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It was another day for firsts. I'll detail them as we go along but, let's just say, it was a most unusual day.
Like all our adventures, this one started with a walk to the Link. And, like all our adventures, I couldn't get there without getting a few shots along the way.
I visited an old friend, The Sunflower, who lives just up the way from us. He's looking better. The last time I 'shot' him, he was sinking in on himself. See? There on the left where it starts to cave in on itself? He's looking a lot better these days. You can see him in my blog note "Seattle", that I posted on 9/3/14.
Sunflowers, besides being the State Flower of Kansas are also helpful in other ways. Need a bird seeder? Save the dried heads of a Sunflower and set them out for the birds in the winter.
Got a fireplace? Save the thick sunflower stems and dry them out to use as winter kindling.
Did You Know? Someone paid over $39 MILLION in 1987 for Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers. Must have been a Russian...Sunflowers are the National Flower of Russia.
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| You are my sunshine... |
Then we passed by these. Carol calls them Hummingbird Nests because they sorta roll up into a small bowl that would be the perfect size for a hummingbird's nest. Unfortunately, after they're done blooming and looking like a hummingbird's nest, they dry up and get a wee bit spiky.
Like this.
Doesn't look as comfortable as before.
But an interesting shot. Here's this throw-away little 'weed' we pass by everyday without a second look and, when you do really look, it is this intricate and lovely maze of...spikes? Needles?
This whole thing is less than 2" wide.
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| Stick around, it gets better. |
And right next to these were these untended rosebushes. I learned that if you don't deadhead a rose flower, then it grows these bulbs and people would collect them and make tea out of them. They're called Rosehips...I see why...and I now know where Rosehip Tea comes from.
I did not know that.
My, someone is a little happy to get out of the house!!
Look at that guy behind her.
"Wha....!?!?!"
Getting on the Link!!
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| "Wha…!?!" |
First things first we had to stop and take care of some necessary business at our banks. Normally, we'd walk to the one bank near the Othello Link Station and then drive to the other either in Renton or in Columbia City but, today, we discovered the two banks are within 100 yards of the Westlake Link Station downtown!!
Where we tend to go to a lot.
No es oportuno?
Sí, estoy de acuerdo.
So, off the Link and head up 4th past the Westlake Park and past the...
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...Starbucks Coffee Shop...I swear, there is one of these in one form or another on every freakin' block in downtown Seattle.
Honestly, I like coffee but not enough to pay $4-5 a cup.
I don't even like DC that much.
But we took care of our business and then set about to taking care of ourselves.
The plan today was to ride out to Murphy's Irish Pub for lunch and then double back to Fremont to visit a relative there.
And, along the way, see what we could see.
And that included the Duck Tours!! We see these all the time when we're downtown and I've gotten into the habit of waving and helloing whenever they go by. Invariably, I get a spirited and happy response from the folks on the tour AND the tour guide (more on them in just a mo).
It's fun and it's Seattle. It's Seattle Fun.
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| Quack, quack. |
But as often as I've seen these Ducks waddling around the City, I've never seen THIS!!
Hahaha, isn't that great? It's the ticket stand to buy the tickets for your Duck Tour!!
How cool is that, eh!?!
They do have a slight sense of humor, these Duck People.
And you can tell it, a bit, by the dignified and mature folks they hire to conduct these tours.
Like this august, distinguished and stately person.
Look, it's Captain Tuck N. Roll!!
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| He's not quackers!! |
And Captain Tuck N. Roll looks so good from all angles, especially the duck, that I had to coax him into letting me get this shot of his pet Ducky.
Always demure, the Captain finally relented.
See where the fun comes from?
Quackers!!
Walkin' Down the Boulevard Selfie Alert!!
Here's the happy couple, strolling down to the bus stop.
I am sooooo clever. I just reached out my right arm and got this candid. Lucky for me we were both in it. I've had some awful boo-boos trying to get cute with the camera.
OK, so we made it downtown on the Link now on to the next part of our journey.
We hopped on the #16 bus for the ride out towards the U District to Murphy's, Seattle's First Irish Pub, established May 18th, 1981.
For reasons I shall not go into here, we decided to get off our bus several blocks before getting to Murphy's. But, you know, these things can be fun if you let them.
We found a Neighborhood Assistance Thrift Store and browsed in there for a while. I got a 1928 Edition of Zane Grey's Nevada and a scholarly work comparing the impact of the world's three largest religions on modern day society. Carol got herself a new scarf.
Win-win for everyone!!
And we got to see this mural...
Yeah, that's Seattle, alright. Bikes Uber Alles!!
So we walked a few blocks and came upon Murphy's.
Ahhhh, Murphy's. I could taste that Smithwick's!! I could smell that corned beef!!
I could have checked to see what time they opened and saved myself a lot of trouble.
Hahaha, but I didn't.
We got there at 1230 and they open at 1430.
Oops!!
The best laid plans of mice and men, gang aft agley...
And mine went agley ALL over the place.
So we went around the corner to wait at the bus stop for the ol' #16 taking us back to the city. And got to see this small offering.
Love Seattle. There's coffee on the left and hamburgers, ala Dick's, on the right. And a lot of hallucinogenic visions thrown in between.
Don't bogart that joint, my friend, pass it over to me...
in Seattle.
And, as if to emphasize that point, I turned around and there, on the building behind us, was this...and I took just a small part of the overall mural.
The Space Needle.
Trippin'...
I kinda felt it was gonna be that kind of a Trip!
Hahaha, get it? Trip...like taking a trip downtown and taking a trip, Man.
Hahaha, I quack myself up. I really do.
But, seriously, I knew it would be an odd kind of a day. First, we're in Seattle. Second, we were on a journey to visit an Irish Pub and then go visit a Troll living under a bridge. And, finally, we were going to stop by The Free Republic of Fremont. All in all it was the wildest trip I've ever taken without the avid and timely help of pharmaceuticals.
It was just a bit over a mile from Murphy's to The Troll and so we hopped on our Trusty Bus and headed back. Again, for reasons too complicated to go into here, we got off our bus early and had to hoof it some distance to where we wanted to go.
But we got there.
Eventually.
And, there he was, The Troll Under the Bridge.
Only. In. Seattle.
It started in 1989 when the always sane and never high (honest!!) Fremont Arts Council decided to do something imaginative with the space under the Aurora Bridge. They held a national competition to get the best ideas and, believe it or not, this was what they chose as the best of the best. Nobody was high that day, right!?!
The Troll was created by a team calling themselves the Jersey Devils. Made from rebar steel, wire and two tons of messy ferroconcrete, The Troll took about 7 weeks to complete.
It's a popular tourist spot. While we were there a number of people came by to see it including one tour bus that stopped on the road in front of The Troll, but no one got out of.
Strange...but it's Seattle so no one really notices strange.
And as I looked it over, I was surprised to see this...a VW Bug stuck under The Troll's left hand.
I've seen pictures before but I'd never noticed that VW.
And it's a real Bug. Here's a picture from when The Troll was being constructed. Yeah, a real VW Bug. Can you see the Jersey Devils sitting around a table, all as sober as a judge and discussing ideas for what to do while making The Troll?
Yeah, right.
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| This was taken when they were constructing the troll. |
Who could resist getting their picture taken with a Troll?
Not this one!!
Famous Fremont Troll Selfie Alert!!
And me, too.
Can you see anything odd about this picture? Besides me, I mean.
That's us with The Troll and a tourist behind us.
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| Stay calm!! Don't lose your heads over this!! |
Another glam shot. I admit, there is a certain familial resemblance between The Troll and I.
Not much...but if you squint your eyes and keep puffin' on that Blunt you'll see it, too.
Carol's posing by the VW.
Here's my Big Boy...
Here's The Troll's view of the underside of the Aurora Bridge. Built in 1932, it's another small icon in the mosaic that is Strangely Seattle.
Carol thought it kinda had a cathedral feel to it. It sorta does...except for the cars...and the trees at the end.
OK, before we go over into Fremont, did you find what was a bit 'off' in that picture with Carol and I in front of The Troll?
No? Go back and look closely at the Tourist. Is she smiling?
Hahahaha, I still got it!!
And, just to prove that at one time Fremont wasn't as Freaky as it is today, here's a shot of one of the homes near The Troll.
Nice.
And then, BAM!! Back into Freakiness.
Fremont Freakiness.
Lighthouse Octopuses.
Sounds legit.
And the road signs.
Look, Martha, it's even got Xanadu on it!! What's a Xanadu, Martha?
(The sign is there because Fremont, as you'll soon see, is the "Center of the Universe")
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| Fremont - Center of the Universe. |
And this, the logo from The Daily Planet!! Haha, actually, it is a model of the planet Saturn.
Look!! In the sky!! Is it a bird? Is it a plane?
No!! It's Superman!!
And from a True American Hero we quickly and seamlessly switch over to...
Vladimir Lenin, Hero of the Russian Revolution.
Constructed by Emil Venkov in 1988, this portrayal of Lenin was as a bringer of revolution and was meant to contrast the traditional portrayals of Lenin as a philosopher and educator. Venkov's Lenin marches resolutely forward, surrounded by torrid flames and symbols of war.
Like everything else in Fremont, this has an interesting story as to how it got here.
Venkov's statue was put up in Poprad, Czechoslovakia shortly before the fall of the Czech government during the 1989 Velvet Revolution. Lenin's statue was quietly removed from Lenin's Square a few months after the Velvet Revolution.
A guy from Issaquah, Washington, Lewis Carpenter, was teaching English in Poprad at the time and found the statue in a scrapyard. Carpenter went to the city and convinced them that the statue was still a work of art worth preserving and he bought it for $13,000. English teachers in Proprad made pretty good money back then.
With Venkov's help, the statue was cut into three pieces and shipped to the States in 1993. There was a wee bit of an uproar, even in Seattle, about importing a statue of a communist leader and, after Carpenter's untimely death in a car accident, the statue was left lying in his backyard.
A local brass foundry offered to move it and it eventually made it to its present location just three blocks west of The Fremont Troll. Which I think is fitting.
And so we have this, Vladimir Lenin, striding across Fremont.
And he does cut quite a revolutionary figure, doesn't he!?!
No, I don't know why his left hand is red. No idea.
Communist Leader Selfie Alert!!
Just right for posing with a couple rubes from Rainier Beach.
What must he be thinking now? As he surveys all the normal goings on in Freaky Fremont.
Having missed lunch at Murphy's, I was on the look-out for another Pub and I found one!!
The Dubliner, right there in Fremont.
And, like Murphy's, it, too, was closed.
WTH!!
So we made a beeline for Roxy's. I came here once before with TomBon and Mel. Tom was looking for a Monte Cristo Sandwich and he'd heard that Roxy's had one of the best in Seattle.
Unfortunately, like the untimely Murphy's, Roxy's was closed.
We had to go elsewhere.
But this time, haha, this time Roxy's was open and so in we went.
Hungry.
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| ...Real East Coast On the West Coast... |
And it was just as normal and as sane as anything else in Fremont.
BTW, The Backdoor is a bar behind the restaurant.
Shame on you!!
So the decoration inside is a BIG part of the whole experience. Looks semi-normal here but, wait, it's the lighting.
Keep looking...
Part of the wall decoration...
A shot of the front of their menu. He may be bald and have a bad acne problem but, evidently, he can cook up a storm. On both coasts!!
Oh, wow!! Heavy, man!!
Roxy's Booth Selfie Alert!!
Feed me, Seymour!!
I don't know where that cowboy painting came from. It is, really, the only normal thing on the walls.
And, the bar. What the heck, PBR pints for $2. It works for me.
It all fits. Fremont.
The Center of the Universe.
Of course.
What must it be like to be a cop here in Fremont?
Reflected Mirror Selfie Alerts!!
We were a bit bored waiting for our food.
Kilroy was here!!
Ah!! The food. Carol got her standard, The Basic Burger...with cheddar.
And I got the The Classic Patty Melt.
It weren't bad. And the fries were good, too.
We'd eaten and were getting ready to leave when I got this long shot of the restaurant.
Our server, he's on the left in a black t-shirt, kept calling me, "Bub". And when we asked for the check he said, "You ready to skedaddle?"
Seriously? What decade are you from, young man? Or, more to the point, what decade do you think we're from!?!
Skedaddle!?!
And so we did...skedaddle, that is.
But not without one last look back...at Roxy's.
Bub.
The street scene across from Roxy's. I show this because of how normal it looks. But, over there, across the street, are tattoo shops and other, eclectic businesses. It's Freaky Fremont, Dude!!
And, look!!
All the cars like the same color…sort of. Oh, those crazy Fremont Kids!!
Norm's is right next to Roxy's...I sometimes think they're both the same restaurant with different names. It wouldn't surprise me in Fremont.
And there is Roxy's. On both coasts!!
Street scene. Note the water bowl on the ground to the right. Seattlites loves themselves some dogs. And the tables and chairs. Seattlites love to get themselves outside to eat and drink whenever they can.
A bar. Of course.
A little street art.
Another bar. Open windows to let the outside in.
And this neat flatiron building.
Who wouldn't want an apartment at the end of a flatiron building with a bar right below it in Fremont?
Seriously, who!?!
Guggenheim, only 2653 miles.
Milky Way...69 light years.
Sounds legit.
More street art.
Lovely Rita, the Tattooed Lady.
Lovely.
And the posters...old school Facebook. Posts on a tree trunk.
A detail from the tree.
I gather these fine fellows will be appearing at Chop Suey on the 11th. I think. This being Fremont, it could be any one of a number of different things though.
I am, however, very interested in that Tractor Tavern.
Tractors? Beer? Works for me!!
A Fremont Street scene with the Aurora Bridge gliding along behind it.
OK, I want to eat here. You sit in the booths and the food rolls by on a conveyor belt.
I wonder just how good the food is. The idea, the concept, is really good.
Fremont.
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| Seriously, can you get more disconnected? |
And...we caught the bus heading back downtown for the Link.
Speaking of...here it is at the Othello Station. Heading home.
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| Our 'Link to Fun!' |
But not before we take the time to stop and 'shoot' the roses...or flowers in this case.
And another dandelion...losing it's hair.
So, my computer has been showing signs of old age and excessive use lately. The iPhoto program has started to 'bomb' and just disappear showing only an error message in its wake.
I was worried about losing all my pictures so I decided it was time to get a new computer. So I called my 'in' with Apple, Allie, and she helped me to get set up.
So I ordered yesterday and, viola!! It was ready for pick up an hour later. So right after we got back from our Freaky Fremont & The Troll adventure, we headed off to the local Apple Store to pick up the new computer.
But first let's stop and get a picture of a little pug.
Of course.
Excited Apple Store Selfie Alert!!
Can you tell some little boy is excited about getting a new computer!?!
Thar she blows!!
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| Allie used to work at this store. |
Inside the Apple Store Selfie Alert!!
Yeah, I was happy!!
And there it was. Plus a Time Capsule to ensure I don't lose everything.
Hahahaha, want to keep the pictures for my kids. I KNOW they'll want them...all.
It was a less than satisfying experience. The young lady that was helping me set up the computer seemed to think that if she repeated the same thing, several times, over and over, I would be able to understand it.
Didn't work but she tried...Lordy how she tried.
After enduring some monologues about all the this and that about Apple and the gotta get Larry's help to set up this Time Capsule thingie, we got out.
I had felt a lot of frustration...and a great deal of relief at finally getting on the road.
This is what I felt like doing in the store.
Boom!!
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| Ready to blow my brains out!! Frustrated. |
But we made it and I am now publishing my first blog on the new computer.
And it's fun and a lot faster than the old one.
Some things are just good.
Like life.
Life is good.
Hooah!!
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