The Travel Industry News - Editorial Archives

January 15, 2001

I Had To Leave The Country...

Yep...I said it...if Gore or Bush win the election I’m leaving the country! On December 13th George W became the President Elect and on Thursday the 14th I left “the country”...and headed for the city...Seattle.

Oh yes indeed, I was born a city boy but I now call the ‘country’ home if you’ll agree that Camano Island is ‘the country’...and for those who have never visited there...trust me!

It was that time of the year anyway, the ‘Holiday Season’ when D & D have traditionally stayed overnight in a Seattle hotel...even when we lived in Seattle!

The year 2000 had been eventful, what with one thing or another, and so we opted for a hotel that we thought would remind us of yesteryear...you know the 20th century.

We were delighted with our choice, and in fact because of it we decided to introduce a ‘Northwest Hotel Profile’ now and then to the pages of TIN. Located in downtown Seattle, The PACIFIC PLAZA first opened its doors back in 1928 as The Hungerford Hotel. After an extensive renovation in 1980 the hotel came back to life in 1981 as The Pacific Plaza.

However I digress as I will be profiling this ‘warm and friendly’ hotel for your files in the near future.

Prior to checking in we headed for one of our favorite lunch stopovers, where the Oysters Rockefeller are the very best. A lively atmosphere where memories of days & evenings past await, when this corner of the Four Season’s Hotel was the corner of the Olympic Hotel and the name was the ‘Picadilly Corner’. We spent a delightful couple of hours chatting and reminiscing. Today Shucker’s retains its walls of wood...its fine service and its eclectic mixture of natives & visitors.

Check in at the Pacific Plaza and off to the shops, in this instance Pacific Place at 6th & Pine. I’ll admit shopping is not my #1 choice from the menu of life...but...D likes it, and I did find a great safari jacket...just in case I really have to leave the country!

For those of you who haven’t ventured ‘downtown’ for awhile there are changes galore. No longer do you have to fly off to New York or San Francisco to find the nation’s leading retailers...they’re right here in the Emerald City. Visit Tiffanys, Old Navy, Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma, Restoration Hardware...to name but a few. Don’t miss ‘Partners in Time’ on 6th Avenue.

We returned to the hotel at 5pm, the wind was howling through the alleys, the rain came down sideways lashing all and sundry in its path. From our sixth floor corner suite we gazed north up 4th Avenue as the white lights that turn downtown into a fairyland, swung precariously from leafless trees like strands of diamonds thrown haphazardly onto a rippling wave of black velvet. (Hey, that’s good!) That evening we were scheduled to meet travel colleagues at the original Salty’s south of town in Redondo Beach. Rain fell from the sky’s open faucets, the wind played ‘bump the cars’.

Salty’s at Redondo Beach sits on the water’s edge, creating a dramatic setting...waves crashed against the windows on this stormy night. In truth the food was only fair...at best...who knows, maybe the chef got washed away that evening.

Back & snug in the Pacific Plaza’s Suite 630 by ll pm, we watched KIRO News report on the storm from our king-sized bed, then slipped away into king-sized dreams.

What was I dreaming about anyway? Suddenly I awoke with a start...it wasn’t a donkey...it wasn’t an elephant...it was...it was...a cockerel crowing lustily, announcing the birth of another day...

a cockerel?? I know it...I knew it...that country-living was going to come back to haunt me? Where was I anyway?

Suddenly it dawned upon me...I was in downtown Seattle, perched above 4th Ave & Spring...how the h— could I be awakened by a loudly crowing rooster. There it was again...”Cock-A-Doodle Doo” or whatever it is those creatures say.

My ears (& mind) adjusted...the rooster was pretty close by...there it was...

Can you believe an alarm clock that sounds just like a rooster? Well, there are such animals and after pushing every button in sight...it went back to sleep!

I, however...did not...I listened to the 6:45am ‘Symphony of the Traffic’ below...the rain had ceased and the wind only mentioned her presence.

I brewed a potful of Seattle’s Best Coffee and sat contemplating Seattle, the ‘Country’, the travel biz and the position of roosters in modern day society!

Our suite was tastefully decorated, the living room complete with settee, chairs, table, sideboard containing TV...the aforementioned coffee maker...and large traditional blue & white Chinese jardiniere from which protruded a curled black umbrella...very English..don’t you know...and very thoughtful for unprepared guests. Two bathrooms, bedroom ala kingsize, closet, TV...and rooster. Yes indeed...a very pleasant hideaway to escape to from the cruel, cruel world.

We lounged around for a while allowing all the ‘important people’ to get into their offices, switch on their ‘virtual lives’ and make room on the sidewalks for ‘visitors’. Breakfast completed...we headed for SAM...(the Seattle Art Museum) which is a great Seattle asset & a must for art lovers.

John Singer Sargent was the exhibit and to me Sargent’s paintings and charcoal sketches are among my favorites.

An American by birth, Sargent spent much of his life in London & Paris and many say that of the American painters, only Winslow Homer rivaled Sargent...indeed he was described as the Van Dyck of his era. Anyway, for those who like art, this exhibit will run through March 18th, 2001.

Variety is the spice of life, they say, and from Sargent’s interpretation of life, our next stop was at Seattle’s “Exhibit of Life”...where the art of fish-throwing has reached its zenith...Pike Place Market.

The oldest continuous Street Market in the USA affords not only a taste of the ‘real Seattle’..but a variety of foods, restaurants, flowers, handcrafts, street corner musicians, vegetable stalls...and flying fish.

We love the market and it may come as a surprise to some that many Seattleites shop here regularly for their fresh cooking needs...I know we did. Time for lunch...a relaxing lunch with fine food, pleasant surroundings and good service for this was our ‘Getaway’ ...not a time to count our pennies.

‘Place Pigalle’ in the Market, filled the bill adding a view of Elliott Bay to the ingredients...try it...you’ll like it.

OK if art isn’t your thing, fresh vegetables and ‘fish in the air’ don’t do it for you, how about cooking?

Sur La Table, opposite the Market may well be Seattle’s finest store to discover things for cooking you didn’t even know existed.

Time to leave the city and head for ‘the country’...pick up our dog, Tipper, our 85 lb Boxer/Rottweiler from the ‘Doggie Spa’ as D describes it to Tipper when we leave her there overnight. D believes in the power of suggestion!

A Sojourn to town....Crazy? Possibly. Waste of money? Could be. Source of delightful memories? You betcha!

David (Corporal) Bond

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