The Land Of The Free

We arrived in town on July 4 which meant huge crowds at Pike Street Market but lots of downtown shops closed for the celebrations. That sealed state carried over into Sunday so Seattle has been a slightly surreal city experience until today when all seems to be up and running again. Just in time - we move on tomorrow.

Home of Starbucks, Home of Microsoft, home of, well you get the picture, Seattle likes to think of itself as hip and thrusting. I think it's just about right in its self-estimation, though there are rather more down-and-outs on the sidewalks than a city should feel comfortable about.

You should see the queues to enter the original Starbucks down at Pike Street. We went elsewhere, not from any right-on animus against the coffee moguls but because there are other treats to be had - on the Starbucks thing I do have to say that I think Margaret Hodge (the cheerleader for the Starbucks lynch mob) not only looks a bit like Polly Toynbee (are they ever seen together?) but talks through much the same orifice.

As appearing on a teeshirt near you

So should you be in town don't miss the Pike Street Pub and Brewery - Where everybody knows your name . Now you can if you wish read the predictably faint praise reviews from beer nerds or you can take this experienced drinker's word for it - the place is fun. It is also commercial (I've bought the teeshirt) but, hell they're entitled to make a living. They also serve passable wine by the glass should you want to take the darling heart for a tipple and the food is on the money, especially the salmon sandwich. Actually 'sandwich' is a misnomer, it's more of a slab of good fresh fish in a bun. With fries of course.

In a bizarre game of football last night USA beat Japan 5-2 in the final of the FIFA Women's World Cup. Sharon and I watched this whilst gorging on oysters and garlic fries in the J & M Bar in Pioneer Square - Seattle's oldest bar - I was drinking the local Mac and Jack which carries a kick. Service absolutely top drawer. That overreaching toss bag Sepp Blatter did not lower the tone by daring to turn up. Which was nice.

A long way up but there is
 a very fast elevator

Today we walked down to the Space Needle at the vibrant Seattle Center (that's how they spell it and it is their city after all) but did not go up because we had already taken in the much higher and much less hyped tallest building in town (indeed loftiest publicly accessible observatory on the West coast) the Columbia Center. So vertiginous that not only is there a Starbucks on the ground floor but another one for good measure at the half-way point on the fortieth floor.

Finally there has to a word for the Pike Street Market - all sorts from tat to tasteful and fish stalls the match of anything anywhere. If you were massively disciplined you could just cruise the crowded halls and sate yourself on the free samples. But if you are human you will crack and buy something - anyone for Aged Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar?

By the way and apropos of nothing at all, Brad Freidel walked into the Vancouver Starbucks from which I blogged at the weekend. In town for the women's final perhaps?

This is BFP signing off on behalf of The Overgraduate from the Polar Bar at the Arctic Explorer's Club in Seattle, where he has just finished the first bottle of a very presentable Washington State sauvignon blanc. God Bless America.