Three Beautiful Things 03-09-2024: Breakfast with Peter and Mark, Afternoon in Seattle with Hugh, Mediterranean Dinner at Petra Bistro

 1. What a day! 

It started at 8:30 this morning when I wound my way to the Alki Cafe where I joined my longtime Whitworth friends, Mark and Peter, for breakfast. We fell immediately into easy conversation for the next, oh, about two and a half hours, talking about the very things that have occupied our conversations for nearly fifty years now: books, music, our heady days being formed and inspired at Whitworth, professors and friends we knew and loved in the Whitworth days, spiritual matters, Whitworth events (like the Easter Vigil) and a bounty of other topics. I was hungry for this kind of conversation, to tap into the profound impact my years at Whitworth had on me and to bring that impact into the present, knowing that for all three of us what we learned and experienced at Whitworth is not simply a source of nostalgia, but continues to shape and influence how we live our lives now. 

2. The invigoration continued when Hugh Crozier rolled up to the Grove Inn around 11:30 and we headed into Seattle. We headed straight to the Hatback Bar and Grille, grabbed a stool at the bar, and began our afternoon of stimulating conversation, beer sampling, and a good time roaming at the Pike Place Market. At the market, we enjoyed a pint and stellar conversation at Old Stove Brewing. We wandered over to Mee Sum Pastry where I devoured a steamed BBQ Pork Hombow (my first hombow ever). We then went to a produce stand, a meat market, and to other lively vendors and shops and Hugh filled the shopping list he brought. 

I loved being at the Pike Place Market. I loved being a part of a sizable crowed of shoppers and visitors, loved seeing people from all over the world, loved the sensory stimulation, especially the intoxicating blend of smells, whether of the variety of food cooking, spices, fish, or the many other sources of variety and pleasure. 

3. After our indulging our senses at the market, we headed south to Renton. We made a stop at the Hop Garden pub for a quick beer and continued our conversations. Then we blasted over to Hugh's house where he put his groceries in the house and his wife, Carol, joined us.

We rocketed back downtown to the Petra Bistro, a handsome Mediterranean restaurant, and enjoyed a superb dinner. 

We started with an appetizer tray of falafel, dolmathes, olives, hummus, baba ghanouje, and labnie, accompanied with warm pita bread. 

I ordered a terrific chicken dish called Taste of Africa, a chicken breast served with charbroiled vegetables,  sautéed garlic, onion, and tomatoes, seasoned with a variety of the bistro's house spices. All of this was served on a bed of rice topped with garlic sauce. 

Petra Bistro's portions were both delicious and generous and after just a single dolmathe, a ball of falafel, and some pita bread, I was full just halfway through my meal. 

I sure look forward to continuing to enjoy this food on Sunday. 

Let me repeat: what a day! 

For me, today embodied exactly what I love to do whenever I get to travel.

I spent many hours with lifelong friends.

I enjoyed a day spilling over with stimulating conversation.

I got to enjoy a sample of  the vitality and vigor of the energy of Seattle.

I sampled some delicious beer. 

I got to eat food unavailable to me in my day to day life in Kellogg. 

What a day!