Friday, April 8, 2011

An Adventurous Day


Seattle has a somewhat new light rail system, and I had long wanted to test ride it, but never had a reason to, as it doesn’t go anywhere that I ever want to go.  Rachael is a member of the jet set, and has ridden it to the airport several times.  She thinks it is great.  Rebecca and I had been going to take it to the cooking supply store in the SoDo district, but fortunately, we decided to take the car.  Had we taken the train, we would have had a terrible time with all our many purchases.  So instead, we rescheduled our train trip, and decided to go another day to lunch in Columbia City, an attractive Seattle neighborhood to the south.  I have been to the Columbia City library branch, but had I never really walked around the little downtown area.

The initial problem with our train adventure was how to get a ticket.  We climbed aboard on Chinatown, but there had been no obvious way to pay at the station.  Rebecca swiped her bus pass, but I only had bus tickets, as I don’t ride the bus that frequently.  There were no little slots for tickets, money, anything.  Just a place to swipe your pass.  So I did the natural thing, and just got on, bus ticket in hand, hoping for the best.  The best happened and we arrived at our destination without me getting arrested.  As I said, Columbia City is a cute neighborhood, but it is not noted for its fine restaurants.  It does have a popular bakery, but Becca is a vegan, so most bakeries are out of bounds.  We decided to try the promising looking Columbia City Ale House, and we were certainly glad that we did.  Our lunches were très yummissima.  After lunch, replete, we wandered into a used bookstore, and not expecting to find anything we wanted, were again pleasantly surprised to find some knitting books that we absolutely needed.  Odd, because minutes previously, we hadn’t needed any at all.  But things change, don’t they. 

Here are some pictures from our adventure.  Rebecca took the ones on the train.  







 







Columbia City Train Station lions

PS:  I didn't get arrested on the way home either.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

I would have loved to have joined you, assuming I could have done so in my chair. Columbia city looks very nice as does Seattle in general.

Barb Matijevich said...

Tres yummissima is now my favorite food phrase. And kudos on not doing hard time!

Marta said...

I remember Columbia city when it was an iffy place to visit.
I've been wanting to check it out. The food looks delicious. I can't figure out what it is but it looks very tasty.

I guess I'm glad you were not arrested but it may have been interesting for your blog.

Marta said...

I forgot to mention I like the Tres yummissima phrase as well.

Joanne said...

A friend forwarded this post to me, and as someone who's lived in Columbia City for 10 years, I can tell you we have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to good food. Next trip, try the soups at Chelsea Deli, or the sushi at Wabi Sabi, or the jerk chicken at Island Soul. For a real fine dining splurge, La Medsa (they have delicious vegetarian options) has wonderful Farmers Market day specials on Wednesdays. And, our movie theater (the Columbia City Cinema) has the best popcorn of any theater I've ever been to! Glad you decided to spend a day in our neighborhood.

Laura said...

Great pictures and travelogue. The alehouse meal looks so good. No wonder you had to come up with a new word to describe it.

Tad said...

Ticket vending machines are prominently located at each light rail station. Look for these next time: http://www.flickr.com/photos/viriyincy/3641040174/sizes/m/

Thanks for visiting our neighborhood!

Lorette said...

Yum!
I'm very glad you are not in prison, they might not let you take your knitting.