Donuts, Dawgs & Moroccans

 Dear Reader,

Of course one of the questions that come with blogs is “how long”?  Or, to put it as John does, “why so long?”  I will try to keep it John-short, but it was a busy day.

First, we got into Seattle after two uneventful plane flights last night.  We took the light rail from the airport (don’t let them tell you that it is a “short walk” from the terminal ):).  Also noteworthy was Alaska Airlines keeping their promise on having your luggage on the carousel in 20 mins.  👍. After turning the wrong way out of the station downtown (Google Maps often seems confused when you are walking), the trek to the hotel was easy.  The room is very nice, meeting a number of H&H hotel standards.  And it is right downtown, so very convenient. 

Next, we did a morning variation of the donut tour — going to the same places as the tour, but without the tour guide and the crowd.  One place was temporarily closed.  If you are NOT a doughnut aficionado (what’s wrong with you?!), then know that no two donuts are quite a like.  Besides there being cake v yeast, there are also shapes, temperatures, textures, that can be different.  We got quite a difference in our three places today. 

The first is Top Doughnuts, their old-fashioned maple and their today’s special of red velvet with cream cheese frosting.  Yes, more like a dessert.  The second is Dahlia Bakery’s Dahlia donuts — which are to die for (Michael should like that one 😂)  They are squares and come just out of the fryer with marscapone and jam.  Finally, it was Daily Doughnuts, which may be a real tourist trap, as it is actually in Pike Place Market.  Theirs were the least great of the three, though how you can complain about a bacon covered maple donut, I’ll never know. 

The afternoon adventure was a trip to UW campus.  It sits on the east side of town, facing the mountains (you might see them way out there in this pic) — across Union Bay (not Puget Sound, which is on the west side). 

It is a large (Big Ten like) campus, with some great vistas, and some good looking buildings.  This is my best money shot of campus, despite the fountain not being on.   We both got a kick out of the sign that said “ducks are already afraid of huskies, so don’t bother these further” 😂. (Footnote: the UW mascot is a husky, the UOregon one is a duck)

And then it was back to Pike’s Place for dinner.   Trigger warning: food porn coming. 

I will claim some kind of neglect about dinner tonight: it was (as the title alludes) “Moroccan.”  What I know from Moroccan is from two black and white movies with Bogie, Bob and Bing.  And I think Bob and Bing ate camel (right?) and Bogey only drank.  

We didn’t have camel. 

We had the meatballs on hummus starter, and I had the chicken tagine (the pot it is cooked in) and RR had the lamb.  Pictured.  It was all excellent. (There were also fancy cocktails that didn’t taste like they were supposed to based on the description, but there was a good joke about Rosemary floating in RR’s drink that the woman at the next table laughed at). 

Speaking of the couple at the next table (it was one of these places where the two-person tables were separated by a skooch [I could have eaten off either person on my right or left’s plate]), HE was obnoxious.  I mean, he could have played the Paul Giamatti character in Sideways, if he had been taller and better looking.  “Was the ‘19 drinkable or was it too young?  But they had thought of the white, but now he was thinking the red” (she was gone to the bathroom; she being the one that laughed and the drowning Rosemary joke).  He and the sommelier (which is what he called him when she came back — I missed the credential check) decided on the not-young, drinkable red.  I think it turned out okay.  I threw up a little in my mouth.  

On the walk back we made up for it by meeting a nice couple, just in town (they had their luggage) from Leeds (the one in England, as their accents indicated).  And then a couple from near Dublin getting into the elevator at the hotel.  None wondered if the wine was too young to be drinkable. 😁

And now I go and watch episode 2 of ˆObi-wan Kenobi. Episode 1 was good; he’s still “our only hope”…but he doesn’t look that much like Alec Guinness (John’s favorite actor).  Who knew? 

till tomorrow.  We are having brunch someplace with build your own Benedicts (sounds like a plug for a Dr. Strange tie-in) and then a tour and a ball game.  Much to say.  Manana.