Debra — Seattle is cloudy with a chance of rain.

Our Operations Manager and I returned last Sunday night from a trip to Seattle to meet with Amazon.  I discovered the most surprising facts.

1)  In Seattle, “seafood” does not really mean shrimp, lobster and crab.  Seattle people are the big fishy people.  There was more fish on menus than I could shake a stick at.  Shell fish?  Trying to find that was like panning for gold.  And trust me, I panned.  I traveled almost to Canada, finding a small restaurant in Anacortes called ADRIFT.  Their menu section online was “page not found” so my smart phone couldn’t help me, but I figured…they’re called “Adrift.”  That should be good for at least a crab leg!  As I found out, Dungeness Crab was the only thing to be had.  So, I ordered the omelet with crab.  Very tasty.  But more importantly, I found amusement in their book shelves.  They divide their restaurant with waist high shelves of old hardback books.  Everything you can imagine.  Directly behind was a shelf on which the book MANAGING YOUR NEUROSIS, was stacked atop the book OBSESSIVE COMPULSION.  (You can’t make this stuff up.  You can’t.)

2) Everyone in Seattle knows better than to look for gas in downtown Seattle.  You won’t find it.  Neither will you find a parking place in the hotel underground parking garage that has spaces for approximately 15-18 compact cars to accommodate 6 floors of rooms.  Seriously?  That’s what the website calls parking?  It was more like a cruel joke.  Many cars took up two spaces.  We did not key any of them.  Even though we wanted to get spray paint and paint new lines and label the new space, “Customized Parking For Dummies.”

3) I do not like being the first car on the ferry.  I do not care that they put little blocks in front of your tires.  The only thing between you and the deep blue?  A little net!!  Seriously?  W e spent the ride back from Bainbridge Island staring into the Sound with me hoping we wouldn’t hit the terminal when we got there.  That is NOT a paranoid fear.  I happened to be in Seattle, IN the terminal when the Bremerton ferry hit the terminal and sent those first cars spilling everywhere and splintering huge pylons like twigs for kindling.  Yep.  I was watching out the window as the ferry came in and turning to the jaded locals at large in the room above the docking area and saying, “Is it supposed to be going that fast?”  BOOOM.  So, seriously, I had reason to be unhappy as the very first car on the ferry boat.  I didn’t even know I had an issue until I saw that there was no front on the darned ferry boat!

4) I really shouldn’t wear new boots for twelve hours straight, even if they feel divinely comfortable for the first couple of hours.

5) Leaving the hotel at 5:30 a.m. and getting home at 5:30 pm. sucks every bit as much as I thought it would.

Having said all of that, I had a great time in Seattle.  It’s a really lovely city, and ADRIFT was a great local place (1.5 hours from Seattle) that deserved to be discovered.

What was the best “authentic” restaurant you’ve discovered?  Some place oozing character and charm?