Seaattle: Half of week two highlights

Week Two Highlights, semi-abbreviated

Pics are art from our light rail adventure (and THB forgot to take the camera the next two days)

Day 5: We ride the newish light rail to look at the art, not easy unless a) you get off at every station and b) you realize not all the art is in the stations, some is a ways away! And, amazingly, the one gallery owner that is trying to arrange a studio visit with Akio gets on while we are riding back to downtown. We have been waiting for his e-mail with date and time. He sez he sent one…DB has not got it. This is impossible, how could we bump into the one person in Seattle that requires an unknown face-to-face reconciliation on the light rail, in mid-day, in a city the size of Seattle?

Lunch at Serious Pie (THB renames it Superior Pie). Great pizza (fiddleheads, roasted garlic, small bits of pancetta), including the guy sitting next to us sharing the last of his pizza, salad of shaved asparagus and wild greens and parmesan, Shared beer THB and DB, not with the guy at next table), $40.

Cider and cheese tasting (includes Tieton Cider, see week 3 highlights, if they ever get posted) at Quinn’s on Capitol Hill followed by dinner at Quinn’s with Susan and Alex. Susan knows everyone! While walking to dinner at another spot (closed) before returning to Quinn’s, we run into someone who works at the now-relocated Elliott Bay Books, who tells us there is a reading going on by the author of Crow Planet (highly recommended) then at dinner Susan, who does a ton of yoga, knows Claire Dederer, author of Poser (chic-lit, recommended), a book we listened to on our last road trip.

Day 6: DB’s b’day!!!!! Breakfast at Macrina Bakery on Queen Anne, scone, brioche, marionberry coffeecake, coffees, $16. Then a walk through the arboretum, lunch in Madison Park at Cactus (tortilla soup, corn tamales, ice tea, $27}, walk back through the arboretum, In honor of DB, the sun makes one of those rare appearances, after noon, and it is gorgeous the rest of the day and evening. Dinner at Tilth, in Wallenford neighborhood, we share small plates: crunchy cracker with cheese and date starter, smoked halibut with consommé, salmon and squash with consommé, three bean cassoulet, chocolate torte, strong drinks, three glasses of wine, complimentary glasses of moscato amabile, $170. Excellent!

Day 7: So much for carryover effect – it rains all day! Yep, spring has ended again and it has gone back to late winter (temps in the low to mid 50s). This morning, we decide to head to Tacoma to visit the Glass Museum, doing a walk anywhere doesn’t make much sense. It’s a great show, a mix of various pieces by artists that have done a residency, including one terrific gigantic piece by Beth Lipman (we visited her studio near Kohler a few weeks ago). Lunch at local sandwich spot and back to Seattle for a visit to Akio Takimori’s studio with Akio and his dealer (Jim Harris, the guy we ran into on the light rail!).

The visit lasts about an hour and a quarter, we see several ceramics pieces in-process and a number of pieces on paper, two of which we like a lot….no decisions made yet!

Nearby, we meet Sharon, Craig and Susan for a second birthday celebration, at Staple and Fancy in the Ballard neighborhood. What a great meal!!! We order the tasting menu, and proceed to see: crispy fried oysters, prosciutto and caramelized mini-cauliflower, beet and grapefruit and arugula salad, soft shelled crabs on crispy toast with garlic aioli, raw escolar with green topping….all great….and these were the appetizers! Next up English pea ravioli and pasta with nettles pesto, both excellent. Finally, the main courses: hanger steak and potatoes and the best swordfish THB has ever eaten. Phew, only 3 desserts: chocolate torte with ice cream, tangy key lime pie with ice cream, and soft whipped cheese cake with rhubarb on top. Lots of wine, and the tasting menu is only (truly a bargain) $45/person…and, we are treated, a very nice birthday gift!

Week 1: On the road to and in Seattle

Week One Highlights, abbreviated

On way up, we stop in Redding for lunch, and DB remembers why we should be here… and then we see the top of a Calatrava bridge. We’ve seen several Calatrava buildings and spans, most recently the winged Milwaukee Art Museum. The bridge in Redding (see pics) is amazingly good, and there are a lot of people around. The weather may have something to do with it, it is a glorious (and for Redding, not too hot) spring day.

On the second day, with a local tip, we stop for lunch in Portland at “the trucks,” a permanent set of trailers hawking a wide and diverse set of choices. We opt for sandwiches and fries at Lardo’s (see pic), definitely a good choice for the quality and oddness of the sandwiches. And, not to miss a chance, THB finds his way to the Pearl Bakery for bread. Another top 10 bakery…highly recommended (see pic…heel missing!),

Our exchange site is about halfway between Green Lake and UW, near Ravenna Park. The house (see pics) is on a cute little street, just off two main thoroughfares in this part of town. Green Lake is about the same size as Lake Merritt, and our first day we decide to walk over and around. It is gorgeous out, a great stroll. The place is popular enough that they have divided lanes for walkers and those on wheels. And, if you are biking or rollerblading around, you are supposed to go counter-clockwise only! Tons of strollers, even a new-moms exercise class with the babes in strollers placed in a large circle with the moms on the outside.

For lunch, we walk south of the house, through Ravenna Park (really an urban forest on both sides of a ravine), though a very cute residential neighborhood. Many trees and shrubs are in bloom, this is about as good as the place can look. Also see a number of houses soon to be on the market. The housing season is about to open! We revisit the Henry Museum to see the Turrell skyscape, one of his better works.

In the evening, with tickets provided by our exchangers, we attend the World Series. Much to THB’s surprise, it turns out to be the ballet (how could a guy be that confused, it said very clearly it was ballet!). A group from Spain, the main guy danced for ABT for 20 years and then returned to his homeland to start a company. He and his sister dance the best number of the night, set to flamenco-ish music.

On day 4, it is raining, gosh what a surprise. We spend most of the day with friends in the Seattle art world, mostly gallery hopping. Lunch at Wild Ginger, not as good as we remember ($35), dinner at Vietnamese spot, Longs, with a family of four. Fortunately, we all survive past the point of Rapture, not sure the restaurant has recovered from the 3 and 5 year old…at one point, THB thought maybe we had descended to hell and maybe this is what it will be, eating endlessly with cheerful children switching seats to be the parent of the moment when not so cheerful. The good news: our waiter clearly had a great sense of humor and ability to overlook much mayhem, may he be in hell with us!

Note: we run into one and half wedding parties today, the first two went together! See pics…

And, a stop at the Dahlia Bakery (right next door to the Dahlia Lounge and around the corner from Serious (pizza) Pie and across the street from Lola’s, all owned by the same guy) for a loaf of bread that also somehow is missing the heel.

Day 5: Lay in with the Sunday NYT, then visit the Bellevue Art Museum, now back to rest up some more before watching The Wire and drinking our gimlets…ravioli from the farmer’s market and some of that heel-less Dahlia bread.

Days 9-10: Milwaukee

Day 9: Milwaukee


St. Louis is closer to Minneapolis than Milwaukee is. Bud Selig

Our local tour guide knows Buddy Selig…and feels for the guy, he has such a tough job. He is a former owner working with his old compatriots to make those tough independent decisions. Oh, and his former co-owners (well, he’s sort of still an owner since his daughter runs the Brewers) have decided to reward Buddy as the top salaried commissioner at around $18 mil/year. Which means he probably makes more than most owners (if it is even close to true that many of the teams are losing money, which THB doubts), and way more than most players.

And, tomorrow we visit Bud’s house to see his art collection. Now THB is glad he is bringing in the big bucks, we should see some mighty fine art!

Today, a visit to the fitness center, breakfast in the hotel, cereal and fruit, $15. Then to Racine for the day: our first stop is at what might be the best small museum in the country, RAM. Now, THB is a bit biased because this museum has a huge craft collection, including art jewelry, and displays it well. We see work by several artists we own: Karen Koblitz, Patty Lechman, Maria DeSilva, Cynthia Toops, and several we wished we owned (particularly a huge Richard Shaw piece).

Around the corner for lunch at Shogun, one of those teppan counter places with the chefs that do weird juggling with spatulas and long forks and knives and eggs. Steak and shrimp for THB, DB has the shrimp and chicken combo, and somehow the chef at our grill figures out that THB is the guy that gets any leftovers. Hot tea, rice, veggies, soup, and a great scoop of ginger ice cream, included in the tour.

After lunch, more Frank Lloyd Wright (he’s very big in this area of the country): we visit a house designed for the Johnson family of Johnson Wax fame, Wingspread, which has all the classic FLW attributes: low ceilings, big open rooms, weird kitchens and small bedrooms with no closets, and some shaky structural touches. And, here, a lot of Canadian Geese crapping all over everywhere. And, temps are in the low 40s to high 30s, meaning the outside tour of the grounds is done mostly from THB’s seat on the bus.

Next up: a tour of the FLW buildings and a Norman Foster building on the Johnson Wax Corporation campus. For those of you that follow this kind of stuff, Johnson is a direct competitor to Clorox, where DB did many a year of consulting. Tour is good, one of the FLW buildings is a no-go zone because of lack of fire hazard exits, the Foster building is another antiseptic and well done rotunda (we have been in several Foster buildings recently, including the mother of them all. the new terminal in the Beijing airport).

Going away dinner in the restaurant in the hotel: chopped salad, steak and salmon, crème brulee (way too soupy) and carrot cake with a huge glop of icing on top. Included


Day 10: Milwaukee to Emeryville

He’s fully cocked in a pissed off position. Katie from the trip

Pics: The Selig collection and the Calatrava-designed Milwaukee Museum (it is really an extension, albeit a very unusual one) and work from the Museum

Book Review:: A Foreigner Carrying In the Crook of his Arm a Tiny Bomb, Amitava Kumar, Kindle Edition. THB started this book just before we took off on our trip, and finished it on the plane flight home. Timely, given the bin Laden assassination. A round up of how events post and pre-9/11 have impacted civil rights here and abroad. Nothing much new if you follow most of these scenarios, damn scary if you get caught up in the Homeland Security paranoia-will-it-ever-end news. In addition, Kumar focuses on the way art and culture are absorbing the impact, a nice overlap with an art trip.

Another visit to the fitness center and cereal in hotel café, $15. First up: a visit to Bud and Sue Selig’s house in a nice neighborhood outside of downtown by around 20 minutes.

Right away, THB realizes that this is going to be a good visit, there’s a Butterfield horse in the backyard. And two Jim Dine hearts, perfectly placed. And, just inside the front door, Bud is there to greet us! He’s off to work (he has an office in Milwaukee and another in NY; his wife spends a lot of the winter in Arizona, so something tells THB that Bud knows which teams to visit during the spring!).

As Bud departs, in comes the director of the Milwaukee Museum (which we are to visit later today). He does an excellent job telling us about the Seligs’ collection, and it becomes apparent that Sue and Bud have focused on contemporary art (post 1945), with many terrific pieces by well-known artists that are not necessarily the iconic work by each artist. Sure makes it more interesting to explore the collection and find out who did which piece.

And, THB gets to be the commissioner of major league baseball….for 5 seconds, sitting in the commissioner’s chair (see pic). Many rules are changed during these 5 seconds, including the following: World Series games on weekends must be played during the day; the Pirates are guaranteed a winning season; the Cubs are guaranteed a world series championship; THB’s seat at any game must be cushioned.

Back to downtown Milwaukee where we visit Barbara Kohl-Spiro’s condo (actually two condos combined, and with two kitchens!). Barbara is a local artist that was also our tour guide for this part of the trip. Many of her pieces are on the walls, and it looks like she sold a couple to members of the tour…nice! She is across the street from the Calatrava designed art museum, an easy stroll. The good news: it is brilliantly clear today and in the mid-50s, a great weather day by our current standards.

Lunch in the café: chicken sandwiches, cookies, Arnold Palmers, included. The café is at the edge of the lake, sort of like eating in the prow of the ship. From there we meet up with guy who is super knowledgeable about the art, including the FLW exhibition. THB skips hearing more about Wright, most of the stuff on display are models and drawings, in dim light.

The rest of the museum contains some nice work, including a huge Beth Lipman work (we visited her studio near Kohler, it’s great to see a major piece in a large setting). And, this is one exotic museum, designed by Calatrava (so there is even a Calatrava bridge, he’s done a ton of them including ones we’ve seen in Bilbao and Buenos Aires). The outside has a set of wings that flap open and close every day when the wind isn’t blowing more than 30 mph. That means we have not seen the wings open at all the first three days. Today, fortunately, it is cool and clear and not windy and the wings are open. Quite a sight, worth a detour (of more than 3 days? Not sure…).

Travel alert: when in the airport and going through the full scan, a TSA guy puts my wallet in one of our suitcases (can’t take it into the full scan thingee) and after getting scanned and then trying to reassemble everything, THB notices his wallet is missing. Much searching and little sympathy from the TSA crew, the wallet is found in a side pocket of THB’s suitcase. Arghhhhhhhhh…isn’t the guy dead now, can we go back to keeping our liquids in the bags and the shoes on our feet?


Now in Phoenix, and we unexpectedly have to deboard our through flight and transfer to another flight. Such fun….make it back by 10, just in time to hear the A’s have won again on a minimum of hits and runs.