Solo travels 9/28-10/2 Seattle

UPDATE:  Brittany uploaded her pictures to Facebook, so I "borrowed" them and now this entry looks a little less boring!  :)

Once I left the seedy hotel on Thursday and made it to the Green Tortoise Hostel I started feeling better about things.  I laid down for a nap upon arrival, then went to the Farmers Market just down the street for a snack and possibly a place to read "The Alchemist."  It was a little too cool for me so I went back to the Hostel and found a nice comfy chair in the common room.  It took no time for someone, granted he was old enough to be my dad, to come sit and talk to me.  It kind of snowballed from there to talking to a bunch of other people.  This guy, Nathan, started talking to me.  He was on a short business trip from Atlanta.  It was nice to have a fellow southern to talk to.  A guy that works for the hostel, Sascha, organizes outings.  That night he gathered up a few of us and we went to Comedy Underground.  It was my first time at a comedy club, and I enjoyed it.  We went to two different clubs, Last Supper and Trinity.  While at the first club I met Brittany and Jill (sisters) and Maria from Canada, and Marcel from Holland, all from the hostel.

FANTASTIC bathrooms!

Friday, I decided to stay another night.  I was going to do trade work so I could get a free night stay, but Sascha was doing a food tour during the time I'd have to work... I was starving, so I decided I had to go on the food tour.

We started out at Calozzi's and had Philly Cheesesteaks with Wiz.  They didn't have any tables for all of us (I think 13 of us went) so they let us go into the garage where they were building water tanks for water imported from New Jersey (they import their bread from Manhattan, I think).  I've got to say, regardless of the dining situation, that sandwich was legit.  They also let us try some cheesecake (homemade, I might add) that was FANTASTIC.

I look like I might throw up, but its quite the opposite.

Then we went to Salumi, owned by Mario Batali's father, Armandino Batali.  We had different types of homemade cheese, salami, beat salad, some bread, and a few other things.  I really just ate the cheese and bread.  Wasn't a huge fan of anything else offered, but this place stays crazy busy so other people must love it.

Kau Kau Barbeque Market in Chinatown was next.  We tried different flavors of pork.  The pork was too fatty for my taste, but it was a nice setting with hot tea to drink.  Don't get me wrong, the pork was flavorful...just fatty.

Kerry, me, Germany, ?, Wisconsin, Holland.

French Canadian, Calgary (Maria), Nova Scotia (Jill and Brittany), Nathan, and our fabulous tour guide Sacha.

After that we went to Five Point Cafe to try fried wedges of mac and cheese (like Cheeburger Cheeburger has) and fried curds which was fabulous!  We could see the Space Needle from the patio and apparently you can see it from a periscope in the men's bathroom.  Unfortunately, I didn't get that view.

After a good bit of walking thru a neighborhood type area, we stopped in at Paseo Caribbean Restaurant.  This is a really popular place too apparently.  We had some kind of spicy sandwich.  I can't really remember what it was because I didn't eat it...just the bread.

In between nibbling, Sascha pointed out some interesting things to us such as the Fremont Troll, the Gum Wall, "Skid Row."

Gum....art?

Gangsta.

We hit up Theo Chocolate and got free samples.  They give tours of the factory, but you have to book it in advance.

Our last stop I forgot to check in on Foursquare, so I'm not sure what it was called.  We had smoked salmon on this toasted bagel (Lox?) and I was scared to try it.  But I finally did and I'm so glad I did!  It was so good!  Probably ended up being my favorite food of the day.

As soon as we got back to the hostel from our nearly 6 hour tour I rushed to get "ready" to meet Zach and a few of his friends from the Army base.  We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, and walked around trying to find a place that was 18 and up since he brought a 19 year old with him.  We found a place to just sit and chill for a while.

Me and Zach.

I went to bed for a bit and told one of the other people from the hostel to text me when the group got back and I'd come down and chat for a while.  Ended up staying up till 4!

Saturday I watched the second half of the Razorback vs Texas A&M game.  One of the men from our group the day before is from Texas and he watched the end of it with me.  After the game, I took my stuff to my car and walked around.  Talked to some girl about PLAN which sounds like a really good organization, but I don't have the funds to send money every month right now.  I met up with Zach and his friends at a hotel near the College Campus.  We ate at The Ram and went to a couple of bars before finding Moe.  We didn't get to stay there long, but it was still cool.

Sunday, I found myself wondering where to go next.  I had been saying I was going to go to Vancouver, Canada, but I ended up going to opposite direction and started my journey towards Boise, ID, which is where I am right now.  So far I really like it.  I'm at the Idahostel and its cool.  Other than the girl that works here and the girl that left today, I'm the only other girl.  There are 3 guys who live here while going to school and another that just lives here.  I like the Green Tortoise in the way it was set up and it was a bit more lively, but I like this place...less homeless posting up on the sidewalks.  It just a really nice area. I'll post about that in the coming days.  I just wanted to update about my stay in Seattle.  I'd have more pictures, but I didn't take any...I was just going to "borrow" some that Brittany took, but she hasn't posted them yet.

Stay tuned for Boise...