The third and final installment in our exciting vacation saga. And soon I will post the pictures too! Oh be still my beating heart!
Monday September 3
Of course Happy Birthday to the daughter. Meanwhile , back to our vacation. We headed out to the last day of the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. As per our routine, we first went and got a free Starbucks drink then went straight to the VIP hospitality area for some food and to finish planning the day. Petra’s first destination was a dance-related performance called Maximum Velocity, while I went to watch Seattle-based Seapony. I liked the band, they were pretty young but have potential. Then I watch a stripped-down mini-set (was it four or five songs?) on the Toyota Free Yr Radio Stage by England’s The Wombats. They were really likable and really good, ending with a highly-modified (with banjo) version of their song Let’s Dance To Joy Division. Petra meanwhile caught the end of rocker Reignwolf’s set, and we met up after at the “secret stage” for a performance by Low. They are aptly named, the music was very downbeat and while it was ok it was not really that interesting for either of us. That changed soon, though, since the next show in that stage was Passion Pit. They are getting radio play and a lot of press for their new album Gossamer so we were curious. This show was three of the members in a stripped down session, three keyboards/synths. The main guy opened the set with just an acoustic guitar for one song and the rest were the three of them. This was a great show, with enough electric to be cool but still fairly intimate. We both liked it a lot.
Of course we were eating the food in the lounge and the festival food all three days. For festival food, Petra loves the Green Cossack from Kaleenka and I am big on the vegetarian Pad Thai from Bahn Thai. There also vegan donuts that were really good, vegetarian burritos, samosas, and a bunch of other stuff. But back to the music. We split up for a bit again, with Petra staying at the “secret stage” for a band named Posse, while I went to watch The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. I knew one of their songs and while they were not bad, that turned out to be the best song they played. Still very watchable, however. Then we met back up in the beer/wine garden, and from there watched singer-songwriter Kina Grannis. She has a semi-well-known video made from a couple hundred thousand jelly beans, but I also liked her voice a lot and the songs were good too. Then we caught part of a set in the Free Yr Radio stage from LP. She’s written songs for famous people but obviously can hold her own as a singer. Petra went to the lounge to see about some food and I watched part of the set by Lights. She gets a bit of press too, and what I saw was pretty good. Then we watched the headliner for one of the stages for the day, Passion Pit. Sure, we had seen them in the tiny stage earlier, but now they were a six piece band with a drummer and a fuller, louder sound. In a good way. They were still really good and the huge crown watching them enjoyed it a lot, as did we. On that positive note, another great day ended and Bumbershoot 2012 was over. It’s always sad to see it end but the three days were so wonderfully magical and nothing could change that. Once back at the hotel, we all went up to the cloud room on the 11th floor for some talk, some wine, and some snacks. Good times.
Tuesday September 4
We headed out on our own in the late morning. Karl and Betty and Mama O and Sam were all planning to see Pike Place Market. Yeah, that is worth seeing, and we have been there numerous times. But today we went to a couple record stores instead. We wanted some music by some of the Bumbershoot artists we had liked, plus we are always looking out for good music, especially if we can find it used and cheap. First stop was Silver Platters and then Easy Street Records. Both are very close to the Seattle Center and easy to get to on foot. After doing some damage at both, we hiked over to Mama’s Mexican Kitchen, where we were meeting up with the other four members of our party. We had a tasty mexican food lunch with margaritas and then we were on our way. Karl and Betty went with us to catch a ferry to nearby Bainbridge Island. It’s about a 30-45 minute ferry ride and very peaceful and relaxing. The sight of the Seattle skyline receding into the distance is nice to look at and the water with all the green of the island is pretty scenic. Once on the island, we journeyed through the small town near the ferry terminal. Karl wanted frozen yogurt and we found a place back off the main drag to get some. They also had 6-8 flavors of non-dairy sorbet and I had a couple of those. After walking around a bit more, we caught the ferry back to the mainland. We wandered around a bit looking for dinner, for four people with fairly different diets and likes, finally ending up back at P.F. Chang’s for a nice dinner, with drinks and conversation. And then it was getting late so we headed back to the hotel for the last night of the stay.
Wednesday September 5
But I don’t want to go home! No, no, no! But alas, all good things must come to an end. But first! We went back over to Cyber-Dog’s and had one of Tatiana’s tasty creations. Then we caught the light rail back to the Sea-Tac airport and after a while caught the plane home. This was our twelfth year in a row for the Bumbershoot Festival and if we are alive we will be back again in 2013. Who will go with us in 2013? Well, we have a room reserved and Linda (Mama O) does too. But who else?
In the meantime, stayed tuned for the 2012 pictures, coming soon…
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