Seattle in Autumn

Everyone needs to see Seattle in the Fall. I can see why the property values are so insane here. This may well be the most picturesque urban area I’ve ever seen. Trees are everywhere – uptown, downtown and all around. It almost makes you forget you’re in a major city. This town also seems to have the most book and music stores per capita of any major city. I bought David Sedaris’ Me Talk Pretty One Day for $3, hardcover. I’ve had a hard time not buying bargain vinyl, just because I won’t have anywhere to put it. I did buy a DVD of the 1967 Stax/Volt Revue (Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Booker T. and the MGs, etc) live in Norway for $15, though.

The Science Fiction Museum and Experience Music Project are fantastic, and an absolute must for any fan of either. The SFM is mostly a display for Microsoft co-founder and world’s richest nerd Paul Allen to show off all the greatest nerd props and memorabilia he’s amassed (the actual Robby the Robot, Robot from Lost in Space, the captain’s chair from Star Trek, and hundreds of other original pieces of science fiction history. And next door is the Experience Music Project with dozens of historical guitars, including Clapton’s “Brownie” and some Jimi Hendrix strats. And at Emerald City guitars I saw a near mint 1955 strat on sale for $68,000.

And the coffee. Today I had not one but two of the greatest cups of coffee of my life. The first was at Bauhaus, the second at Verite Coffee/Royale Cupcakes. And great Irish pub food and tap Guinness at Fado (our waiter was originally from Little Rock! So weird).

The area of Fremont is where Heather and Ben live, and it’s appealing in a way similar to Bernal Heights in San Francisco – lots of great places to eat and shop, plus more cool little music stores and book stores. I really can’t decide how long to stay here.