Our 2005 vacation in Seattle:

Legend:
Steve (S)
Petra (P)
Larry (L)
Robin (R)
Cal (C)
Laura (La)
Linda (Mama O) (M)
Teresa (T)

Tuesday 8/30
We (S,P,L,R,M,T) flew in to Seattle and took a taxi van to The Camlin, in the downtown area where our condo was. After dropping off the luggage, we all walked to Pikes Place Market, the huge, long, multi-level marketplace on the waterfront. Petra bought some flowers for the room and we wandered around eating and shopping. I recall a tasty 'pirogey' and also a vegetarian tamale. We went back to the room to drop off our stuff and formally check in. Then we remembered that in Washington you can only buy liquor from the state stores, so we (S,P,L,R) caught a bus and stocked up on some necessities. From there we walked to Mama's Mexican Food in the nearby Belltown area. It was very good. Then, we made a quick stop at a grocery for some additional supplies and headed back to the room for the evening.

Wednesday 8/31
We (S,P,L,R) made our way a block or two over to Cyber Dogs, a totally vegetarian hot dog place with free Internet Access. The dogs come with all kinds of different things on them, and we all check email and surfed the web a little. Then (S,P,L,R) it was off to catch the monorail to the Experience Music Project (EMP), the world's coolest museum because it is all devoted to music. We only saw part of it, due to time considerations, but we did spend quite a while in the Bob Dylan 1956-1966 exhibit. It was a very thorough look at that period in Bob's life, during which he grew famous and wrote and recorded some of his best and most important music. We also spent some time in the Jimi Hendrix exhibit. Museum founder Paul Allen is a huge Hendrix fan and it shows. What a presentation of his life and music. Then it was time for the pre-Bumbershoot arts gala at the Seattle Center (S,P,L,R,M,T) . Each year, a couple days before the festival begins, they have this event, which showcases the numerous and large art shows that will be in the festival, but without the crowds that will come later. They also have snacks and entertainment. This year, there were two DJ's and they had a competition. They were given topics and given 10 minutes to walk around the crowd and have people say things or make noises related to the topic. Then they had ten minutes to create a piece of music using only the sampled words and noises, nothing else. They played both pieces and a 'doctor' and his 'nurses' (smoking and drinking the whole while) took peoples temperature and blood pressure to see which DJ was exciting the crowd the most. It was wild and fun. As if that wasn't enough, six of us (S,P,L,R,M,T) headed off to Perche No in the nearby Lower Queen Anne area for some great Italian food. They happened to have a person singing live opera in the place too, which was something you don't hear every day. After the meal, the owner offered to drive us all back to our hotel in their van. What a day!

Thursday 9/1
As you may know, Petra is involved in an online breast cancer support group with members all over the country. Well, one lives in Seattle and we arranged to meet her and have breakfast at the Dragonfish, near the condo. She seemed like a very nice, bright, and warm person. She recently started chemotherapy. Four of us (S,P,L,R) met her and spent a couple hours talking with her over the meal. Then we (S,P,L,R) decided to take a walk to the nearby Capital Hill district. This is an area for gays and artists and there we lots of shops ranging from record stores, to blown-glass adult toys, to thrift stores, along with cafes and restaurants. Very entertaining. Then we (S,P,L,R, M, T) caught a free underground bus to the Pioneer Square district for the 'First Thursday' art walk. We looked through a number of galleries at the painting and sculptures, along with pottery, blown glass, and tons of other art. There was also a large crafts show in the park area, with live jazz. Cal and Laura had just flown in and we met up with them. We (S,P,L,R,C,La) had dinner at an Indian restaurant. While the food was good, it was too tame and everyone had wanted a bit more 'ooomph'. Afterwards we (S,P,L,R) took a bus and monorail back to the EMP, to the bar area known as the Liquid Lounge for a drink and some live music. I had a music-themed drink called a 'Voxy Lady' that was tasty and did NOT need a bit more 'ooomph'.

Friday 9/2
This was the first day of the annual Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. This year is the 35th year of the festival and the fifth year in a row that we have attended. This is the least crowded day so we sampled some of the food (Petra loves the Curry In A Hurry). There are tons of food choices, including plenty of vegetarian options. Seattle is such a progressive and inclusive town, there are almost always plenty of things for us non-carnivores. We (S,P) spent most of the afternoon watching some stand-up comedy, since that is always crowded later in the festival. We saw Mike Birbiglia, Todd Barry, Eugene Mirman, Aziz Ansari, Andrew Donnelly, and a number of others. After more food, we separated and a couple of us (S,L,R) went to catch Stan Ridgway (former Wall Of Voodoo) sing and play a great set. Others (P,R) caught some of Mavis Staples and local favorites Maktub with Reggie Watts. We all (S,P,L,R) ended up at the mainstage for the day's headliner, Garbage. They rocked through their hits and more and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Saturday 9/3
This was the second day of the festival. But before that we (S,P) went for an early lunch back to Cyber Dogs to check email and chow down. Woof! Then we (S,P,L,R) grabbed the monorail and headed over to the festival. We saw a full set by Mavis Staples and we (S,P,M) were front row center and about 5-6 feet from Mavis. Uh-huh! Then we (S,P) took a walk through a nearby area with a great location and cheap condos for sale. Any of you want to buy us one? We would really like it… Then (S,P) off to a couple record stores, the main one being Easy Street in the lower Queen Anne area. A great store, I will list the CDs we bought on my web site when I get some time. By then it was time for dinner and we (S,P,L,R,C,La) had arranged to meet at nearby Bamboo Gardens, a totally vegetarian Chinese food place with hundreds of items on the menu. We ate and talked for a while and then, freshly rejuvenated, we headed back to the festival. We (S,P) went to watch Hazrvey Danger, a Seattle-based rock band, but the volume was so loud, even with ear plugs, and the sound muddy, so we left after about 5 songs. This one stage at the festival is always loud, luckily there are lots more stages and great people to see, so we headed over to catch the rest of Clinton Fearon and his Boogie Brown Band. They played roots reggae and were pretty good. Then at the EMP stage we (S,P,L,R) watched a DJ mix for a little bit, with a light show, and then caught part of Trey Anastesio's set. He was the headliner that day but his music was just ok, not bad but nothing special.

Saturday 9/4
We had lunch near the condo at Gordon Beirsch, famous for their garlic fries at the Kings games. We had the garlic fries and also the artichoke hearts and one of their signature beers. The beer was ok, the artichoke hearts mediocre or a little better, and the garlic fries were lousy. Hard to believe, but they tasted more like lukewarm regular fries! But we knew good times were ahead and we headed to the festival, day three. The first act we (S,P) saw was Headphones, a new electronic project by Pedro The Lion's main singer/songwriter. It was pretty interesting and we both enjoyed it, but after about half the set we headed to the hospitality area to grab a snack and split up for the next batch of music. Petra (P) headed over to see Swampdweller at an outdoor stage and I went to see master songwriter, novelist, and singer John Wesley Harding (Wes) at an indoor stage. Unbeknownst to me it started raining so some of our party (P,L,R,M,T) gathered in the hospitality area to wait it out. Meanwhile I was treated to an excellent show featuring Wes solo with guitar, and a capella with two others voices, and with a string quartet, and with a heavy rock band, and everything in between. Wes and others (including musician Robin Hitchcock) also read passages from Wes' new novel between songs. It was a very cool and unique show. Afterwards, I bought a copy of his book and Wes was signing them. While signing mine, he handed me a postcard that was actually an invitation to a private show he was doing the next night at a nearby club. He said I could bring a guest. More about this later. Anyway, we all (or most) (S,P,L,R,M,T) met up and ate while we waited for the rain to subside. It soon did and we all wandered out. We stopped at a beer and wine garden and watch a little bit of an act called Medieval Pundits. It rained a little more and they weren't too good, so we (S,P,L,R) went inside for a little bit and the rain stopped. At this point we (S,P) decided we would try some indoor entertainment, so we went to see Son Volt, about the first six songs or so, while we waited for the main act in the mainstage. Anyway, Son Volt was ok, a decent band but they sound like too many other bands. Then off to the mainstage for headliner Elvis Costello. Elvis is one of my favorites, as you may know, and a genius of a songwriter. Anyway, he was playing solo and is one of the few people that can captivate a stadium audience with only himself and a guitar. He performed songs from his first album in the late seventies through his latest album from earlier this year. All amazing…

Monday 9/5
We (S,P,L,R) headed to day four of the festival. We (S,P) shopped a little at some of the craft stands while listening to The Decemberists. They were pretty good, kind of indie rock, a bit soft sounding in a good way. I was waiting to see Dashboard Confessional and they played next. It is mainly one man who writes and sings, sometimes with a guitar, and sometimes with a band, and that is how they/he performed today. I do prefer a band on the songs but he writes good songs and sings strongly and we enjoyed the show. Next we caught part of the set by the Be Good Tanyas (see our last xmas cd). The main singer has a warm, sweet voice. After some refreshments, we (S,P) listened for a couple minutes to an R&B singer named Chocolate. She was pretty bad so we walked to a different stage. Blues guitarist Sonny Landreth was playing and we listened to part of his set. The music is just ok but he can sure play guitar. Next it was time for that 'private party' that John Wesley Harding had invited us to. It turned out to be someone named Alan Page's 40th birthday party. They had rented out the club for the night. We (S,P) showed our pass and they let us in. A waiter walked by and offered us free snacks, so we found a table. There were maybe 40-50 people total there all night and fewer downstairs where we were. They brought out the birthday cake and we had some, along with a drink. We were given some nice party favors, m&m's with Alan's name on them. Soon after, Wes played about 90 minutes of Alan's favorite songs, then joined Alan's band for two Wes songs and three standards. We were front and center, about 6-8 feet from Wes. He was chatting between songs and very entertaining. It was totally fantastic, but I do wonder if Alan or his wife wondered who we were? Ha! Then we headed back to the festival (across the street) for the last hour of Michael Franti and Spearhead, a reggae, rock, rap, soul mix that was very good. What a day!

Tuesday 9/6
We (S,P,L,R) had a tasty lunch at a new Thai food place in the Queen Anne district, then we (S,P) went to shop a bit at a poster and music memorabilia store nearby. Then it was back to the condo and to the airport. And back home. It was a much-needed vacation, after a year of cancer, surgery, chemotherapy, side effects, and radiation still to come. But we had a great time! And we are already looking forward to next year!!!