Fall Morning in the U-District

This morning I went to the Farmers Market in the U-District, my first Seattle neighborhood.





I miss all the hippie yards.



I'm a peaceful and cowardly person, but I think if I saw a person spray-painting a tree, I'd want to kick their ass.









Doesn't "Sweetbread" mean brains? I'd never heard of this little local vineyard before. I gambled on the cheapest white and red.



Then I went to Esquin Wine Merchants and lollygagged in the Loire whites section before finally settling on Cheverny. What I really wanted was a Sancerre, but apparently Cheverny is another steel-fermented Sauvignon Blanc wine from the Loire Valley, and it was $10 cheaper than the Sancerres. Hopefully it will have that minerally taste that I love so much in Sancerre -- we'll see.

Then I suddenly decided that I also wanted a Niagara ice wine for dessert, so I grabbed one from Jackson-Triggs, a vineyard that I blogged but didn't name back in July.

Pirates of the Caribeacon This Saturday

Guerrilla Masquerade Party will be invading Beacon Hill this Saturday night. Where will the Dread Ship GMP land -- the Red Apple, Beacon Pub, Baja Bistro, Inay's, Jefferson Park? If you know, don't tell. Pirates rely on the element of surprise.

Avast ye scurvy Guerrillas!

Shiver me timbers! September be the month fer Pirates! And unless ye want to spend eternity in Davey Jones' Locker, we urge ya to channel yer inner Pirate and get yer self aboard.

On September 1st, the month o' Pirates kicked off with a very special BaconStrip, then on Wednesday, September 19th, it be 'International Talk Like a Pirate Day' - http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html and http://www.talklikeapirateday.com/.

And then we Guerrillas be roundin' out the month on September 29th by pillaging new territory - crashing on the beaches of little island known as Beacon Hill - for PIRATES OF THE CARIBEACON!

The Dread Ship GMP will be needin' a hearty crew of Old Salty Dogs, Peg-legged Pirates and Lusty Wenches, as well as plenty of Sharp Witted Parrots, of course. And it wouldn't hurt to have some extra Pirate Ships around. Be sure to bring your treasure chests full of booty, in case ye be needin' more grog or rum. And if you don't have yer own treasure, bring along a treasure map and we'll find some adventure.

Perhaps during our journey will run across Mermaids or Sea Monsters, Sharks or Sea Hags. Or we could just see plenty of fish, dolphins and whales swimming amongst the seaweed in the deep blue waves of the briney deep.

The exact location(s) we'll be invading will be announced when we be approaching the day o' the party, so until then get yer pirate gear gathered and practice yer 'Arrrrrr!'s. If ye be needin' some inspiration, check out the movies 'Ice Pirates', 'Pirates of Penzance', 'Peter Pan', 'Swiss Family Robinson', 'Treasure Island', 'Muppet Treasure Island', or those 'Pirates of the Carribean' flicks. Or check out photos from the GMP Pirate party, "Guerrillas at Sea!", way back in 2003.

Bridge Motel

Last night pretty much everyone in Seattle crowded into my friend Eve's brother's motel for an art party celebrating the motel's last days of existence. We picked up our friend Will on the way. He shut the door in our faces, which seemed weird; I later found out he thought we were dressed up, so when he saw us he wanted to change his clothes really fast. So I waited outside and took pictures of his yard (where The Stranger's "public intern" did some weeding for him month ago).











OK, these townhouses are right by the Bridge Motel, which is being demolished to make room for a row of similar three-story townhouses.





Here's the motel, where my husband's parents stayed on their first night in Seattle in the '60s.



Later on we saw some friends of ours, and they said they also stayed here years ago. They said the clerk asked them to confirm that they were a married couple. But that's no longer one of the rules here.





I ate some of the art.











I like this carpet, though I'd like it a lot more after a steam cleaning.



Despite having examined the state of the carpet at the motel, I did crawl around this black-light exhibit.



































Speaking of Eastern Europe, I saw a guy who lived on the same train line as me in Czech Republic in the '90s. My stop was Cernosice Mokropsy, and his was farther down, in lovely Zadni Treban.







Behind the bar, these two played Rock Paper Scissors endlessly, and each time the loser had to dance and swig bourbon. They looked like they were getting sick.





I took 16 seconds of shaky video of it.





















It started getting crowded, and we left.