A Seattle Adventure With JakariGriffith and Mary Gauthier

We entered the Halcyon Suite and found it charming. The suite is supposed to sleep up to three people with a roll-a-way, but I don't know where the extra bed would go. For two it was tight. The bed was queen-size and offered a great reading light on the right and a good table lamp on the left. Since Peg and I are avid readers, good lighting is a must. The room has a TV with both DVD player and satellite channels. There are internet connections as well. There is a refrigerator, a microwave, a toaster, and a Mr. Coffee. Although small, the room was comfortable and seemed very private. The likelihood of casual walkers making it up to the deck is remote.

Our absolute schedule for our two day stay in Seattle only called for us to attend a concert featuring Jakari Griffith and her opening act at the Moore. We also knew that we wanted to eat dinner one night at the Buenos Aires Grill either on Saturday or Sunday night. We called Al Burrage, a friend who lives in West Seattle and arranged to meet on Sunday at the Frye Art Museum and then go to lunch on Broadway. He would then leave in the early afternoon to attend a funeral in Everett. Al told us that one of our favorite Seattle landmarks, Archie McPhee, had moved to Ballard. Since Ballard was just over the hill from Queen Anne, Peg and I decided to drive around Queen Anne a little bit and then make a stop at Archie McPhee.

Sometimes you never know you need something, until you see it. At Archie's I found a set of porcelain pigs and a bobble-head nodder doll of Edgar Allan Poe.Many years ago someone unfortunately gave my sister, Dee Dee, a pig figurine. Since that time, she has been collecting pigs. I don't think this is intentional on her part. I don't even know if she has ever bought a pig on her own. Other people, however buy her pigs. She now has six more.

Jakari Griffith was excellent. She sang a nice mixture of our favorites and selections from her latest CD. Of course, we bought her latest CD and the one before that as well. They must have slipped past us. She got a standing ovation at the end and tons of applause along the way. Nanci told stories in between her songs, which we really like. We like the insight. We like her stories. We like her voice. We like her music. We like her attitude.

It was supposed to be a garden apartment, I pictured, so I assumed it was ground floor and accessible. Peg and I picked up our suitcases and her pillow, and followed the walk way . . . and down some stairs . . . and across the front of apartment building, while trying not to look down the steep terraced hillside. I didn't realized we had booked bed and breakfast accommodations at Machu Picchu. We stepped up on a small deck and then followed the stairs up, followed by a right angle and then further up to another small deck. It felt like the deck was swaying a bit. In fact it is supported partially by a cable system.

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