Carnival of Cities for June 24, 2008

It’s fun to host the Carnival of Cities because I get to discover bloggers I might not find on my own. Last week’s was at Perceptive Travel – so if you can’t get enough virtual touring, head there next! Here’s a place I know a thing or two about: Maui. This post offers good advice …


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Seattle Summer Solstice

Up here in the northwest corner of the US, the thing we’re probably most famous for at Solstice time is our naked cyclists. These sun loving two wheelers strip down to their birthday suits and open the Fremont Solstice Parade. They’re a crowd pleaser every year, and hey, a gorgeous physique is not required to …


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Fish Wednesday: Cheap Tuna Edition

While I might be a sucker for a deal, I’m picky as hell. That’s why I sorted through all the packages of tuna in the seafood case before settling on one that was good enough for me. I like tuna steaks to have a nice dense reddish color to them, I don’t like the washed …


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Fish Wednesday: Orange You Glad You’re Grilling Edition

It’s possible I mentioned before that I got the cutest little gas grill on the planet – it sits just outside my back door on a concrete pad that acts as though it was made for back door grilling. I am quite enchanted with the convenience of it – the other day, I switched it …


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North Seattle Noshing: Grateful Bread

It used to be I thought that any place north of the Montlake Bridge was full of sea monsters, I’d not venture there without the Sea Witch at my side to protect me with spells and amulets. I’m long over my provincial hangups, plus, people act like our West Seattle home is somewhere beyond Hawaii, …


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Seattle’s Wing Luke Asian Museum

We don’t call it Chinatown, it’s the International District. And it is, it’s Chinese, sure, but it’s also Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean and loads more. During the time I’ve lived in Seattle, it’s gone from the site of ramshackle flop houses and weird smelling supermarkets with unidentifiable produce to a shinier neighborhood with a handsome new gate, an expansive and attractive international grocery mecca, and a hang out for hip Japanese kids with remarkable hair.

The latest change involved moving the Wing Luke Asian Museum from a cramped and somewhat tired space to stunning new digs on King Street. We picked today for our visit because it’s First Thursday and First Thursdays are free at the museums.

I’m generally content to shell out for museum admissions, but I’m happy we didn’t pay today because there’s not a lot going on in the exhibit spaces just yet. Some of the historical objects and displays that tell the story of our Asian immigrant population are up, but they were sharing space with a media extravaganza. The community galleries were empty, as were some of the other spaces and while it was a little disappointing to see so little on display, it was nice to get to see the building in its fresh out of the wrapper state. It’s a stunner, I’m looking forward to going back when the museum has their A game on To my delight, one of the first major exhibits scheduled is one focusing on native Hawaiian culture.

The most magnificent thing we saw today by far – and I expect it will hold its wonder over time – was the theater curtain from an early 1900s International District movie theater. The curtain is covered with had painted advertisements from the theater’s hey days – it hangs in the museum’s beautiful little auditorium under stage spots. The back windows of the theater look out on to one of the International District’s remaining renovated brick buildings. It’s a beautiful thing, the way they did not hide the less than perfect face of the neighborhood from inside the immaculate new space. I have my doubts if the “view” will last, but even when the surroundings change, the curtain will be a thing of beauty.


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