The Underground Tour

As promised, I will now tell you about the tourist-traps in Seattle that I actually liked. I know that all of the... one or two... of you have been just dying to get my take. I have to say, I loved the underground tour. The tour guides are charming and hilarious. You pick up a lot of fascinating Seattle history (our founders were CRAZY). My favorite bit was the story of the... ahem... sewing industry in the early days. It was lovely. Also, there is a bar.

The Crocodile

This fabulous little music venue used to be one of Seattle's greatest music-type-dives. Then it mysteriously closed up shop about a year ago. It has reopened with a pretty swanky new interior, and it is hosting some amazing shows. I saw Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground (a great Seattle band), as well as The Builders and the Butchers there the other night. It was lovely. The floor is small enough that those of us who barely break five feet don't get swallowed up in the crowd, unable to see anything. They also have a great balcony space, if you (as a fellow vertically-challenged human being) want an even better view. The bartenders are great; the drinks are reasonably priced; overall, I'm in love with the place.

Dooce

Dooce.com is a blog run by Heather Armstrong. I suppose it would fall into the category of a mommy-blog, but it is so much more than that. She is a former-Mormon living in Utah (an experience I know well). Her writing is funny, engaging, and poignant. I met her last night at a reading for her new book, It Sucked, and then I Cried, about her experience with postpartum depression. She was brilliant and hilarious (and very pregnant). She read an excerpt from her blog about being in Washington years ago. It was about a fart. I would recommend her blog and books to anyone, whether or not you dig the mommy-blog bit.