Cool Cat

There are a number of cool car shows around the Seattle area. Most recently, I went to the small Elks Car Show in Ballard and the Edmonds Car Show - "Hot Autumn Nites" - on September 6. Another one is the Kirkland Concours d'Elegance, which I missed this year since the Edmonds car show was pretty impressive. I love classic American cars, and like to tell stories of my dad's 1964 Chevrolet Impala SS (same color as the one below from the Edmonds car show) he had when I was still a babe in arms. Some other family cars include a 63 Impala, 66 Caprice, and Pontiac GTO. Someday down the road hopefully I will have my own classic car to cruise on sunny summer afternoons. But for now, marveling at car shows will suffice.

P.S. I hiked Cascade Pass on Sept. 13 - it was amazing. I took 300+ photos so I am still choosing the best photos for my blog post coming soon!

Blue Angels

The U.S. Navy Blue Angels are here in Seattle once again for Seafair weekend! I snapped this photo during their practice on Friday.Sorry for the sort of lame photo, they are hard to capture on a point-and-shoot camera when they are whizzing by faster than the speed of sound. I'm glad the sun came out for the show!

Ballard Seafood Fest

This past weekend was the 34th Annual Ballard Seafood Fest. Market Street is closed off to cars and Seattleites and Ballard folk come out to enjoy seafood and local vendors. Seafood Fest is always a lot of fun and is considerably less crowded than other Seattle events like the Bite.

One of the best vendors is Vintage Ads, Prints, and Magnets, where you can find a huge variety of old print ads from newspapers and magazine. They have a great collection of vintage car ads. I also found another vendor, Hogan GlassWorks, selling beautiful and unique handcrafted glass jewelry.

I'm sure I'll be back at the Seafood Fest next year, maybe even to see the lutefisk eating contest!

Bite of Seattle

Last year was my first Bite of Seattle, and it was perhaps more Seattle-esque considering that it rained for a good part of the weekend. I realized this year that rain can help keep crowds away. The Bite of Seattle this year was July 18-20. I made it down to the Bite on Saturday evening around dinnertime. The crowds were massive and it was hard to maneuver through so many hungry Seattleites.

We opted for the new "Just a Bite" food options, where you can actually buy "bites" instead of entire entrees, which have become the norm at the Bite of Seattle over the past years. I chose some Thai bite options - pork and chicken satay, a small plate of Pad Thai, and spring rolls, all reasonably priced but nothing out of the ordinary. The strawberry shortcake was tasty as always, though the same shortcake you can find at Bumbershoot and other local Seattle festivals.

Next year I might forgo the Bite and avoid the overwhelming crowds and underwhelming food.

Happy Birthday, USA

Two hundred and thirty-two years is old! The Fourth of July fireworks on Lake Union were amazing as always. Happy Birthday USA, I look forward to next year's celebration already!

Here are photos I took last night from Gasworks Park:

Fremont Solstice Parade

One of the most interesting (and scary) experiences of my life was being in Paris during the summer solstice. I was 11 and terrified by the near-riot in the streets along the Seine and French people climbing Honey Buckets and the Saint Michel statue for a better view of the festivities. Needless to say, Americans do not know how to party compared to the French. But Seattleites climbing the Fremont Lenin statue to get a better view of the Fremont Solstice Parade comes pretty close.

The parade featured naked cyclists, satirical figures, brass bands, belly dancers, whimsical creatures, lavish floats, and about a half a million people packed onto Leary Way and Fremont Avenue. The acceptance of all body types and nudity at the parade also felt more akin to Europe than to the typical American body modesty. Though the photos show usual Seattle overcast, the air was warm and humid and almost stifling along the parade route.

As crowded as it was, the parade was fun, entertaining, and a break from the norm. Some highlights were water balloon wars between onlookers and parade marchers, Dick Cheney chugging Pennzoil (see photo below), along with the nude man painted with "Dick" Cheney and George W. "Bush"... you get the idea. I was able to snap some photos of the parade participants...