What a delight to get an email from Sue and Rodger, friends from our home village in New Zealand saying they were in Vancouver and asking if we were able to catch up!! Of course we replied – how wonderful to be able to spend time with them on the other side of the world. They amazingly made the 8-hour return bus trip down to Seattle on Saturday and HG, my Mum-in-law who is visiting from New Zealand, and I met them at their stop at Washington State Convention Center on the corner of 8th and Pike Street at about 2pm. The Center with it’s exhibitions and vast interior is well worth a visit if ever a respite from the streets of Seattle is needed.
Having only 3 ½ hours before the bus returned to Vancouver we walked a short way up Pike Street to a pub called The Pine Box for a late lunch. The Pine Box is housed in a beautiful old building which used to be a Funeral Parlor. Bruce Lee’s Memorial Service was held there in 1973, with Steve McQueen and James Coburn being 2 of his Pallbearers. We sat outside in the area where the hearse was parked and his body (and no doubt many other less infamous but just as precious bodies) popped in to take his last ride. I have just watched a YouTube video of the proceedings and so know this as a fact! It is now a nice wee beer ‘garden’ area. Chin wagging and exchanging news while nibbling on pizzas, prawns, and beer with these lovely people was a tonic.
Having just enough time to do a quick tour around Pike Market before the bus departed for Sue and Rodgers return trip to Vancouver we decided to Uber it there ……. it turned out it would have been quicker to walk! Uber arrived promptly, but announced she needed petrol – would we mind if she stopped and got some although she did mutter that she wasn’t sure where a petrol station was. We are only going to Pike Place we said – it’s 1.1 miles away. We started giving each other strange looks as she continuously ignored her Navigator’s commands turning down every street but the ones requested, but finally queried where she was taking us when she sailed past the Market and we ended up in a dead end under some carpark! HG gently offered his opinion of her driving – her excuse was she wasn’t used to driving during the day! We were left with little wonder why she needed petrol, if every trip was a scenic tour!
We said goodbye to Sue and Rodger on the corner of 6th and Pike going our separate ways – us to the Underground to catch our 550 bus home, and them to walk one block more to their bus stop. As with all the time spent with our visitors here in Seattle the day was very special. We’ll see you in a couple of months back home in New Zealand!
Red Alders 