One always wonders when one revisits a place after ten years if one remembered it right. If anything, in this case, what I did was maybe underestimate the degree to which the Craftsman style was so widespread. Just a super lucky and incredibly wonderful thing about this town, that it happened to be mostly developed in this time period, and that the inventor, or at least an early major fan/proponent of this style, was from Seattle. At least, that's what I recall being told by somebody at Elliott Bay Books, ten years ago when the employee directed me to American Bungalow magazine, after I asked for books on this style. I'll have to check the history, but another time. Frankly, far too drained at the moment.
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Upper Queen Anne, like it seems most of the rest of this city, contains the usual mix of bookstores, pretty wildflowers growing up phone poles and along wiring, cool neon/retro signs/cafes, farmers' markets (and beautiful signs advertising them), and scarily steep staircases, among other things.
And it was a lot of fun to stomp around in it's midst, however my energy at this point, 5 full weeks now down the road, is at a low level, shall we say, so around 1:30 I headed to the rental car place and returned the Ford Fusion, which was not a bad car I have to say, but which inexplicably sucked gas like there was no tomorrow. Won't be buying one.
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So tomorrow morning there's the three walk block to Broadway, one walk block north to E. Repulican, where I'll catch the 60 bus to, believe it not, Beacon Hill station, which is one of the many light rail stations leading to the airport. I'd forgotten to mention all this time, I think, anyway, that there are many New England names of streets here, including Harvard, Belmont, Malden, even Boylston - a name I've never heard outside of Boston, and then there's the neighborhood south of the city actually called Beacon Hill. There is even a part of Boylston Street which I drove on the other day - I think it was Boylston - I was heading back from the bank at Eastlake, that was actually cobblestone, just to give you more of the feel of Boston, I guess.
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So farewell, dearest little Seattle, and dear, lovely west coast. You have treated me very well indeed, and I'm sorry indeed to bid you adieu. I've seen so damned much amazing stuff, I can't even remember it all, and have had the supreme privilege of being able to truly live like a local in three different major cities for several weeks now. The public transit in both these latter cities has been particularly impressive, buses, trains, and otherwise, and I made no major flub-ups, amazingly. I am sorry I wasn't able to take any ferries here in Seattle, but oh well, hopefully there will be a next time.
I'm very annoyed that for possibly the first time ever, my man Dan Savage has decided to do his weekly podcast live here, on June 13th - less than two weeks away! - and is even having the duo of Garfunkel Oates 'open' for him. Tickets are on sale now, boo hoo, sniff. It's a fundraiser for the local pro gay marriage thing - the Wa state legislature signed gay marriage into law, and it becomes legal I think in a few days, on June 6th, but the signature gathering assholes are forcing it to referendum in the fall. I may have mentioned this already in another post, but oh well, I'm pretty fried. Anyway, it's for a good cause, and I'm truly bummed I will miss it.
But of course, I have zero - absolutely ZERO - right to complain, do I? I've been so ridiculously fortunate to be able to fuck off on vacation like this, for this long. Incredibly lucky. It will take some adjusting, being home, I know that. (I estimate it will take me a week to recover my full strength, actually). For some reason for me, there is nothing quite like that incognito factor when I get away, and I don't have a name, and I'm not a landlord and I don't have a house to keep or any bills, etc. I just love to disappear like this, and I've never been able to do it for this long, to this degree, so I'm truly very lucky and thankful, let the record show. Didn't break any bones, didn't get mugged, didn't crack up the rental car or get food poisoning or slip off a ferry dock or fall off a cliff or through any plate glass windows.
Shucks.
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