Dec. posting meme day 9
Squeaking in under the wire with a question from 
kass : If I could come and visit you where you live, where would you take me / what would we do?
Oh man--well, we'd have to do the obligatory tourist things like the Pike Place Market, because everyone wants to see that, and drive down to Mt. Rainier, and take a ferry across the sound. As much of a tourist destination as the Market is, it's really fascinating and is a huge part of Seattle's history, features some amazing views of Puget Sound, and has all these interesting little side places to look at, besides the usual things that people think of: the fish throwing market stalls, the cafes that have had movies filmed in them, all that stuff that people think about because they've seen Sleepless in Seattle or something. Many people go to Pioneer Square, the "old town" area, and love to do the Underground tour--a lot of Seattle was destroyed in the 1800s so they built on top of it, and the tour takes you through the areas that remain underneath Pioneer Square still. I've never been on the tour, weirdly, even though I've lived here most of my life. Everyone wants to ride to the top of the Space Needle, as well. But I feel like the mountains and the water are sort of necessary in some ways, because that's also what's informed this city's character--we're surrounded by water and many large and small lakes, bordered by mountains on the peninsula and in the middle of the state.
But I'd also want to take you to my neighborhood, West Seattle, because it's kind of eccentric in some ways, and it has the only real sandy beach in the area and it's really beautiful to walk along. It would be fun to take you to Fremont, where I used to live, because that's the funkiest part of town and has the famous statue of Lenin and the Troll (a cement troll that lives under the Aurora Bridge and has a VW Beetle clutched in his hand; it used to be a real Beetle till they had to cover it with cement too because people kept stealing parts off it) and beautiful art on the bridge. Capitol Hill is a pain in some ways, but it's also fun and has the most restaurants, I think, outside of downtown and there's always a good place to eat. Hopping on a ferry from many different points could take us to tons of different places like the Olympic Peninsula, some of the islands like Vashon or Bainbridge of best of all, Whidbey, or fun little places like Poulsbo or Gig Harbor.
We are very much a film city, though in some ways it's declined a bit in recent years, but it would be fun to take you to Scarecrow Video, and the film festival if you came to visit in later spring. We are also a reading city, and there are still some independent bookstores around, so going to those would be swell as I don't have a lot of opportunity these days. A lot of people want to visit the Rem Koolhaus designed downtown library, too--it's not my favorite place, I think the design is terrible, but many people love it a lot, so it's at least worth a visit. And frankly, I just love hangingin around downtown and don't get to much anymore, and so I'd love to take you to some fun restaurants, shops, and museums or cultural places.
ETA. I would also have to take you up to Vancouver to see all the film locations of shows you like, and then down to Portland for other show's locations, like the Librarians!
kass : If I could come and visit you where you live, where would you take me / what would we do?
Oh man--well, we'd have to do the obligatory tourist things like the Pike Place Market, because everyone wants to see that, and drive down to Mt. Rainier, and take a ferry across the sound. As much of a tourist destination as the Market is, it's really fascinating and is a huge part of Seattle's history, features some amazing views of Puget Sound, and has all these interesting little side places to look at, besides the usual things that people think of: the fish throwing market stalls, the cafes that have had movies filmed in them, all that stuff that people think about because they've seen Sleepless in Seattle or something. Many people go to Pioneer Square, the "old town" area, and love to do the Underground tour--a lot of Seattle was destroyed in the 1800s so they built on top of it, and the tour takes you through the areas that remain underneath Pioneer Square still. I've never been on the tour, weirdly, even though I've lived here most of my life. Everyone wants to ride to the top of the Space Needle, as well. But I feel like the mountains and the water are sort of necessary in some ways, because that's also what's informed this city's character--we're surrounded by water and many large and small lakes, bordered by mountains on the peninsula and in the middle of the state.
But I'd also want to take you to my neighborhood, West Seattle, because it's kind of eccentric in some ways, and it has the only real sandy beach in the area and it's really beautiful to walk along. It would be fun to take you to Fremont, where I used to live, because that's the funkiest part of town and has the famous statue of Lenin and the Troll (a cement troll that lives under the Aurora Bridge and has a VW Beetle clutched in his hand; it used to be a real Beetle till they had to cover it with cement too because people kept stealing parts off it) and beautiful art on the bridge. Capitol Hill is a pain in some ways, but it's also fun and has the most restaurants, I think, outside of downtown and there's always a good place to eat. Hopping on a ferry from many different points could take us to tons of different places like the Olympic Peninsula, some of the islands like Vashon or Bainbridge of best of all, Whidbey, or fun little places like Poulsbo or Gig Harbor.
We are very much a film city, though in some ways it's declined a bit in recent years, but it would be fun to take you to Scarecrow Video, and the film festival if you came to visit in later spring. We are also a reading city, and there are still some independent bookstores around, so going to those would be swell as I don't have a lot of opportunity these days. A lot of people want to visit the Rem Koolhaus designed downtown library, too--it's not my favorite place, I think the design is terrible, but many people love it a lot, so it's at least worth a visit. And frankly, I just love hangingin around downtown and don't get to much anymore, and so I'd love to take you to some fun restaurants, shops, and museums or cultural places.
ETA. I would also have to take you up to Vancouver to see all the film locations of shows you like, and then down to Portland for other show's locations, like the Librarians!