Urban Marinade

As we settle into a typical cold and potentially snowy January, I thought I’d share some green. No, not money, goofballs. The green I’m talking about comes from the incredible evergreen trees abundant in the great Pacific Northwest. After visiting Seattle for the first time last February, it took little to convince me to return with Joelle over the holidays. The above images are just a taste of what I saw and photographed on our trip.

Not trying to sound cliche, but there were too many highlights to list them all. I truly believe Seattle is the type of city you can go to and find new places and vistas every single time. And you can bet I did the best I could to see as much as possible. It did rain almost every single day we were there, but nature gave us a few moments of sunshine. Here are my favorite moments…

1. Baby Seal Pup - What more can you say. They are simply the cutest little animals on the planet. The sun was peeking through the clouds on our last full day in town and Joelle’s father had offered to take me to a new location to photograph. We drove through Ballard to Golden Gardens Park. My sights were set on the beautiful Olympic Mountains across Puget Sound. But as I stepped on to the beach, the little pup was sacked out right there…waiting for mom to bring back some dinner. At that moment, my trip felt complete.

2. Panama Hotel Tea and Coffeehouse - After spending the morning with Joelle’s family and the afternoon walking around the International District, we checked out this little coffeehouse. It’s inside the historic Panama Hotel, a hotel that was built in 1910, was owned by a Japanese architect and for years served as a home for Japanese immigrants. The fascinating thing about the coffeehouse is they have a glass floor looking down upon some old dusty bags. Bags left by a family shipped off to the internment camps. Obviously all of this has special meaning to Joelle who is half Japanese, but is also a reminder of a sad moment in our history. All of that history and charm wrapped into a quaint coffeehouse that served a fantastic matcha latte was all I needed.

3. The Gum Wall - Okay, so this wasn’t exactly the healthiest part of the trip. But if you visit Seattle, you have to stop by the infamous gum wall in Post Alley under Pike Place Market. The wall is literally covered, several inches deep, with gum. It’s now listed as a top 5 germiest tourist attraction. And let me tell you, it’s pretty disgusting. But if you hang around for a bit, you can capture some pretty interesting shots. My favorite from the wall is above, of a random child posing. I love the darkness of the wall and the faceless, hooded child to the left. It’s screaming horror flick to me for some reason. Stumbling into that wall could be pretty horrific.

4. Mountains, Mountains, Mountains - I will never get tired of seeing the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. The snow-covered peaks to both the east and west are simply majestic. I joked that you really didn’t need TV, you had Nature Network outside your window. Seriously, I haven’t seen a more beautiful landscape in my entire life. The added treat was a sunny morning for our flight home. The pilot was cleared to take our plane right across the Cascade Volcanic Range, which included views of Mt. Rainier, Saint Helens, Adams and Mt. Hood. To this day my eyes think I’m looking at a painting rather than a real landscape. Imagine looking at that every day!

Overall Seattle was exactly what I expected. She’s an incredible city with incredible history, architecture and culture and one of the most photogenic places in the United States. Thank you to Joelle, Ron and Connie for allowing me to spend my Christmas with you all and for allowing me a chance to take in that breathtaking scenery.