When lockdown started in March of 2020, it was about a week before I’d planned to visit Nene. I cancelled that trip, so for my first post-vaccinated vacation I wanted to pick up where I left off and reschedule my Nene visit! (These flowers are from Flourish Cafe in Centralia. They used mint sprigs for the filler, and the bouquet smelled amazing. They also had a strawberry-rhubarb donut that left with us.)
I’m at an airport! Normally I’d head to LAX after work or catch the Long Beach-to-LAX FlyAway bus, but since I’m working from home and the FlyAway bus has suspended service to Long Beach, I opted for the convenience of driving myself to the Long Beach airport. Even though JetBlue no longer flies out of LGB (so there’s no LGB-to-SEA direct anymore), Delta is still there, and Delta has a hub in Salt Lake City …
Flying out of Salt Lake City! Originally the plan was to schedule a long layover so I could catch TRAX into town for some Vertical Diner. But then I realized that SLC has a different airport. I don’t mean that they’ve reworked the existing one–they have a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT BUILDING. (And it’s huge. Well, relatively. It’s a seven-minute walk between terminals now.) They managed to build it using profits from the old airport. Without taxing people. During a pandemic. Of course they did. The problem (for this trip at least) is that the TRAX station isn’t right outside anymore and the airport isn’t quick to walk through anymore. So it’d be cutting it close to try to figure all that out during a layover. So I went for a normal-length layover (staying in the airport was probably good given the 94-degree heat) and I’ll visit Vertical Diner later. (They have merch now. I need a t-shirt.)
Landing in Seattle. One way to rediscover an appreciation for air travel is to skip it for a while. A few hours ago I was wandering around my condo, and now I’m looking down at the Space Needle. That’s AWESOME. These aeroplanes really are something.
After Nene met me at the airport (with snacks) we headed to Del Taco (eat through it) and then back to her house where I got distracted by all the pretty plants. The front porch has hanging baskets with geraniums, and the side yard has a blueberry plant.
The weekend low was 48 degrees, and it rained, but Nene provided socks (without holes in them, which is a novelty at my house), mukluks and an impossibly soft and plush bathrobe for inside, and then a down jacket (with hood) and an umbrella for outside. So we did all the things anyway despite the rain. (Even the afternoon we stayed in was idyllic with a fire in the fireplace, Robert Johnson on the Victrola, a dog at my feet, a cat on my lap, chilled elderflower soda for sipping, a mug of fresh raspberries to snack on, and a delightful book about a menopausal vampire from Spokane’s Get Lit! festival.)
In addition to giving me my own shelf stocked with vegan snacks (and books to read), Nene made gourmet vegan breakfasts. One day was polenta (and Miyoko’s vegan butter) with arugula and roasted red pepper spread. Another day was skillet-warmed toast with Washington-grown apple butter. And every breakfast came with two cups of Fortnum & Mason Earl Grey tea served from an Empress tea set with sugar and oat milk. I’ve been having oatmeal and blueberries every morning for the last 15 months. Maybe I should reevaluate that.
I just missed the rhododendron explosion that happens in April-May, but some of the flowers (in the shade so they hadn’t been sun-scorched) were still in good shape.
One reason I needed to visit Nene was to meet her pets (I’d only met Hamlet, the orange cat). Now she has Bug (on the pillow) and Sam (ignoring the breakfast in his crate because he’s trying so hard to communicate that he loves you with his enormous eyes).
We took Sam for a walk up Seminary Hill. The rain was intense at first but then cleared up and left everything glowing-green. Nene walked ahead with Sam and called out “slug!” or “snail!” warnings. (The slug population seems to be doing very well.)
Just like I was too late for rhododendron season, I was too early for berry season. This will be a thimbleberry soon.
The view from the top of Seminary Hill.
We also ate as much as possible. From Del Taco after the airport to the must-have sabich sandwich from the Nineveh food truck in Olympia to the all-vegan Wayside Cafe at its new location in Olympia’s historic district (I got the bbq jackfruit burger), I had trouble finishing the snacks on my snack shelf. It was a good weekend.
This is Thomas. He provided encouragement while we ate our sabich sandwiches and sweet potato fries at the marina (since the eating area by the food trucks is shut down at the moment).
I don’t get tired of the Olympia Farmers Market. The stand-out this time was the vegan paella from Paella Pro.
Watching Cruella at McMenamins. The McMenamin family restores historic buildings and turns them into links in their brewpub chain. The Olympic Club is the McMenamins contribution to Centralia, in what used to be the Oxford Hotel (built in 1913) and now converted into a theater pub.
It’s nice to be back at the movies after the past year, but the real reason to visit McMenamins is the cajun tots. (After this we were full for like 24 hours. We regret nothing.)
I missed rhododendron and berry season, but must have hit it just right for the dogwood blossoms. I’ll just have to go back to catch the other two. (Plus there’s more to eat!)