Leslie Budewitz | Ten Favorite Things About Seattle
When I started telling people that my second Spice Shop mystery was on
the way, a surprising number asked how I could write about Seattle when I live
in Montana. (Oddly, I donβt remember hearing that question when the first book
came out.) Newer friends, obviously, and a reporter or two, who didnβt know I
went to college in Seattle, moved back after law school, and practiced there for
eight years. Or that Mr. Right and I make regular pilgrimages for research. By
which I mean βeat.β
So I started ticking off my favorite things in the Emerald City. Tomorrowβs list
might be entirely differentβcities are always in flux, and so is what we love
about them.
The gum wall. Okay, Iβm joking. I hate the gum wall. Itβs gross. For those
who donβt know this disgusting featureβa travel company dubbed it the second
germiest tourist attraction in the world, after Irelandβs Blarney Stoneβa decade
or two ago, people waiting outside the Market Theater starting sticking their
gum on the wall when they went inside for a show. Really? They meant to come
back for it? I saw many a movie in that theater and it never would have occurred
to me to smash my gum on those lovely rose-red bricks. The city recently had the
wall steam-cleaned; Iβm not placing bets on how long that lasts. But what I do
love is how the wall symbolizes the vibrance and vitality of the Market.
Historic, yes; static, no.
Pop-up craziness: Loved this mandala in Pioneer Square Last year, Mr. Right
and I were walking through Westlake Park downtown when a wave of bicyclists
dressed in white and wearing red sashes flooded in. Hundreds of them. We never
did figure out what was up. A foodie popus: A baker takes over a fancy
restaurant on Saturday mornings, when the place is normally closed. The city
even has a program for artists to rent empty storefronts for a dollar a month,
until the place is leased, for gallery or studio space.
Lakeview Cemetery. Bruce and Brandon Lee are buried there. My heart always
drops when I see this monument, of a woman in a chair and a young girl. Itβs at
least fifteen feet high, and I have no idea what the story is.
Outdoor art that makes me tilt my head, like the giant troll under the
Fremont Bridge. And is there any other city in the world with forty-foot high
talking metal flowers?
The sidewalks: On Broadway, bronze footsteps teach the foxtrot and the
rumba. In Pioneer Square, the oldest section of the city, a few stretches of
sidewalk are so steep they were built with cleats. In others, glass prisms are
remnants of old skylights for basementsβtheyβve turned purple with age. And on
Eastlake, street corner markers honor water bugs.
Coffee coffee coffee. Itβs said that Seattleites drink so much that there
are measurable levels of caffeine in the aquifer!
The Mountain. On sunny days, people walk around saying βthe mountain is
out!β like theyβve never seen Mount Rainier before. (And yes, every child calls
it Mount Reindeer.)
The result of all that gray. My favorite park is probably Seward Park, an
elbow that juts into Lake Washington. A walking trail, a swimming beach, and an
old-growth forest. But how can you not love a park that covers the freeway, or
the skate park underneath it, a pocket park perfect for weddings, or the hilltop
park where people gather to watch the full moon?
Seattle Mystery Bookshop, of course. Elliott Bay Books, now in my old
neighborhood, near Seattle University. Third Place Books, which makes a habit of
opening bookstores and community centers in old co-op groceries. I love finding
bookmarks from long-gone refuges in old books on my shelvesβBailey Coy, Broadway
Books, Second Storyβand remembering happy hours browsing and reading.
Walking around eating. Best done in the Market, though other neighborhoods
give good mobile chow, too: Pizza and crumpets and tea. Turkish delight, Nanaimo
bars, ginger beer. Crepes, Vietnamese coffee, gyros, and falafel. Oysters and
fish and chips. Am I making you hungry? Good!
Do you have a favorite image or memory of Seattle? Whatβs your
favorite city to visit?
Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Food Loversβ Village
Mysteries and the Spice
Shop Mysteriesβand the first author to win Agatha Awards for both fiction
and nonfiction. She fell in love with the Pike Place Market as a college student
in Seattle, and still makes regular pilgrimages. The president of Sisters in
Crime, she lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of
natural medicine, and their cat Ruff, a cover model and avid bird-watcher.
GUILTY AS CINNAMON (Spice Shop Mystery #2, out
December 1, from Berkley Prime Crime)
Pepper Reece knows that fiery flavors are the spice of life. But when a
customer dies of a chili overdose, she finds herself in hot pursuit of a
murdererβ¦
Murder heats up Seattleβs Pike Place Market in the next Spice Shop
mystery from the national bestselling author of ASSAULT AND
PEPPER.
Springtime in Seattleβs Pike Place Market means tasty foods
and wide-eyed tourists, and Pepperβs Spice Shop is ready for the crowds. With
flavorful combinations and a fresh approach, sheβs sure to win over the public.
Even better, sheβs working with several local restaurants as their chief herb
and spice supplier. Business is cooking, until one of Pepperβs potential
clients, a young chef named Tamara Langston, is found dead, her life
extinguished by the dangerously hot ghost chiliβa spice Pepper carries in her
shop.
I love reading about Seattle. My son now lives there and I've heard him talk about many of the places that are in your books. (Elaine Roberson 10:11am January 16, 2016)
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