Asleep in Seattle

My weekend in Seattle was far from sleepless. Amanda’s aunt and uncle must have thought we were the laziest bunch of girls they had ever met as we slumbered until noon each day. My girlfriends and I tend to play hard and all our fun times had caught up with us. We enjoyed a relaxing change of pace in the good company of Mary Ann & Marty Simonetti accompanied by good wine and food.

Mary Ann put out the pink flamingos in her front yard, signaling to her friends and neighbors that the wine cellar is open. I loved this idea and decided that my girlfriends and I will have flamingo parties often once we decide to grow up and settle down in houses on the same street.

The views of the Seattle Skyline from Queen Anne Avenue were stunning. With the Space Needle in clear view, none of us felt the need to pay $20 to ride to the top.

My favorite view was from the porch of the Simonetti’s beautiful home, where we all watched the sun set behind the Olympic Mountains.

Pike Place Market has been around since 1907. Home to the famous “Flying Fish” and a few cobblestone blocks away from the original Starbucks.

We visited the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) to see the KURT exhibit. The exhibit included works from visual artists who are drawn to Kurt as a “symbol of the struggle against authority, the pitfalls of not fitting in social norms and the challenge of maintaining integrity in the face of popular success.” SAM

Photo by Alice Wheeler

Grunge music is as universally synonymous with modern day Seattle as is Starbucks and Microsoft. I was only 16 when Kurt Cobain killed himself, but Nirvana’s music proved to stand the test of time as myself and so many others continued to enjoy the angst-filled lyrics and wild strumming of the electric guitar long after his death.

Kurt claimed to be influenced by The Pixies and applied the band’s trademark style of juxtaposing soft verses against loud choruses to his songs. A classic example of this soft-loud-soft dynamic can be heard in Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and nearly all the “modern rock” hits of the 1990s.

Many thanks to the Simonetti’s and Amanda for a great first visit to Seattle!

To see more photos of Seattle CLICK HERE.