from the road: seattle
I’m in Seattle* tonight, at El Gaucho Inn on first ave. I have a beautiful view of the water from my suite. And Seattle seeps into my consciousness… When I was driving in I came over the hill where the city is laid out to greet me and I leaned forward to see… and caught myself holding my breath. Cruel to be Kind came on the radio so I sang really loudly all the way to Aurora Avenue.
Wednesday I leave for Orcas Island. I called the innkeeper where I am staying tomorrow night and it was the classic innkeeper/stupid tourist conversation:
“What time ya gettin here?”
“Well, I thought I might get the 2:30 ferry or make the 3:00.”
“Nah. Them don’t run to Orcas. Ya gotta get on the noon boat or wait til four o’clock.”
“Ah, I uh, yes, I definitely don’t want to wait until 4.”
“Ya wanna get out here during the day anyway, so you can see some stuff. And it gets dark real early.”
“I’ll be sure to be on the noon ferry.”
Funny. I checked the menu where I’m staying tonight and it’s a sort of twee steakhouse, with dishes like Chateaubriand (which I love) and Porterhouse. I may order a bottle of Billecart just to mess with them, ha.
This is where I’ll be tomorrow: Turtleback Farm Inn. Then the next night I am on to Lummi Island for another inn and a tour of an organic farm and hopefully, a reef netting fishery.
The innkeepers at Lummi are apparently of different stock than at Orcas. They called me to confirm my visit and explained they’re having a wine dinner for the journalists and their guests on Thursday. I’m not sure what that is (a different wine with every course, maybe?) but I told the innkeeper, hey-hey, that’s right up my alley. My mom called right before I left and told me, you may have to dress for dinner at some of these places. I threw some gold shoes and a bunch of jewelry in my bag at the last minute and will hope for the best.
I actually can bring someone with me on these trips. They want the writers to be happy, so they kind of encourage it. And everything is comped except for travel, usually. This one just came up really fast and I thought, why not? I’ll focus on my writing and enjoy some self reflection. I got an assignment today to write a fictional story for a women’s fashion magazine about three couples who are on holiday. I want to give someone a secret, or maybe all three of them; someone is having an affair, someone lost their job 18 months ago and hasn’t told anyone and the other couple lost a child.
When my mother called me this morning she wished me a happy birthday (yup, it’s today) and I thanked her for deciding that seven children just weren’t enough. At the end of the call she said, I love you so much, Lisa. It was sweet.
Call me, because I am not sure what my email capability will be on an island where the boats don’t dock in the afternoons, ha.
It’s sunny and glorious here. I’m off to Pike Place.
*Sometimes I am a travel writer. This was from last month, when I did a tour of the inns of the San Juan Islands in Washington.
Wednesday I leave for Orcas Island. I called the innkeeper where I am staying tomorrow night and it was the classic innkeeper/stupid tourist conversation:
“What time ya gettin here?”
“Well, I thought I might get the 2:30 ferry or make the 3:00.”
“Nah. Them don’t run to Orcas. Ya gotta get on the noon boat or wait til four o’clock.”
“Ah, I uh, yes, I definitely don’t want to wait until 4.”
“Ya wanna get out here during the day anyway, so you can see some stuff. And it gets dark real early.”
“I’ll be sure to be on the noon ferry.”
Funny. I checked the menu where I’m staying tonight and it’s a sort of twee steakhouse, with dishes like Chateaubriand (which I love) and Porterhouse. I may order a bottle of Billecart just to mess with them, ha.
This is where I’ll be tomorrow: Turtleback Farm Inn. Then the next night I am on to Lummi Island for another inn and a tour of an organic farm and hopefully, a reef netting fishery.
The innkeepers at Lummi are apparently of different stock than at Orcas. They called me to confirm my visit and explained they’re having a wine dinner for the journalists and their guests on Thursday. I’m not sure what that is (a different wine with every course, maybe?) but I told the innkeeper, hey-hey, that’s right up my alley. My mom called right before I left and told me, you may have to dress for dinner at some of these places. I threw some gold shoes and a bunch of jewelry in my bag at the last minute and will hope for the best.
I actually can bring someone with me on these trips. They want the writers to be happy, so they kind of encourage it. And everything is comped except for travel, usually. This one just came up really fast and I thought, why not? I’ll focus on my writing and enjoy some self reflection. I got an assignment today to write a fictional story for a women’s fashion magazine about three couples who are on holiday. I want to give someone a secret, or maybe all three of them; someone is having an affair, someone lost their job 18 months ago and hasn’t told anyone and the other couple lost a child.
When my mother called me this morning she wished me a happy birthday (yup, it’s today) and I thanked her for deciding that seven children just weren’t enough. At the end of the call she said, I love you so much, Lisa. It was sweet.
Call me, because I am not sure what my email capability will be on an island where the boats don’t dock in the afternoons, ha.
It’s sunny and glorious here. I’m off to Pike Place.
*Sometimes I am a travel writer. This was from last month, when I did a tour of the inns of the San Juan Islands in Washington.
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