recommend doing, and had avocado toast and bacon. They serve coffee from Olympia Coffee Roasting Co, which was great.

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After our late breakfast, we stopped into the Polka Dot Jersey, the local bike shop. After hiking back up the hill to the main road, we grabbed our stuff and took a Car2Go to the ferry.img_1611

The ferry took us to Bainbridge Island, where we were picked up by Greg’s uncle and aunt. We walked around the town of Poulsbo, which was settled by vikings, and had dinner at a Mexican restaurant. We went on to Port Ludlow, where Greg’s uncle and aunt live on Mats Mats Bay.

Day 3: We headed to Olympic National Park and did the Hurricane Ridge Trail. It’s a fairly easy hike that provides incredible views of the Olympics and the sea in the distance. I actually didn’t realize I was looking at the ocean at times, it just looked like the blue sky between mountains. img_1637

After the hike, we headed to Crescent Lake. There’s a beautiful old lodge there.

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We did a hike up to a waterfall, and I finally got to experience that lush, overly green Washington forest that I’d seen pictures of for so long. I’d also never seen trees as big as the ones in the park, and stopped at far too many to snap a pic.img_1703

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Day 4: We boated around Mats Mats Bay and near Whidbey Island, spotting seals and cormorants.

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In the afternoon, we took the ferry back to Seattle and were joined by Mt. Rainier. My iPhone pics do not do justice to how massive and imposing Rainier is.

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It was a great start to our trip! Next, on to downtown Seattle and some of the neighborhoods.

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why #ImWithHer

hillary

Hillary Clinton is not “the lesser of two evils.” To call her such is plainly offensive. To lump her in with a racist, sexist, sociopathic egomaniac who doesn’t even understand how American government works is offensive. It is a shame she doesn’t have a respectable opponent to run against, because that may have actually allowed the American people to hear about her policies instead of her emails. Since the media has opted to spend so little time on policy, here are some of the policies HRC hopes to enact as president (and why I support her):

  • 12 weeks paid family leave and medical leave: Did you know that only four countries in the entire world (THE ENTIRE WORLD) don’t offer federally paid family leave? Want to guess what they are? Here, let me help. They are: Swaziland, Liberia, Papua New Guinea, annnnnnd the fucking United States of America. Can you believe that? We are the only industrialized country IN THE WORLD that doesn’t offer paid family leave. Hillary Clinton wants the American people to have it.
  • Childcare subsidies: Clinton wants to cap childcare costs at 10% of a family’s income. According to the Washington Post, “average child-care costs in the United States devour at least 30 percent of a minimum-wage worker’s earnings in every state.” She also wants to provide universal access to pre-K for 4 year olds.
  • Tuition-free state college: HRC wants students from families making less than $85,000 a year to be able to attend an in-state four year public college without paying tuition. By 2021, she wants to extend that to families making less than $125,000 a year. She also wants all community colleges to offer free tuition.
  • Gun control: No, she isn’t going to repeal the 2nd Amendment (the President can’t just get rid of an amendment) and she isn’t trying to steal your gun, though I would support her if she did. But what HRC does want to do is expand background checks and fight to make it possible for victims to actually hold the gun lobby accountable.
  • Mental health: HRC thinks mental health care is as important as physical health care, and she wants healthcare providers to treat the whole person. She wants to increase investment in drug courts and funding to train law enforcement officers on crisis intervention.
  • Women’s rights: HRC will work to close the pay gap. She will protect women’s reproductive and health rights. She will continue to support Planned Parenthood. She will address violence against women by taking a stand on campus sexual assault and gun violence.

These are only a few of the policy issues that Hillary Clinton cares about AND has plans for. I encourage you to see the longer list on her website and educate yourself on her policies, because that is what makes up a presidency.