When I pulled my suitcase out of the dark recesses of my closet I got a nice surprise. I found my favorite missing flip flops! I had searched for them all summer. They were relatively new and I was seriously missing them. I guess I should have just looked for them in my closet. I spent a lot of time under beds and in trunks of cars trying to locate them...
We have lived through a spectacularly hot summer in my part of the world. Haven't had a drop of rain in months. Is it weird that as soon as we left town it started raining cats and dogs in my neighborhood? Well...I guess that isn't THAT strange. What was odd is that it was hot and sunny in Seattle! And, absolutely beautiful!
We arrived in Seattle around noon. My adorable Seattle residing niece picked us up at Sea-Tac airport. The sky was clear and blue and streaked with sunshine. Amazing for a first visit.
I knew this was going to be great when my niece announced she had planned our afternoon and was taking us to a funky little local sandwich hole-in-the-wall in Ballard.
You know it's going to be good when there is a line of people waiting their turn to order from the small open window of the sandwich shack. My niece had warned us that they often sell out of their homemade sandwich buns and when they are gone, they are gone! Thank goodness the sandwich gods were with us on this visit.
I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say I think this was the best sandwich I've ever eaten. I'm kind of craving one while I'm sitting here typing away on the computer. I made of point of finishing every last morsel of my sandwich while I was there. I knew I would later regret not finishing it if I didn't! I'm only regretting I can't get another one anytime soon!
This was my Caribbean roast pork sandwich. It was slow roasted in the "famous" marinade until it falls off the pork shoulder in juicy and tender chunks. The home fashioned baguette was insanely good. It was dense and crusty and held up to the slathering of aioli and cilantro and pickled jalapenos. It also had super fresh and crispy romaine lettuce and thick pieces of caramelized onions! It was a pretty huge sandwich. I'm kind of proud I went the distance and I'm not feeling bad I left any behind. It was also served with a much needed wet nap and extra napkins. I wanted to go around and take pictures of what everyone else was consuming. This didn't happen as I had pork juice and aioli running down my arms and my hands were coated in the deliciousness of this off the hook sandwich!
http://www.paseoseattle.com/index.php/home.html
Something I love about Seattle and other cities in the Northwest...the garbage system. Never is there just one old container of multiple use garbage. You have to stop and think...
I had never seen a receptacle like this one! Cool, right?
After our giant sandwiches we got to walk off a few of those calories...we headed down to the Ballard Locks to see the salmon jumping and the boats come through the locks...
I've never seen a sign like this where I live. Another way you know you're in Washington ;)
You can't see it but there were a whole bunch of jumping salmon right there! You can see the amazing blue and cloudless skies! Way to go Seattle!
After this fun and interesting little excursion we headed back to downtown Seattle. We had booked a hotel very near the heart of Pike Place Market. We wanted to check into our "possibly haunted" hotel before we went to explore the "Market"...
We checked in and enjoyed wandering the blocks that make up downtown Seattle. The cute little niece is a complete and informed "foodie". We were in good hands!
We ended up having dinner at a local restaurant in Pike Place Market called "Etta's". It was a good call. The service was splendid and they totally accommodated our darling traveling 2 year old who kept saying, "eat food?". Upon seating they immediately brought her crayons, paper and a lovely plate of hand fashioned noodles! We didn't hear a peep from her in 2 hours!
We had a group of nine and I was too relaxed and comfy to make my way around the table taking food photos. Everyone LOVED their respective meals. I was still so full from my sandwich of the century that I tried to pace myself and make careful choices. I opted for a lovely bowl of creamy thick house clam chowder and a light sparkly refreshing glass of peach sangria. Good choice on both!
There were a couple of notables...
I want to try and recreate this myself! A beet salad with chive mascarpone, assorted fresh local berries and slivered almonds! Beautiful, right?
This crab cake was absolutely the best I've ever eaten. It was PURE crab! No fillers, no peppers, no nuttin'! No, you can't tell it was almost 2 inches tall and 2 inches wide because we couldn't stop eating it long enough to take a picture. It was crusty and golden on the top and bottom and just full of flaky fresh crab meat. Yum...the light citrusy aioli was a perfect companion.
And, finally...
Their signature coconut cream pie...with coconut crust and white chocolate shavings ;)
A really special meal with aunties and cuzzies and locally sourced amazing food...We headed back to our haunted hotel and turned on the ghost meter!
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