Destination Seattle 2009: Mann und Maus, Winger's, and a Doppelganger Washington Park Arboretum

My fiance, me, and my car trekked up to Seattle on Saturday to partake in the type of frivolity only the Puget Sound can provide. Naturally, being not only from Portland but technically from Vancouver, WA (read: Camas) , I feel a little Napoleonic to the Emerald City. The split dichotomy of residing in the state of Washington but closely feeling affinity to all things PDX (and therefore Oregon) has fostered a manic loyalty tug-of-war in my pysche. Do I love or despise Seattle?

We zipped up I-5 gaily and parked in a huge parking garage in the middle of the steeply terraced downtown. The garage was attached to the Art Museum but we wanted to explore a bit first before putting our art critic's hats on (berets, of course). Hmmm, but strangely we could find no exits except one that pealed an alarm when we opened the door. I guess we can expect no great user-friendliness from the city that gave us Microsoft.

Well, we also couldn't find a suitable place to eat and I had to expectorate so we decided to stave off eating until later. I most enjoyed the modern art at the museum, which actually sorta surprised me. The above picture shows a gigantic mouse sitting on top of a man in bed. Love it!

After frolicking from minimalism to maximalism (?) at the SAM, we again attempted to find a place to eat, finally setting on the Pike Pub, nestled somewhere in the bowels of Pike Place. I imbibed water and Rueben sandwich.

With Google Maps as our guide and Rothko as our inspiration, we quit the downtown and headed over to the Washington Park Arboretum. The well-travelled Northwesterner quickly realizes there is also an arboretum in Portland's Washington Park! Is this merely coincidence, or has Seattle dared to slug her little brother to the south? Turning to Wikipedia for peer-reviewed populist answers, I realize I have opened up a can of worms: Seattle's version of the arboretum "may have" started in 1920, while Portland's Hoyt started in 1922. *Grumble grumble* --point to Seattle. But wait, hold everything! Sure, the arboretums, but what about the parks themselves? Seattle's Washington Park: "Woodland and Washington Parks were purchased in 1900". Portland's WP: (drum roll) "The City of Portland purchased the original 40.78 acres (165,000 m2) in 1871 for $32,624" Boo yeah! (I seriously spent 15 minutes looking all this up)

The arboretum, despite its shady copycat beginnings, was pretty cool. For the record, I haven't even been to the Hoyt in Portland.

Our aesthetic escapade quickly turned coldly capitalistic as we visited the Aurora Supermall. Look it's a Sam's Club! No, it's an indoor gathering of factory outlets! It's SUPERmall! Well, the Supermall was rather a silly place so instead we went to sister Becky's Men's Wearhouse (not WAREhouse...get it?) I purchased gentlemanly items in preparation for my coming wedding. BTW, here's a link for that.

Somewhere in the nether regions of Seattle's hinterland I found a Winger's to have dinner at. As a disgraced former employee I feel no special bond to said restaurant, but I think I am addicted to the sauce. I got to see my nephew Isaiah and got to eat the corn dog bites I thought he might like (he didn't).

Closing thesis: Seattle is a great place to visit when you live in "Portland", full of charming/strange idiosyncrasies, and would be my second preferred metropolitan area to live in.