Obama fever and clever marketing in Capitol Hill.
I love exploring a new city and one of the best ways to do it is to get lost. I woke up today refreshed from my amazing massage and read the latest issue of Seattle magazine and DK Guide’s Seattle Top 10. I first heard of Capitol Hill when I saw CNN coverage of people going crazy in the streets (like we did in D.C.) in this part of Seattle on election night. I cannot emphasize how Democratic this city seems. I haven’t seen a single McCain/Palin poster and restaurants, book stores and other businesses have red and blue posters of Obama and Andy Warhol-style multicolored prints of JFK side by side with words like “HOPE” and “PEACE” written under them.So I figured the best way to start exploring Capitol Hill and other Seattle neighborhoods was to start walking. I walked out of the hotel down 4th Avenue and turned left on Pine Street and walked about 8 blocks, across a highway, and was in Capitol Hill. I saw the Jimi Hendrix statue at Broadway and Pine and then walked up Broadway past the Seattle Community College to the Broadway Café for breakfast, which was recommended as a good breakfast spot by the clerk at the Walgreen’s. It was closed so I went to Julia’s café next door and was greeted by huge portraits of drag queens with slogans under them. The portrait of a drag queen impersonating Tina Turner had the slogan “Simply the Best.” LOLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!
Breakfast was a Spicy Baja Omelet, which was an omelet with pepper jack cheese and red pepper flakes topped with a spicy, lemony guacamole. One thing I have noticed about Seattle is that people take their food seriously. Everything is properly salted and spiced and the ingredients are fresh and the best. After breakfast I decided to get lost again and, grabbing a large jasmine pearls tea from the corner Peet’s, I walked down Broadway towards Pike crossing Pine and turned right on Pike, heading back towards 4th Avenue. It was a lovely walk in a hilly area as Capitol Hill merged back into Belltown.
Once I got to 4th Avenue past the glitzy mall with the Nordstrom and H&M, I turned left on 4th and walked for a good 16 blocks, mostly downhill, thankfully, to Jackson Street in the International District/Chinatown. I wanted to try the Chinese food but sushi beckoned me again. So I slipped into a sushi restaurant and was greeted by an elderly lady. I got the lunch special, which was a cold noodle salad, miso soup, tuna, squid, and salmon sashimi and yellowtail maki, all washed down with some hot sake. It was excellent and I was stuffed as I walked down Jackson Street to King Street to Seattle’s Best Tea, where I was greeted by the owners’ dog and bought half a pound of Jasmine tea (not from the dog, of course!) For a change of scenery, I walked to 2nd Avenue and then walked uphill 16 blocks back to the hotel. My thighs and feet screamed bloody murder but they were in for a treat.
I had made another appointment at Ummelina’s Spa and I showed up on the dot for my massage. I told the therapist that I needed her to focus on my legs and when I told her that I had walked from Belltown to Capitol Hill to the International District and back to Belltown she must have thought I was crazy. I went through the ritual of the foot soak and the warm lavender water felt miraculous to my poor barking dogs! This time around, I took the 7 jet shower first, with the same cucumber scented body wash I used the day before, and I almost drifted off to sleep while I waited for the therapist in the massage room. She was a different therapist and used deeper massage techniques, which were excellent for my battered legs and shoulders. I tried the bergamot massage oil the first day but today I tried the calming lavender oil. Every few minutes during the massage she would spray a lavender mist near my face so I could inhale the calming scent as part of the aromatherapy. I went through the same gong ritual as the day before when I finished, got dressed and went back to the hotel to relax and took a nap as I watched Chris Matthews screaming on the T.V. for a bit, and went to Wild Ginger for dinner.
One of the hottest restaurants in town, Wild Ginger is an Asian seafood place that focuses on fresh ingredients. There were no tables available so I got a seat at the bar for dinner. I started with a Wild Ginger martini. The bartender told me that he cuts ginger up into one inch cubes, plops them into a bottle of Stoli, leaves it there for a month and then makes martinis with it. When he made my martini I could still see the pieces of ginger in the bottle. Now, it doesn’t sound too appetizing, does it? It is a strong martini but it tastes great. For dinner I had the Cantonese salmon. Fresh, just-flown-in wild Alaska salmon was steamed with a hint of ginger, salt and scallions. The salmon was done just right and was full of flavor.
I walked around admiring the Christmas decorations at the Macy’s and made it an early night plopping down on the bed, tipsy from the strong ginger martini.
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