Today I probably should have taken "off", given how physically wracked I am at the moment, and given that the four block walk this morning down the slight incline leading to Broadway around 10:15am nearly wiped me out. But I gave it a whirl anyway, wanting to further investigate my own neighborhood despite more rain and cold temps (52 and windy, again).
Nothing on the entire west coast is apparently open before 11, 11:30 or noon, and so nearly every store, restaurant or cafe I passed was closed, other than a few coffee/bagel places. No dog poop to be found on Seattle sidewalks, thankfully, but there were a number of homeless and/or people sitting on the sidewalk holding cups, or pitching Real Change or whatever it's called, the homeless person's newsletter thing. Not much fun, and not much to see. I will have to check this street out at night. Morning's definitely the wrong time. I can see it has potential - ie the cafes and shops and restaurants seem cool, but not when they're closed and it's cold out.
I walked north on Broadway up to where it splits off into Roy, up north of Mercer Street, as there were a number of businesses up that way I thought I'd check, but again, save for one, all were closed. The one that was open was called Ada Books, and I thought, hurray! I opened the door and thanked the youngish woman working there for being open, and she is the one who actually said, nothing on the west coast opens early - she apparently hears this from her visiting customers.
The place, while certainly pretty ...
... and in a gorgeous neighborhood, but turned out (for me) to be a total bust, as it was a "technical" bookstore, ie only containing sections such as "Calculus", "Logic", "Number Theory", and things along those lines. Why, now that I think of it, there would be a retail store for such a thing, I don't know. I asked the clerk if it was due to a tech school nearby, perhaps? She said no, it's just that there are a bunch of "professionals" in the neighborhood, which I take to mean math professors maybe, engineers, quantum physics people, etc. Jesus. So you have the homeless beggers, the purple-haired young hipsters, apparently the gay folks, though I'm telling you, I see next to zero signs of same (which sucks!), and the super smart techies. Fascinating.
I walked back down Broadway, feet and body complaining the whole way, searching for the post office to mail postcards. Incredibly annoyingly, yesterday I bought a book of stamps at the grocery store - $9.00 for "forever" stamps, and when I got home, they were nowhere to be found. NOwhere - I tore my purse, coat, bag, everything apart - nada. I recall looking down at them as I walked away from the register and seeing the word "forever" on the little packet, and stuffing them into my purse, and that was the last I saw of them. I can only assume they somehow fell out onto the floor or sidewalk or bus somewhere.
Anyway, my Iphone map kept telling me there was a post office on Broadway, at the corner of E Republican - only one block north of my street E Harrison, but I could not find it - went up and down, asked at least 4 or 5 people, and everyone kept pointing me down the other end of Broadway, by something called "Dick's". I kept walking and walking ... having little energy to spare, and now that I map it again, it seems I walked all of 3 blocks south of my street, to E Denny Way, but considering that I'd already walked all the way up to Roy, that made it 3 blocks north of my street, then 6 blocks south, and back again. Normally distances like that are zero problem for this gal, but at this point in my trip, I'm about a hundred and five, and have little energy to spare.
Hence the need for an off day, but I've decided to rent a car starting tomorrow, for Thursday (tomorrow), Fri and Sat, so that will help.
At any rate, it turns out Dick's is a pretty cool looking drive-in, built in 1954, and very popular, judging from both the foot and vehicular traffic that was there, which by now was maybe 11:15 or so.
I was certainly tempted, but didn't go for two reasons. One: the woman who waited on me at the post office, whom I asked what she thought of the place, seeing as it was next door, said she didn't like it all that much, but she was the only person she knew who didn't like it (though she offered that she wasn't "a hamburger person"), and two: there were no less than two homeless people on the outskirts of the premises, ie one young bearded, totally healthy and seemingly able bodied appearing young guy sitting on the sidewalk, cup in hand, and a middle aged Alaskan looking woman hovering nearby. I'm sorry, the idea of going and waiting in line for food you're about to pay for in front of these folks just made me feel uncomfortable, and guilty, so I didn't.
One thing that was interesting: when I was first making my descent up Broadway heading north, there was yet another homeless guy, sitting under a tree. A man walking in front of me, who had just exited the QFC grocery store reached out to the guy and wordlessly handed him a plastic grocery store bag which obviously must have contained a sandwich. The guy accepted it without a word, and opened it up, and then exclaimed saying something like "wow", out loud. Guess he's not normally handed food, much.
I recall doing this myself once, long long ago - back in the 80's on a very long walk back from my job at Rudi's Bakery in Harvard Square, down Mass., Ave., heading back home after work. They allowed us I believe to take home unpurchased sandwiches, and I had a large one of some sort - ham, or something, on French bread, as I recall, and when a guy who was sitting on I think the Cambridge Post Office or City Hall steps asked for spare change, I impulsively handed him the sandwich instead, and he seemed puzzled, and if memory serves, a little pissed at this, which instantly told me that he didn't need money for food, but likely, booze, or drugs. I remember I did some business in a nearby store, and maybe 5 minutes later crossed his path again, and there he was, chowing down on the sandwich. Too funny to think, because Rudi's was this fancy bakery - an early version of what is so prevalent today - total yuppie fare, linzer cookies and strictly high end-ish stuff - not that they paid well - I'm sure I was paid minimum wage, in fact, and not that this dude cared either way, or even wanted the food.
*
... down on 9th Ave., in the neighborhood called First Hill.
I arrived a bit early, and when walking up the sidewalk across from the place, there dead ahead were two homeless looking dudes, who both turned to face me, and as I began to cross the street just in time to avoid them, and also because it was right where I had to cross in order to walk up the front steps, began to say something at me, ie make aggressive/hassling noises. I was pleased they were denied their little bit of single-female harrassment.
Seattle, I love you, and I know times are tough, but I guess I'm a bit surprised by the amount of this stuff I'm seeing, here. But then, there were certainly problem people every day in San Fran, too. It just struck me today that in the years I lived and worked in Boston and had no car, and walked in and to and from Kenmore and Copley and Harvard Squares at truly all hours, there was certainly the problem element, particularly in Copley, and I hated it because I had to deal with it every single goddamn day and these folks so often were often my regular customers and would just create problems for you and hassle you when they could (to the point where suddenly one of them, a woman, ended up on the elevator in my building where I lived, and promptly asked me what floor I lived on) ... but ... I don't honestly think it was quite this bad. I might be crazy, and maybe 20+ yrs in Maine has colored my perception, but I could swear this is worse. Have to wonder why that is, why we have failed, apparently utterly, to address these issues in all this time.
So ... I arrived early and hit the cathedral book store/gift shop, where I purchased this tasty item:
Because it ought to be a fascinating read, but none of these:
When viewing them, I was genuinely and briefly tempted to buy some rosary beads, as, no joke, I have a fond association with the set I had when I was 10 (and haven't seen since), in Rutland, (which were white, as I recall), but resisted, seeing as the cheapest set was $17.00, on up to $22.00! - cheap, plastic stuff here, the latter more money due to the fact that the plastic was colored - a different one for your "birth stone". Oh boy.
Afterwards it was time for the tour. A middle aged local woman, myself, and a young gawky college student from of all places, White Hall, New York - this is just across the NY border from Rutland - were the only attendants. Briefly, a Japanese man came along with us, then left early.
Have to say the tour was excellent. A young, probably early 30's woman gave it, a local gal raised in the nearby town of Bothel, and she was a huge wealth of knowledge about the place. Has been a "member" for 7 yrs, and said aside from giving tours, for which she volunteers, she also does general maintenance on the place.
It's funny. I'm so anti-religion these days, that I don't expect anyone in her age group to be religious. It seems so much that it's the blue haired contingent, yet she told us that there are 30 babies baptised there a year, and several adults. And also said at Christmas and Easter and times like that, the church is packed to overflowing.
They had installed right as you walked in past the vestibule (a word she said which derives from the idea of removing your vestments, ie outter clothing when you walk into a building - something I didn't know), the original baptismal fountain/bowl thing, made of marble, and a larger one next installed in the 90's which was the size of a 4 man hot tub, complete with steps on the inside, in which, she said, an adult (or actually anyone over the age of 6) will kneel down and be baptized. She said the water is repeatedly scooped up and poured over your head, so people get competely soaked.
Up front, she asked us our names and where we were from and if we were Catholic. She was actually very friendly and open. Very pleasant. I told her I was raised Catholic but didn't practice it, and then instinctively said "sorry", I think. She laughed. I wasn't being sarcastic. I just momentarily felt like I was maybe sounding insulting by saying that I was an ex-Catholic, but it was fine. The other middle aged broad was Catholic and the young girl was not. The latter was there because she was visiting family who lived on Bainbridge Island, and she'd just taken a class on cathedrals.
The place we were told was Italian Rennaisance style, built between 1904 and 1907, and was the parish seat, I think that's what it's called, and being a cathedral, is where new priests and bishops are ordained, unlike in a regular church. I didn't know this. God, my knowledge of lack thereof, of basic Catholic doctrine, saints, stories, etc., was mildly embarrassing. Seriously - other than the one year I didn't, I attended Catholic schools from first grade to 12th, and that one absent year, I actually had Sunday School to make up for the lack of religious training, yet I'm pretty much clueless about the Bible, most of the stories and saints and parables, etc. I wonder why. It wasn't due to lack of interest back then - as I recall, I did well enough in 'religion' class - it was just not only ages ago now, but I don't think all that much was taught, substance-wise. It wasn't until my final semester in high school that we studied the Bible really at all, or with any degree of intensity, and I remember that was a damned hard class. Dian, who was raised agnostic/atheist, literally knows smuch more about the Catholic religion than I do.
Anyway, just inside the vestibule was a beautiful floor mosaic:
Which says:
Domus Dei Porta Coeli
Which is Latin for:
"The house of God, and the gateway to heaven."
Also in the vestibule were these:
And inside the place was this, with a neat little slot for cash, which was beautiful despite itself
And here was the glorious interior, complete with a shiny golden swirly material (there since Easter) and red material added more recently due to the Pentacost, which dangled from the skylight/dome thing in the ceiling.
The cathedral it turns out used to have a ceiling FORTY FEET higher than it presently has. No one said a word when she casually said this, so I had to ask - what (in the hell) happened? She said that in I think the 90's, there was a freak 3 foot snow storm (she offered that they had one foot of snow this winter and everyone freaked), and seeing as this section of the ceiling used to be some sort of glass dome, or other, it caved under the weight and came crashing down, causing no injuries, but damaging the pews and scratching the marble floor (she noted there were also cracks in the floor, but blamed those on an apparently big-ish earthquake in the area maybe 10 yrs ago).
She mentioned that the place had been what she termed "radically" renovated back in '94 - a term which bummed me out at first as I equate it with the removal of original, beautiful stuff, but in fact, it turned out that the place had been, what sounds like badly 'renovated' in the 50's, including the installation of wall to wall carpeting - green! (I'm picturing Kelly green) - because, she said, the guy who donated the rug insisted on picking the color himself. Imagine purposedly covering up a marble, mosaic laden floor with wall to wall. FUCKING idiots. I almost interjected at this point, that these were the same assholes who bulldozed entire historic city blocks all over the country in the name of 'urban renewal' ... but held my tongue.
So I won't remember most of what she said, but every part of this tour was fascinating. There were amazing statues of St James (patron saint of pilgrims), who, you can always tell because of his staff/walking stick thing, and a clamshell he always has. One really neat thing was that back when it was built, the cathedral could be seen from Puget Sound, and vice versa, since the exterior towers themselves are seven stories, and the whole thing's on a reasonably high hill facing the Sound. It was in fact, the tallest building in Seattle for many years.
Another interesting thing was this glass mural directly over the main door that was put in, she said, during the 50's renovation, and was actually really lovely. That's Jesus saying "I am the vine, you are the branches". She said the symbols along the bottom show what was the industry in the community at the time, which shows, on the right there, a factory looking building with a smokestack, some fish, and other stuff I can't make out, but she laughed and said, if the window had been done today, it would show maybe Microsoft, Boeing, and Starbucks, (all-Seattle based business).
Part of the 90's renovation moved the alter back from the top end of the nave to the center of it - the circle underneath the swirly red and gold material. She said traditionally in America, the churches always have the alter at the top, but she said the original design back in 1904 called for it to be in the center, so they decided to honor that when they rehabbed the place. There was a huge amount of rehabbing done btw, ie gold leaf interior, new lighting, heat, etc. I asked why it was done when it was done - was there some sort of anniversary? And she said the only reason was that they'd finally gotten up the funds for it all. Had to have cost a fortunte.
At the close of the tour she brought us into a little side chapel which smelled really nice, and had a warmer, earth tone feeling to it. It was a place she said for small weddings and the like, and had gorgeous stained glass and an unusual plain-ish wooden cross with bits of stained glass in it. She informed us that the place had been burned by a "mentally disturbed person" to the point where the fire department had to be called, and the stained glass windows, some of them, blew out. She said a nun grabbed the bits of broken stained glass outside, and fastened them onto the cross herself.
Also in this room was a large painting which had to be restored due to the fire. She said it had originally been found in the basement of the church and stuck up on the wall, and it wasn't until the restoration that they learned that in fact it was from the 1400s!
So the tour ended because an hour was up, though the woman said she could continue to go on as long as we wanted. As interested as I was to keep going, my feet were very unhappy on the stone floors, so we all thanked her, and then I discreetly asked for a bathroom, and despite the fact that the place, she said, doesn't have public ones except during mass, she would unlock it for me. Afterwards, she even waited until I exited the bathroom, and then said she was a local and asked me if I wanted any sight seeing tips. She recommended this weekend's Northwest Folklife Festival, which is happening over at the Seattle Center where the Space Needle is, and is entirely free, and isn't just folks music but lots of arty stuff, and also suggested I check out the campus of Seattle University, just north of the cathedral, and maybe see their St Ignatius modern church. She also recommended some arboretum thing, and said that Washington's state flower was the rhondodendron, and it was in full bloom right now (definitely true - they are all over the place here). With each recommendation, knowing I was on foot, she told me which bus to take home from each place - she knew them by heart.
She couldn't have been more cordial, and knowledgeable, and enthusiastic about narrating the tour, but not in any sort of in your face, fake way. Perfect. She clearly loved the place, and it's history.
Oh ya, she also said that this Sunday at 10am there is a choir mass, for the Pentacost. I don't even remember what the hell the Pentacost is, honestly, but I'll definitely be there as I've heard the choir is renowned and had thought they would not be singing while I was here.
*
After, I took my very weary feet up a few blocks to the Seattle U campus, which was pleasant and brick-y, though the church was far too weirdly modern for my tastes.
I mean, that right there looks like a frickin Dali painting. And here is the front door. I swear:
And the cross, out on the side lawn:
So after, I checked my Iphone map - thank you god, thank you for my Iphone - and realized I wasn't too long a walk at all - just a few blocks, from the Pike/Pine area, and the address of a place I have been itching to hit since I first heard about it - located at 1111 E Pike, the lovely, glorious Cupcake Royale - it's Capitol Hill location.
Funnily, if you would care to go back to the very first, rather lengthy entry into this blog, in which I'm speculating about places I want to see, I have a little blurb about Cupcake Royale, and even a picture of a bewitching menu item called the Chocolate Coconut Bunny.
I mean, isn't that just GORGEOUS? But I had no idea how it would taste, in truth, though this place makes everything from local cream, local organic free range eggs, pure local milk, even organic sugar! But I still didn't know if it would suck or not, because sometimes the organic-y, more natural stuff just does ... however ...
I am tickled to report, and can very honestly say, that this was probably the best and freshest cupcake I've maybe ever had. It was FANTASTIC. Just excellent quality stuff - super, super tasty, not too sweet, yummy, fantabulous, and I wanted to buy a dozen. Funnily, in my excitment, and exhaustion, I walked out of the place, without even buying one to take home, for later. This was partly because i got caught up in their adorable wares, and purchased this supercute pink cup and saucer:
And some supercute stickers ("Does this cupcake make me look gay?") (They also had ones that said "Legalize gay cupcakes" and "Keep your laws off my cupcakes" - and a tshirt that said "Legalize Frostitution". Like, how cool to be poking fun at hot button political issues.)
*
Okay, I admit it.
Confession.
This place has a Dan Savage connection.
The reason I heard about Cupcake Royale to begin with, was because they made the largest single donation to the It Gets Better project to date, with a check for a whopping ten thousand bucks, handed to the man, and project cofounder, his husband, Terry Miller, themselves, last summer, right here in the same Capitol Hill location where I went today.
Also, the tea they served, something with the name Brahmin in it - I had to pick that - was absolutely delicious for some reason.
Turns out this place delivers, but you have to order a dozen. Hmm.
One thing I liked too, is that the cupcakes were normal sized and not grossly supersized like every food item is these days.
And the artwork on the walls, all by local artists, were all fun and actually were a good, strong, genuine aqua, with splashes of red, each one of them, which somehow worked.
So, giving a massively huge fat thumbs up and A++ to Cupcake Royale. I will be back.
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